Tennessee Child Abuse Reporting Statute

TENNESSEE CODE ANNOTATED

TITLE 37. Juveniles. Chapter 1. Juvenile Courts and Proceedings.Part 4. Mandatory Child Abuse Reports.

37-1-403.  Reporting of brutality, abuse, neglect or child sexual abuse.

   (a) (1)  Any person who has knowledge of or is called upon to render aid to any child who is suffering from or has sustained any wound, injury, disability, or physical or mental condition shall report such harm immediately if the harm is of such a nature as to reasonably indicate that it has been caused by brutality, abuse or neglect or that, on the basis of available information, reasonably appears to have been caused by brutality, abuse or neglect.

   (2)  Any such person with knowledge of the type of harm described in this subsection shall report it, by telephone or otherwise, to the:

      (A)  Judge having juvenile jurisdiction over the child;

      (B)  County office of the department;

      (C)  Sheriff of the county where the child resides; or

      (D)  Chief law enforcement official of the municipality where the child resides.

   (3)  If any such person knows or has reasonable cause to suspect that a child has been sexually abused, the person shall report such information in accordance with § 37-1-605, relative to the sexual abuse of children, regardless of whether such person knows or believes that the child has sustained any apparent injury as a result of such abuse.

(b)  If a hospital, clinic, school, or any other organization responsible for the care of children has a specific procedure, approved by the director of the county office of the department, for the protection of children who are victims of brutality, abuse or neglect, any member of its staff whose duty to report under the preceding sentence arises from the performance of services as a member of the staff of the organization may, at the staff member's option, fulfill that duty by reporting instead to the person in charge of the organization or such person's designee who shall make the report in accordance with the preceding sentence.

(c)  The report shall include, to the extent known by the reporter, the name, address, and age of the child, the name and address of the person responsible for the care of the child, and the facts requiring the report. The report may include any other pertinent information.

(d)  If a law enforcement official or judge becomes aware of known or suspected child abuse, through personal knowledge, receipt of a report, or otherwise, such information shall be reported to the department immediately and, where appropriate, the child protective team shall be notified to investigate the report for the protection of the child in accordance with the provisions of this part. Further criminal investigation by such official shall be appropriately conducted in coordination with the team or department to the maximum extent possible.

(e)  Any person required to report or investigate cases of suspected child abuse who has reasonable cause to suspect that a child died as a result of child abuse shall report such suspicion to the appropriate medical examiner. The medical examiner shall accept the report for investigation and shall report the medical examiner's findings, in writing, to the local law enforcement agency, the appropriate district attorney general, and the department. Autopsy reports maintained by the medical examiner shall not be subject to the confidentiality requirements provided for in § 37-1-409.

(f)  Reports involving known or suspected institutional child sexual abuse shall be made and received in the same manner as all other reports made pursuant to Acts 1985, ch. 478, relative to the sexual abuse of children. Investigations of institutional child sexual abuse shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of § 37-1-606.

(g)  Every physician or other person who makes a diagnosis of, or treats, or prescribes for any venereal disease set out in § 68-10-101, or venereal herpes and chlamydia, in children thirteen (13) years of age or younger, and every superintendent or manager of a clinic, dispensary or charitable or penal institution, in which there is a case of any of the diseases, as set out in this subsection, in children thirteen (13) years of age or younger shall report the case immediately, in writing on a form supplied by the department of health to that department. If the reported cases are confirmed and if sexual abuse is suspected, the department of health will report the case to the department of children's services. The department of children's services will be responsible for any necessary follow-up.

TITLE 37. Juveniles. Chapter 1. Juvenile Courts and Proceedings.Part 4. Mandatory Child Abuse Reports.37-1-411. Evidentiary privileges not applicable to child abuse cases.

Neither the husband-wife privilege as preserved in § 24-1-201 nor the psychiatrist-patient privilege as set forth in § 24-1-207 nor the psychologist-patient privilege as set forth in § 63-11-213 is a ground for excluding evidence regarding harm or the cause of harm to a child in any dependency and neglect proceeding resulting from a report of such harm under § 37-1-403 or a criminal prosecution for severe child abuse.