Tennessee Mandatory Reporter Training

The purpose of this online course is to help all Tennessee Mandated Reporters understand their critical role in protecting children by recognizing and reporting child abuse.

Everyone who suspects child abuse or neglect should call the Tennessee Department for Children’s Services Hotline to make a report, but Mandated Reporters are required by law to do so, with penalties for failure to do so ranging from fines and/or potential jail time.

In the state of Tennessee, professionals are required by law to report Tennessee Stat. §§ 37-1-403; 37-1-605, which states that any person, agency, organization, or entity that knows or in good faith suspects child abuse or neglect shall make a report. For purposes of this section, ‘person’ shall include, but not be limited to: physicians, osteopaths, medical examiners, chiropractors, nurses, hospital personnel, or other health or mental health professionals, teachers, other school officials or personnel, or daycare center workers, other professional child care, foster care, residential, or institutional workers, social workers, practitioners who rely solely on spiritual means for healing judges or law enforcement officers, neighbors, relatives, or friends, authority figures at community facilities, including any facility used for recreation or social assemblies or for educational, religious, social, health, or welfare purposes, including, but not limited to, facilities operated by schools, the Boy or Girl Scouts, the YMCA or YWCA, the Boys and Girls Club, or church or religious organizations and other non-specified persons.

Tennessee Stat. §§ 37-1-403; 37-1-605 states that, except as may be ordered by the juvenile court, the name of any person reporting child abuse or neglect shall not be released to any person, other than employees of the department or other child protection team members responsible for child protective services, the abuse registry, or the appropriate district attorney general upon subpoena of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, without the written consent of the person reporting. The reporter’s identity shall be irrelevant to any civil proceeding and shall, therefore, not be subject to disclosure by order of any court. This shall not prohibit the issuance of a subpoena to a person reporting child abuse when deemed necessary by the district attorney general or the department to protect a child who is the subject of a report, provided that the fact that the person made the report is not disclosed.

TAP Series' Mandatory Reporter course is quick, simple, and low cost. There is no need to gather a group or go to a classroom. The self-paced course allows you to train on your schedule from home or the office and on a PC, tablet, or mobile phone and quickly annually re-enroll. TAP Series' Mandatory Reporter course meets Tennessee Stat. §§ 37-1403; 37-1-605 regulations.

This Training Includes:

1. A pre-training assessment
2. 60-90 minutes of self-paced interactive training
3. A post-training assessment
4. A Certificate of Completion

Learning Outcomes:

• Identify who is a Mandatory Reporter
• Understand your role as a Mandatory Reporter
• Identifying caregivers
• Understand how to report
• Define and identify the signs and symptoms of various types of child abuse