Return to state listing

Rhode Island

Who is mandated to report?

Are all health clinicians mandated to report?

  • Yes.  

Who else is a mandated reporter?

  • Any person who has reasonable cause to know or suspect that a child has been abused or neglected must report.

For more information, refer to Mandatory Reporters of Child Abuse and Neglect at the Child Welfare Information Gateway.

When is the reporting duty triggered?

What is the standard?

  • A report is required when:
    • A person has reasonable cause to know or suspect that a child has been abused or neglected.
    • A physician or nurse practitioner has cause to suspect that a child brought to them for treatment is an abused or neglected child, or he or she determines that a child under age 12 is suffering from any sexually transmitted disease.

For more information, refer to Mandatory Reporters of Child Abuse and Neglect at the Child Welfare Information Gateway.

What must be reported?

How does state law define child abuse and neglect for reporting purposes?

  • Mandated reporters must report abuse or neglect as defined by Rhode Island statute 40-11-2 and legal guidance interpreting the statute.
    • "Abused or neglected child" means a child whose physical or mental health or welfare is harmed, or threatened with harm, when his or her parent or other person responsible for his or her welfare:
      • Inflicts, or allows to be inflicted, upon the child physical or mental injury, including excessive corporal punishment; or
      • Creates, or allows to be created, a substantial risk of physical or mental injury to the child, including excessive corporal punishment; or
      • Commits, or allows to be committed, against the child an act of sexual abuse; or
      • Fails to supply the child with adequate food, clothing, shelter, or medical care, though financially able to do so or offered financial or other reasonable means to do so; or
      • Fails to provide the child with a minimum degree of care or proper supervision or guardianship because of his or her unwillingness or inability to do so by situations or conditions such as, but not limited to: social problems, mental incompetency, or the use of a drug, drugs, or alcohol to the extent that the parent or other person responsible for the child's welfare loses his or her ability or is unwilling to properly care for the child; or
      • Abandons or deserts the child; or
      • Sexually exploits the child in that the person allows, permits, or encourages the child to engage in prostitution as defined by the provisions in § 11-34.1-1 et seq., entitled "Commercial Sexual Activity"; or
      • Sexually exploits the child in that the person allows, permits, encourages, or engages in the obscene or pornographic photographing, filming, or depiction of the child in a setting that, taken as a whole, suggests to the average person that the child is about to engage in, or has engaged in, any sexual act, or that depicts any such child under eighteen (18) years of age performing sodomy, oral copulation, sexual intercourse, masturbation, or bestiality; or
      • Commits, or allows to be committed, any sexual offense against the child as such sexual offenses are defined by the provisions of chapter 37 of title 11, entitled "Sexual Assault", as amended; or
      • Commits, or allows to be committed, against any child an act involving sexual penetration or sexual contact if the child is under fifteen (15) years of age; or if the child is fifteen (15) years or older, and (1) force or coercion is used by the perpetrator, or (2) the perpetrator knows, or has reason to know, that the victim is a severely impaired person as defined by the provisions of § 11-5-11, or physically helpless as defined by the provisions of § 11-37-1(6).

Are child molestation, sexual abuse, rape, statutory rape, incest, intimate partner violence, sexual exploitation and/or trafficking of a minor reportable as child abuse or neglect and if so, how are they defined and what is reportable?

For the most current definitions of these terms, refer to the Rhode Island Statutes at the Rhode Island General Assembly website.

How to report:

What is the method of reporting?

  • A physician or registered nurse practitioner who has cause to suspect that a child is abused or determines that a child under age 12 is suffering from any sexually transmitted disease shall report his or her suspicions to the department. An immediate oral report shall be made by telephone or otherwise, to both the department and law enforcement agency, and shall be followed by a report, in writing, to the department and law enforcement agency explaining the extent and nature of the abuse or neglect the child is alleged to have suffered.

For more information, refer to Making and Screening Reports of Child Abuse and Neglect at the Child Welfare Information Gateway.  

What is the timeline in which to report?

  • An oral report must be made immediately and is to be followed by a written report.

For more information, refer to Making and Screening Reports of Child Abuse and Neglect at the Child Welfare Information Gateway.  

To whom are reports made?

  • Reports shall be made to the Department of Children, Youth and Families. Physicians and nurse practitioners shall make reports of suspected sexual abuse to both the department and a law enforcement agency.

For more information, refer to Making and Screening Reports of Child Abuse and Neglect at the Child Welfare Information Gateway.  

State/County Hotline?

  • Child Abuse Hotline
  • 1-800-742-4453  

Confidentiality:

What federal confidentiality laws apply to health information collected during a Title X visit?

  • Title X regulations 42 CFR 59.11
  • HIPAA 45 CFR 164.502  

Is there an exception in federal confidentiality law that allows a clinician to comply with mandatory child abuse reporting laws?

  • Yes.