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Wisconsin

Who is mandated to report?

Are all health clinicians mandated to report?

  • Yes.

Who else is a mandated reporter?

  • Physicians, coroners, medical examiners, nurses, dentists, chiropractors, optometrists, acupuncturists, other medical or mental health professionals, physical therapists, physical therapist assistants, dietitians, occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, audiologists, or emergency medical technicians
  • Schoolteachers, administrators, or counselors
  • School employees not otherwise specified above
  • Child care workers in child care centers, group homes, or residential care centers, or child care providers
  • Alcohol or other drug abuse counselors, marriage and family therapists, professional counselors, or members of the treatment staff employed by or working under contract with a county department or a residential care center for children and youth
  • Social workers, public assistance workers, first responders, police or law enforcement officers, mediators, or court-appointed special advocates
  • Members of the clergy or a religious order, including brothers, ministers, monks, nuns, priests, rabbis, or sisters
  • Exception to reporting requirement; health care services:
    • The purpose of this subsection is to allow children to obtain confidential health care services.
    • In this subsection:
    • Except as provided under pars. (d) and (e), the following persons are not required to report as suspected or threatened abuse, as defined in s. 48.02 (1) (b), sexual intercourse or sexual contact involving a child:
      • A health care provider who provides any health care service to a child.
      • A person who obtains information about a child who is receiving or has received health care services from a health care provider.
    • Any person described under par. (c) 1. or 4. shall report as required under sub. (2) if he or she has reason to suspect any of the following:
      • That the sexual intercourse or sexual contact occurred or is likely to occur with a caregiver.
      • That the child suffered or suffers from a mental illness or mental deficiency that rendered or renders the child temporarily or permanently incapable of understanding or evaluating the consequences of his or her actions.
      • That the child, because of his or her age or immaturity, was or is incapable of understanding the nature or consequences of sexual intercourse or sexual contact.
      • That the child was unconscious at the time of the act or for any other reason was physically unable to communicate unwillingness to engage in sexual intercourse or sexual contact.
      • That another participant in the sexual contact or sexual intercourse was or is exploiting the child.
    • In addition to the reporting requirements under par. (d)., a person described under par. (c) 1. or 4. shall report as required under sub. (2) if he or she has any reasonable doubt as to the voluntariness of the child's participation in the sexual contact or sexual intercourse.

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 reporter, in the course of his or her professional duties, has reasonable cause to suspect that a child has been abused or neglected.
    • A reporter, in the course of his or her professional duties, has reason to believe that a child has been threatened with abuse or neglect or that abuse or neglect will occur.

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 Wisconsin Statute 48.02 and legal guidance interpreting the statute.
    • “Abuse," other than when used in referring to abuse of alcoholic beverages or other drugs, means any of the following:
      • Physical injury inflicted on a child by other than accidental means.
      • When used in referring to an unborn child, serious physical harm inflicted on the unborn child, and the risk of serious physical harm to the child when born, caused by the habitual lack of self-control of the expectant mother of the unborn child in the use of alcohol beverages, controlled substances or controlled substance analogs, exhibited to a severe degree.
      • Sexual intercourse or sexual contact under s. 940.225, 948.02, 948.025, or 948.085.
      • A violation of s. 948.05.
      • A violation of s. 948.051.
      • Permitting, allowing or encouraging a child to violate s. 944.30 (1m).
      • A violation of s. 948.055.
      • A violation of s. 948.10.
      • Manufacturing methamphetamine in violation of s. 961.41 (1) (e) under any of the following circumstances:
        • With a child physically present during the manufacture.
        • In a child's home, on the premises of a child's home, or in a motor vehicle located on the premises of a child's home.
        • Under any other circumstances in which a reasonable person should have known that the manufacture would be seen, smelled, or heard by a child.
        • Emotional damage for which the child's parent, guardian or legal custodian has neglected, refused or been unable for reasons other than poverty to obtain the necessary treatment or to take steps to ameliorate the symptoms.
      • “Neglect" means failure, refusal or inability on the part of a caregiver, for reasons other than poverty, to provide necessary care, food, clothing, medical or dental care or shelter so as to seriously endanger the physical health of the child.

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 Wisconsin Statutes at the Wisconsin State Legislature website.

How to report:

What is the method of reporting?

  • A mandated reporter who has reasonable cause to suspect that a child has been abused or neglected, or who has reason to believe that a child seen by the person in the course of professional duties has been threatened with abuse or neglect and that abuse or neglect of the child will occur, immediately shall make a report, either by telephone or personally.

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

What is the timeline in which to report?

  • A report must be made immediately if a mandated reporter has reasonable cause to suspect that a child has been abused or neglected.

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

To whom are reports made?

  • Reports shall be made, by telephone or personally, to the county department or, in a county having a population of 750,000 or more, the department; a licensed child welfare agency under contract with the department; the sheriff; or city, village, or town police department.

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

State/County Hotline?

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

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.