Child protection, the Attorney General, and the criminal side.
Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline
Talks through what happened, tells you which state agency takes the report, and stays on the line while you work out what to say. Counselors are available 24/7.
It is not itself an investigating agency. It routes you; it does not open a case.
Use this whenAnyone unsure where a report about a child should go, including a survivor who is now an adult and a parent who has just got their child out.
HowCall, text GO to the same number, or use the live chat on the site.
State child abuse and neglect reporting numbers (Child Welfare Information Gateway)
The federal government's directory of every state's child protection intake line, with each state's online reporting option where one exists.
Use this whenA child currently at the program. Report to the state the program sits in, not the state the family lives in - the agency with jurisdiction is the one where the child is.
HowFind the state on the directory page, then call that state's intake line.
Most states take an anonymous report but will act on more of it if they can call you back.
U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division
Takes reports of civil rights violations, including conditions in institutions where people are held. Its Special Litigation Section is the part that investigates residential facilities under CRIPA and can sue an institution or a state over a pattern of abuse.
It does not act for one person against one program. It looks for patterns, and it decides on its own whether to open anything.
Use this whenA facility where the abuse is systemic rather than one member of staff - restraint practice, seclusion, denial of medical care, conditions across a whole program.
HowSubmit the online report form. Paper forms can be downloaded and mailed.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General hotline
Investigates fraud and abuse in federally funded health programs. Where a program bills Medicaid, this is often the lever that moves first, because billing for treatment that was not given is easier to prove than the treatment being abusive.
It will not get you a refund or a remedy in your own case, and says so plainly. Volume means most complaints get no reply.
Use this whenA program billing Medicaid or another federal program - for therapy hours nobody delivered, for staff who were not qualified, for a level of care the child was not getting.
HowSubmit through the online tips portal. It only takes unclassified complaints online.
