Arizona

Facilities in Arizona

Residential facilities providing religious, behavioral, and mental health treatment to children exist in all 50 states. Some of these facilities are known to be part of the Troubled Teen Industry, while others have not yet been verified. Any facility where children live and receive care requires additional oversight. This directory helps communities monitor local programs and advocate for accountability.

Reporting abuse in Arizona

Arizona splits the work three ways: the Board of Behavioral Health Examiners holds the therapist's licence, the Department of Health Services licenses the behavioral health residential facility, and the Department of Child Safety runs both the abuse hotline and its own Office of Licensing and Regulation for group homes. Which licensor applies depends on how the program is registered, so the DHS facility database is worth checking first.

Time limits in Arizona: a general guide

This was correct as far as we could tell when we checked it on 28 September 2026. Laws on time limits change often, sometimes every legislative session, so some of what follows may have been updated since. It is a starting point, not legal advice: please check with a lawyer before relying on any date here. A time limit on a lawsuit or a criminal charge is also not a time limit on telling someone, and most of the places listed below will still take a report.

Time limits for abuse of a child often run from the survivor's 18th birthday, or from when they came to understand what happened, rather than from the day the program closed. Many states have lengthened them, removed them for child sexual abuse, or reopened claims that had already expired. A criminal charge, a lawsuit and a licence complaint each have their own time limit, so one having passed does not necessarily mean the others have.

Lawsuits

Physical abuse or injury: Two years from the injury for physical injuries, including assault, battery and negligence. False imprisonment (for example, being held against your will) has a shorter deadline: one year. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 12-542(1); § 12-541(1)
If it happened before you turned 18: The clock does not run while the injured person is under 18. After turning 18 they get the full normal period: two years for injury claims (until age 20), one year for false imprisonment. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 12-502
If the program was run by or for the government: Before suing a state or local government body, public school or public employee, you must file a written notice of claim, with a specific settlement amount, within 180 days; the lawsuit itself must be filed within one year. A minor may file the notice within 180 days after turning 18. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 12-821; § 12-821.01(A), (B), (D)
Child sexual abuse: CSA: The civil SOL for CSA claims against all defendants is age 30 with a common law discovery rule. Trafficking: There is no SOL for claims of sex trafficking against all defendants. CSAM: The SOL for CSAM claims is age 20. CHILD USA's summary

Criminal charges

Physical child abuse: Felony child abuse must be charged within seven years after the state discovers (or reasonably should have discovered) the offense. There is no rule pausing it until the child turns 18, but the clock starts at discovery, not the act. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 13-107(B)(1) (child abuse is § 13-3623)
Assault: Aggravated assault and other class 2-6 felonies: seven years from when the state discovers the offense. Misdemeanor assault: one year. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 13-107(B)
Child sexual abuse: CSA: There is no SOL for many felony CSA crimes. The SOL for all other felonies is 7 years after the State discovers the offense and 1 year after the State’s discovery for misdemeanors. Trafficking: There is no SOL for child sex trafficking. CSAM: There is no SOL for sexual exploitation of a minor or commercial sexual exploitation of a minor. CHILD USA's summary

The injury, assault and physical abuse lines are our reading of the statutes linked, as they stood on 28 September 2026. The child sexual abuse lines are CHILD USA's summary as it stood on 28 September 2026; their page may be more current than ours. In them SOL means statute of limitations, CSA child sexual abuse, and CSAM child sexual abuse material. Exceptions, court rulings and the details of what happened can all change which time limit applies, and some of these may be longer or shorter for you than they look here. CHILD USA's statute of limitations tracker, updated as each state changes its law. A lawyer can tell you which time limit applies to you, and many offer a free first consultation.

The therapist's licensing board

Holds the individual clinician's licence and can suspend or revoke it.

Arizona Board of Behavioral Health Examiners

Multiple professions

Licenses social workers, counselors, marriage and family therapists and substance abuse counselors, investigates complaints against them and disciplines those who breach the standards of practice or their profession's code of ethics.

Use this whenAny of those four licence types. Psychologists are licensed separately by the Arizona Board of Psychologist Examiners, and physicians by the Arizona Medical Board.

HowFile through the Board's online complaint portal, or post the complaint to the Phoenix address.

The Board's own site sits behind a filter that refuses automated clients, so it may look unreachable to a link checker while loading normally in a browser.

602-542-1882
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information@azbbhe.us
By postArizona Board of Behavioral Health Examiners, 1740 W. Adams St., Suite 3600, Phoenix, AZ 85007

The agency that licenses the program

Inspects the facility itself and can cite, fine, suspend or close it.

Arizona Department of Health Services, Behavioral Health Facilities Licensing

Licenses and inspects behavioral health residential facilities, and investigates complaints about them. It publishes a licence history search and a map of every licensed facility, along with professional licence revocations.

Use this whenThe facility. Check the AZ Care Check licence history first - it shows what a program has already been cited for.

HowUse the online complaint form.

Arizona DCS Office of Licensing and Regulation

Licenses and regulates the group homes and child welfare agencies that DCS oversees, as distinct from the behavioral health facilities DHS licenses.

Use this whenA group home or child welfare agency rather than a licensed behavioral health residential facility.

HowContact the office through DCS. DCS also runs a separate ombudsman complaint form for disagreements with the department itself.

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Law enforcement and legal channels

Child protection, the Attorney General, and the criminal side.

Arizona Child Abuse Hotline (Department of Child Safety)

The statutory report line for child abuse and neglect. Reports are taken by a social work professional, and where the child is in a licensed facility the hotline also forwards the report to whichever body holds that licence.

Use this whenA child at an Arizona program. Arizona law (ARS 13-3620.A) requires certain people who suspect non-accidental injury or neglect to report it to DCS or to law enforcement.

HowCall the statewide toll-free hotline, or report to a local law enforcement office. Have the child's details, where they are now, and what your concern is.

DCS finishes by marking a report substantiated or unsubstantiated. Unsubstantiated means the information gathered did not support a finding, not that nothing happened.

1-888-767-2445 1-888-SOS-CHILD.
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Oversight and advocacy

Bodies with a right to investigate, and advocates who can act for you.

Disability Rights Arizona

Arizona's Protection and Advocacy agency, with federal authority to investigate abuse and neglect of people with disabilities in facilities, a right of access to them, and free legal advocacy.

Use this whenAn Arizona program where the young person has a disability or a mental health diagnosis.

HowContact the intake line.

1-800-927-2260 Main line 520-327-9547.
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Arizona Ombudsman-Citizens' Aide

An independent office that investigates complaints about state agencies, including the Department of Child Safety. The route to take when the state body you reported to has not acted.

It looks at the agency's conduct, not the program's. It cannot licence, fine or prosecute anybody.

Use this whenSomebody who has already reported to an Arizona agency and got nowhere.

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National reporting channels, and the same list for other states