Report Abuse

A report can go to more than one place at once, and usually should. The licensing board can take a therapist's licence. The state licensor can act against the program. Child protection and the police handle the crime. They do not talk to each other reliably, so telling one is not telling the others.

If you need help right now rather than a place to report, the Resources page lists the crisis lines.

Report to the state the program is in, not the state you live in. The agency with the power to act is the one where the facility sits.

North Carolina

North Carolina keeps a separate board for each profession, so you have to know which licence the person holds before you can complain about them; every board publishes a licence lookup and it is worth checking first. Child abuse reporting is the other oddity: there is no statewide hotline, and a report goes to the department of social services in the county the program sits in.

The therapist's licensing board

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

North Carolina Psychology Board

Psychologist

Investigates complaints against licensed psychologists and against people practising psychology without a licence, and can discipline a licence. It can also open an investigation on its own initiative, which it says is most likely when the information is already public.

Use this whenA licensed psychologist, or somebody presenting themselves as one.

HowThe online complaint form is the quickest route. There is a PDF form as an alternative, with separate written instructions.

The Board's current website is ncpsychologyboard.info. Its old .org domain still serves the complaint form but the rest of the site has moved.

North Carolina Board of Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselors

Professional counselor

Takes complaints against Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselors, refers them to its Ethics Committee, and disciplines licences. It publishes its disciplinary actions.

Use this whenAn LCMHC. This is the licence most therapists in North Carolina programs hold.

HowDownload the Board's complaint form, cite the specific parts of the Code of Ethics or the Practice Act you say were breached, and post it or email it to the complaints address.

The Board asks you to try to resolve it with the counselor first, following the American Counseling Association's guidance. That is their preference, not a requirement, and it is not always a safe thing to do.

North Carolina Social Work Certification and Licensure Board

Social worker

Investigates complaints against social workers it certifies or licenses, and allegations of unlicensed clinical social work practice. It can also start its own investigation where there is reasonable cause.

It has no legal authority to keep your identity from the social worker you complained about. It also has no authority over the many social workers who practise lawfully in North Carolina without a licence, so check the lookup first.

Use this whenA certified or licensed social worker, or somebody doing clinical social work without the licence it requires.

HowDownload the complaint form and post it with your documentation. Online submission was still being built when this was checked.

The Board's site is ncswboard.gov. The similarly named .org domain has lapsed and now serves gambling spam - do not use it.

Will not act on an anonymous report Checked 22 September 2026 · source: ncswboard.gov

North Carolina Marriage and Family Therapy Licensure Board

Marriage and family therapist

Investigates licensed marriage and family therapists, and also people who use the LMFT or LMFTA title, or imply they hold it, without the licence. That second power matters in an industry where titles get used loosely.

Use this whenAn LMFT or LMFTA, or anyone practising marriage and family therapy in North Carolina without being licensed in a discipline that allows it.

HowUse the online complaint form. A printable form can be requested from the Board if you cannot complete it online.

North Carolina Medical Board

Psychiatrist

Licenses and disciplines physicians, including psychiatrists and any doctor serving as a program's medical director.

Use this whenA doctor. Therapists and counselors go to their own boards above.

The agency that licenses the program

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

NC Division of Health Service Regulation, Complaint Intake

The complaint route into the division that licenses and inspects mental health, substance use and developmental disability facilities in North Carolina, including residential programs for minors. It conducts complaint investigations and its Mental Health Licensure and Certification Section can act on a facility's licence.

Use this whenThe facility: conditions, staffing, restraint, how it is run. Its Health Care Personnel Investigations section separately handles allegations against individual staff in licensed facilities.

HowCall the complaint hotline during its posted hours, or use the written complaint form.

North Carolina publishes the resulting survey and deficiency reports, so it is worth searching what has already been cited against a program before you call.

  • 1-800-624-3004 Within North Carolina. From elsewhere, 919-855-4500. Open 9am-12pm and 1pm-4pm on weekdays, holidays excepted - a narrow window, so allow for it.
  • File a complaint
  • More about this body
  • By postComplaint Intake, 2711 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-2711
Takes anonymous reports Checked 22 September 2026 · source: info.ncdhhs.gov

Law enforcement and legal channels

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

Your county Department of Social Services (child abuse report)

North Carolina law requires any person or institution who suspects a child under 18 is abused or neglected to report it to the county department of social services. The county DSS investigates and can involve law enforcement.

Use this whenA child at a North Carolina program right now.

HowThere is no single statewide hotline. Find the DSS for the county the program is in and call it. If the danger is immediate, call 911.

Takes anonymous reports Mandatory reporters use this channel Checked 22 September 2026 · source: ncdhhs.gov

NC Department of Justice, Medicaid Investigations Division

Investigates fraud by Medicaid providers and, separately, physical abuse of any patient in a Medicaid-funded facility, along with theft or commingling of patients' funds. It brings cases; it has recovered over a billion dollars and has settled fraud allegations against North Carolina treatment centers.

Use this whenA Medicaid-funded program where a young person was physically abused, or where money went missing.

HowReport online - there are separate forms for provider fraud and for patient abuse - or call.

Anonymous reports carry less weight Checked 22 September 2026 · source: ncdoj.gov

Oversight and advocacy

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

Disability Rights North Carolina

North Carolina's Protection and Advocacy agency. It monitors facilities where people with disabilities live and receive services, investigates abuse and neglect, and publishes public reports on what it finds.

It says plainly that it is not a regulatory body: it cannot license, fine or close a facility. Pair it with a report to DHSR.

Use this whenA North Carolina program where the young person has a disability or a mental health diagnosis.

HowContact its intake line. It publishes its own guide to reporting abuse and neglect in facilities, which names each agency and what it does.

Wherever the program is

Bodies that take a report wherever the program is. None of these replaces the state channels: the state licensing board and the state licensor are the ones that can take somebody's licence away. For crisis lines, see the Resources page - this list is about reporting, not about getting through tonight.

Law enforcement and legal channels

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.

Takes anonymous reports Mandatory reporters use this channel Checked 22 September 2026 · source: childwelfare.gov

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.

Takes anonymous reports Checked 22 September 2026 · source: oig.hhs.gov

Oversight and advocacy

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

Your state's Protection and Advocacy agency

Every state has one, funded by Congress. Under the DD Act and PAIMI they have legal authority to investigate abuse and neglect wherever a person with a disability receives services, and a right of access to the place itself - they can go in. Several of the hardest reports on programs in this industry came from P&A investigations.

Use this whenA program where the young person has a disability or a mental health diagnosis, which covers most placements in this industry. You do not need a formal diagnosis to call and ask.

HowFind your state's agency in the NDRN directory and contact its intake line. Report to the state the program is in.

Anonymous reports carry less weight Checked 22 September 2026 · sources: ndrn.org, acl.gov

The Joint Commission, Office of Quality and Patient Safety

Accredits behavioral health organisations and can review, cite, or ultimately withdraw accreditation. Losing accreditation can cost a program its insurance contracts and its Medicaid participation, which is sometimes the fastest real consequence available.

It only has standing over organisations it accredits, and it does not discipline an individual clinician. Check the program is accredited first.

Use this whenA Joint Commission accredited facility. Its Find Accredited Organizations search will tell you whether a program is one.

HowUse the online submission form, which it prefers, or call. It does not take walk-ins, faxes or email, and it shreds medical records, photos and invoices on arrival.

You can file anonymously, but it can only tell you what it did with the complaint if you give your name.

CARF International

The other accreditor much of this industry uses. Takes concerns about an accredited provider and can act on its accreditation.

Like any accreditor it has no power over an unaccredited program, and none over an individual therapist's licence.

Use this whenA CARF-accredited program. CARF asks you to try the provider's own grievance process first, and says to go to your state P&A agency or the state licensor if that does not resolve it.

HowUse the feedback form on the public page, or call the dedicated line.

Checked 22 September 2026 · source: carf.org

This is a directory, not legal advice. Which channel fits your situation, and what a deadline means for your case, are questions for a lawyer. The Resources page lists where to start looking for one.