Utah

Facilities in Utah

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 Utah

Utah licenses every mental health profession through one division, DOPL, so a complaint about a therapist, a psychologist, a counselor or a psychiatrist all start in the same place. It is also one of the few states with an ombuds office written specifically for young people in residential programs, and that office takes calls from the youth themselves.

Time limits in Utah: 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: Less certain Four years from the injury for physical injury, including assault, battery and negligence. False imprisonment has a shorter deadline: one year. Utah Code § 78B-2-307(4) (four-year catch-all); Utah Code § 78B-2-302(4) (one year for false imprisonment)
If it happened before you turned 18: The clock does not run while the injured person is under 18. For someone injured as a child, the deadline (four years, or one year for false imprisonment) starts at 18. Utah has no longer deadline for physical abuse of a child. The longer child abuse deadline in § 78B-2-308 covers sexual abuse only. Utah Code § 78B-2-108
If the program was run by or for the government: Less certain To sue the state, a county, a city or their employees, you must file a written notice of claim within one year after the claim arises. You must then file the lawsuit within two years after the claim arises, and not sooner than 60 days after the notice. Utah Code §§ 63G-7-401, 63G-7-402, 63G-7-403 (Governmental Immunity Act of Utah)
Child sexual abuse: There is no civil SOL for CSA, trafficking, and CSAM claims against perpetrators. The SOL is age 22 against other defendants with a 4-year discovery rule. CHILD USA's summary

Criminal charges

Physical child abuse: Four years from the abuse for felony child abuse. Misdemeanor child abuse: two years. Utah does not pause the criminal clock until the child turns 18 for non-sexual physical abuse. Child abuse homicide can be charged at any time. Utah Code § 76-1-302(1); Utah Code § 76-1-301(2)(e) (child abuse homicide, no limit)
Assault: Four years from the assault for felony (aggravated) assault. Misdemeanor assault: two years. Utah Code § 76-1-302(1)
Child sexual abuse: CSA: There is no SOL for many CSA felonies. The SOL is age 28 for claims involving unlawful sexual activity, and 4 to 8 eight years after the crime is reported for other felonies. The SOL is 2 years from the offense for misdemeanors. Trafficking: There is no SOL for trafficking felonies. CSAM: The SOL for CSAM violations is 4 years from the offense. 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. "Less certain" marks a line where the law is unclear or where our reading has not been confirmed, so please treat it with extra care. 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.

Utah Division of Professional Licensing (DOPL)

Multiple professions

Investigates licensed professionals and can discipline, restrict, suspend or revoke a licence. It licenses psychologists, clinical social workers, clinical mental health counselors, marriage and family therapists, substance use disorder counselors and physicians, so one complaint form covers whichever kind of clinician it was.

It says in writing that it will not act as your attorney, will not recover money for you, and cannot investigate for the benefit of your own lawsuit.

Use this whenA named clinician who holds or held a Utah licence. It also takes complaints about unlicensed people practising as though they were licensed, which is worth knowing in an industry that leans on unlicensed staff.

HowFile through the online complaint service, or download the PDF form and mail it. Complete every section; write N/A where one does not apply.

Complaints are not public record under Utah law. DOPL publishes the disciplinary actions that result, so you can check whether anything came of an earlier one.

801-530-6628 Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm Mountain, except state holidays.
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DOPL@utah.gov
By postUtah Division of Professional Licensing, P.O. Box 146741, Salt Lake City, UT 84114-6741

The agency that licenses the program

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

Utah Office of Licensing, Division of Licensing and Background Checks (DLBC)

Licenses and inspects the residential treatment programs, therapeutic schools and outdoor youth programs themselves. It sets the health and safety standards, inspects against them, and can require corrective action, impose civil money penalties, or act against the licence.

It regulates the program, not the individual therapist - that is DOPL - and it does not investigate the abuse allegation itself, which goes to DCFS.

Use this whenThe facility: staffing levels, restraint and seclusion practice, conditions, supervision, anything that is a standards problem rather than one person's conduct.

HowContact the Office of Licensing directly. Utah publishes its inspection findings, so it is worth reading what has already been cited before you call.

801-538-4242 Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm, except state holidays.
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By postDivision of Licensing and Background Checks, 195 North 1950 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116

Law enforcement and legal channels

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

Utah Division of Child and Family Services child abuse hotline

The statutory intake point for child abuse and neglect in Utah. A report here starts a CPS investigation and can bring in law enforcement.

Use this whenA child currently at a program in Utah who is being abused or neglected, or who is in a situation likely to result in it.

HowCall the 24/7 intake line, or use the online reporting form. Give names and ages, what happened, any injuries you saw, and dates.

DeadlineNo deadline on making a report.

Under Utah Code 80-2-601 anyone who believes a child is being abused must report it; failure to report can be a crime. Reporters acting in good faith are protected from civil and criminal liability. If DCFS itself mishandles the report, the independent Child Protection Ombudsman takes complaints about DCFS on 801-538-4589.

1-855-323-3237 1-855-323-DCFS. 24 hours, every day.
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Utah Attorney General, Medicaid Fraud and Patient Abuse Division

Criminally investigates and prosecutes both Medicaid provider fraud and the abuse, neglect or exploitation of patients, where the abuse happened in a health care facility or any setting where a provider is paid by Medicaid. This is a prosecutor's office, not a licensing body: it is the channel that can put somebody in front of a criminal court.

Use this whenA program paid by Medicaid where a young person was abused, neglected or exploited, or where the billing does not match the care that was given.

HowCall or email the division directly, or use the Attorney General's online report form.

Oversight and advocacy

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

Utah Youth in Care (Congregate Care) Ombuds

An independent office inside DHHS for young people in residential programs, therapeutic schools and outdoor youth programs. It listens, advocates, conducts independent reviews, works directly with the program, and can open an investigation. It takes calls from a youth still inside a Utah program and from a parent in another state.

It does not investigate abuse or neglect allegations - those go to DCFS - and it does not investigate health and safety standards, which go to the Office of Licensing. It refers them on rather than dropping them. It does not give legal advice.

Use this whenA young person in a Utah program who feels unheard or unsafe, or a parent who cannot get a straight answer out of the program.

HowSubmit the online contact form. You will hear back within three business days, and contact is confidential.

DeadlineThere is a time limit and the office states it two different ways: the program page says you must make contact within 9 months of the incident, while the contact form says the situation must have occurred within the last 3 months. Treat 3 months as the safe assumption and call if you are outside it.

Disability Law Center (Utah's Protection and Advocacy agency)

Utah's federally mandated P&A. It investigates abuse and neglect in residential facilities, has a right of access to them, and provides free legal advocacy to eligible clients, including representation in hearings and court. Its published reports on Utah programs have forced state responses.

Use this whenA Utah program where the young person has a disability or a mental health diagnosis. Call and ask if you are not sure whether that applies.

HowIntake by phone, or online through the site. It no longer takes walk-ins, though you can come in to fill in the paperwork.

1-800-662-9080 Salt Lake City line 801-363-1347. Video Relay Service available.
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National reporting channels, and the same list for other states