Browser-only date tool · nothing typed is stored or sent
The clocks that start the moment you learn something: 36 hours, two working days, two hours, 24 hours.
Child abuse or neglect: a telephone report now and a written report within 36 hours. Elder or dependent adult abuse: a call now and a written report within two working days, or two hours and 24 hours in a long-term care facility. A trainee treating a consenting minor: the supervisor within 24 hours. A serious threat against an identifiable person: reasonable efforts, no clock. Type when you learned it; the page gives the exact times and the sections.
What and when →What and when
The duty, and the moment you learned it.
Each clock runs from receiving the information, not from deciding what to do with it. The telephone report under both abuse statutes is due “immediately or as soon as is practicably possible”; the times below are for the written follow-ups and the tighter facility clocks. Whether what you know rises to a reasonable suspicion, or a communicated threat rises to §43.92, is the clinical and legal judgment this page does not make.
The statutes
Four sections, in their own words.
“The mandated reporter shall make an initial report by telephone to the agency immediately or as soon as is practicably possible, and shall prepare and send, fax, or electronically transmit a written followup report within 36 hours of receiving the information concerning the incident.” Reasonable suspicion “does not require certainty.” Penal Code §11166(a); the misdemeanor in (c).
“… shall report the known, suspected, or alleged instance of abuse by telephone or through a confidential internet reporting tool … immediately or as soon as practicably possible. If reported by telephone, a written report shall be sent, or an internet report shall be made … within two working days.” In a long-term care facility: a verbal report to law enforcement within two hours and written reports to the ombudsman, law enforcement and the licensing agency within 24 hours; resident-on-resident abuse by a resident with diagnosed dementia and no serious injury, written reports to the ombudsman and law enforcement within 24 hours. W&I §15630(b)(1).
“A marriage and family therapist trainee, a clinical counselor trainee, a psychology trainee, or a social work intern … shall notify their supervisor or, if the supervisor is unavailable, an on-call supervisor … within 24 hours of treating or counseling a minor pursuant to paragraph (1). If, upon the initial assessment of the minor, the trainee or intern believes that the minor is a danger to self or to others, the trainee or intern shall notify the supervisor … immediately after the treatment or counseling session.” H&S §124260(b)(2); the parent-contact record in (c).
“… except if the patient has communicated to the psychotherapist a serious threat of physical violence against a reasonably identifiable victim or victims” (a); the duty to protect is discharged “by making reasonable efforts to communicate the threat to the victim or victims and to a law enforcement agency” (b). Civil Code §43.92, as amended in 2013 to say “duty to protect” without changing its substance (c),(d).
Then what
When it is not a report.
Court paper instead
Subpoenaed as a California therapist
A subpoena is not a request for records and not a court order; what to do first.
A client’s own request
The records-request deadline calculator
Five working days, fifteen days, the fee cap, the seven-year date.
By video
The telehealth consent generator
The client’s location every session is how the emergency resources stay right.
Where every figure came from
Sources.
The statutes
- Penal Code §11166, child abuse and neglect reporting: duty and time (leginfo; read from the Board’s compilation, 4 September 2026)
- Welfare and Institutions Code §15630, elder and dependent adult abuse reporting
- Health and Safety Code §124260, mental health services for minors
- Civil Code §43.92, the duty to protect
- Board of Behavioral Sciences, Statutes and Regulations (the compilation carrying 11166, 15630 and 124260)
Where the reports go
Times are computed in the browser from what is typed; nothing is stored or sent. The page applies the periods the statutes state; whether the threshold for a report or a warning is met is the judgment the statutes leave to the professional, and this page does not make it.
