What the Childhelp Hotline Cannot Do

Childhelp crisis counselors cannot come to the home where the abuse is happening and take away the child or teen who is in danger of being hurt and put them in a new home.

Law enforcement agencies (the police or sheriff's departments) and child protective services are the ones who decide what will happen when there is child abuse. If a child is in immediate danger, our hotline counselors can call the local police for emergency response.

The Childhelp Hotline crisis counselors can't make the child abuse report for you.

Our crisis counselors can provide you with your local reporting telephone number. They can also stay on the phone line and make a 3-way call if you are nervous about doing it alone. The hotline is not a reporting agency and therefore us unable to take a report of abuse on your behalf. The local reporting agency is required by law to take a report directly from the reporting individual and will not accept third party reports of abuse.

Unfortunately, the crisis counselors cannot spend time on the phone providing information for a school paper or other research you are doing regarding child abuse. You can research child abuse statistics and gain valuable data throughout this website. You can also request research by going here and filling out a data request via the website.