Mandated reporter training for health licensees, state by state

01 In short

Mandated reporter training for health licensees is set state by state, and most states do not tie it to your license at all. Pennsylvania requires 2 hours of approved child abuse recognition and reporting CE at every biennial renewal (3 hours for a first license), New York requires a one-time 2-hour child abuse identification course for physicians, RNs, dentists and several other professions, and Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Delaware and Maryland each set their own hours and cycles. Pennsylvania, New York, Iowa and Illinois all run a free official course.

Pennsylvania (Act 31)

2 h every renewal; 3 h for initial license

New York

2 h, one time, NYSED-approved provider

Iowa

2 h child abuse course, every 3 years

Illinois

Medical personnel who work with children: at least every 6 years

Free official courses

PA (Pitt), NY (OCFS), Iowa HHS, Illinois DCFS

02 State-by-state table

Which states require mandated reporter training for health licensees?

Every state makes clinicians report suspected child abuse. Far fewer make you prove training to keep your license. The table lists the states where the licensing board or its statute ties child abuse training to licensure or renewal, with the exact hours each source gives.

Rows link to our state pages, where the topic sits next to the rest of your renewal hours.

No row here means only that your board does not check the training at renewal. You are still a mandated reporter under your state's child protection law, and employers often require their own course.

03 Pennsylvania Act 31

Pennsylvania Act 31: child abuse recognition for license renewal

Pennsylvania has the strictest rule of the group. Act 31 of 2014 covers every health-related licensee except those of the State Board of Veterinary Medicine, and it applies even when your board has no other CE requirement. The Department of State gives LPNs as the example.

A first license needs 3 hours of training approved by the Department of Human Services. Each biennial renewal needs 2 hours of approved child abuse recognition and reporting CE, taken inside that 24-month period. Hours do not carry over.

The 2 hours count toward your board's total. A physician who owes 100 hours does not owe 102. They cannot replace a board-specific topic such as ethics, though.

Take a 3-hour course and the extra hour may or may not count. The Act 31 FAQ lists the State Board of Medicine, Osteopathic Medicine, Dentistry and Podiatry as boards that accept only 2 hours; Nursing, Pharmacy, Psychology and the social work board accept the third hour if it comes from one 3-hour DHS course.

You cannot renew until the approved provider's electronic report reaches the Department of State and is processed, which can take up to seven days. Do the course well before your renewal date, and call the provider first if the credit is missing.

PA Department of State: Act 31 approved providers

04 New York coursework

NYS child abuse mandated reporter training: who needs it

New York's rule is a one-time, 2-hour course in the identification and reporting of child abuse and maltreatment, required since January 1, 1989 when you first apply for a license or limited permit. It applies to physicians, registered nurses and nurse practitioners, dentists, dental hygienists, psychologists, optometrists, podiatrists and chiropractors. LCSWs and LMSWs, mental health counselors, MFTs, creative arts therapists, psychoanalysts and behavior analysts were added later, and athletic trainers on December 22, 2025.

Graduates of New York-registered programs in these professions after September 1, 1990 already have it from school. Residency does not count. An international or out-of-state medical graduate who trained in a New York residency still has to take the course from an approved provider.

Two curriculum updates matter in 2026. NYSED says mandated reporters, including those who already took the training, must complete the updated curriculum (adding children with intellectual or developmental disabilities) by November 17, 2026. If your course was between 11/1/2022 and 8/31/2025, most approved providers offer a short 15-minute addendum.

You can request an exemption if your practice has no contact with patients under 18, or with adults with a handicapping condition who live in a residential care school or facility. RN applicants request it with the license application.

NYSED: mandated child abuse training · NYSED approved providers

05 Iowa

Iowa mandatory reporter training every three years

Iowa calls it mandatory reporter training, and it repeats. The board of medicine requires 2 hours of Iowa HHS child abuse identification and reporting training every three years from physicians who regularly give primary care to children: emergency, family and general practice physicians, pediatricians, psychiatrists and anyone else in that role. A separate 2-hour dependent adult abuse course applies to physicians who give primary care to adults.

Nurses who care only for children take the child course; nurses who care for both children and dependent adults take both. Each course counts as two contact hours, and a certificate from the current HHS course lasts three years. Dentists, hygienists and pharmacists who treat children have the same duty under their own board rules.

Picture an Iowa family physician who also covers a nursing home. That is two courses, two certificates, both renewed on the same three-year clock.

06 Illinois

Illinois: DCFS training every six years for medical personnel

The Illinois rule comes from DCFS under the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act, not from IDFPR. Medical personnel who work with children must complete mandated reporter training at least every six years and attest at each renewal. Those who do not work with children may attest at renewal instead of repeating the course.

IDFPR states 1 hour of training at renewal, reinstatement or restoration, and since January 1, 2021 it can count toward CE for professions that have a CE requirement. You report completion to your employer and to IDFPR and keep your own record.

07 Kentucky, Delaware, Maryland

Kentucky pediatric abusive head trauma and other states

• Kentucky nurses: 1.5 contact hours in pediatric abusive head trauma within 3 years of licensure, for out-of-state graduates and Kentucky graduates before December 2011. Once done, it is not repeated. See Kentucky nursing CE.
• Kentucky physicians: pediatricians, radiologists, family, emergency medicine and urgent care physicians owe 1 hour of Board-approved pediatric abusive head trauma training. It sits outside the 60-hour CME count.
• Kentucky PAs: at least 1.5 hours within the first two years of licensure or before the first renewal cycle ends; it counts toward the 100 CE hours.
• Kentucky social workers: 1.5 hours at least once every six years. See Kentucky social work CE.
• Delaware: every Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline licensee takes a 1-hour Office of the Child Advocate course before each renewal. Delaware nurses owe 1 hour per renewal period on recognizing sexual abuse and reporting child abuse or neglect.
• Maryland dentists and hygienists: a 2-hour Board-approved course on abuse and neglect under Maryland law, every other renewal cycle.

08 Free official courses

Where to take free mandated reporter training

Four states run their own course at no charge. Use these before paying a commercial provider, but confirm the course is approved for your license, not only for teachers or child care staff.

Pennsylvania's DHS stopped accepting new child abuse training curricula on January 1, 2025. Courses already approved stay valid, so check the Department of State list rather than trusting a provider's own claim.

09 Reporting completion

How to report completion to your board

1. Pennsylvania: the approved provider sends your completion to the Department of State electronically. Check that it posted before you renew.
2. New York: the provider must give you two copies of the Certification of Completion within ten days. Applicants upload it at eservices.nysed.gov (additional documents); current licensees use the licensee document upload.
3. Iowa: keep the HHS certificate. Documentation is due at renewal, and you send it if audited.
4. Illinois: tell your employer and IDFPR you completed it, attest at renewal and keep the certificate.
5. Delaware: attest to the training on your renewal application.
6. Every state: store the certificate with your other CE records. Our multi-state CE planner shows which of your licenses need the course and when.

10 Questions

Mandated reporter training: common questions