April’s Child Abuse Prevention Month serves as a reminder that every adult in Tennessee is legally required to report any reasonable suspicion of child abuse or neglect.
Upper Cumberland Child Advocacy Center Executive Director Tracy Plant Bucholz said the state mandate applies to all citizens regardless of their profession. The organization provides forensic interviews, medical exams, and therapy for children and families across the seven counties of the 13th Judicial District during active investigations.
“In the state of Tennessee, every adult is a mandated reporter which means that if you have a concern, you’re obligated under law to make a report if you have what’s considered reasonable suspicion of abuse or neglect,” Plant Bucholz said. “And making a report doesn’t mean that you’re saying absolutely that this has happened and that you know it for fact, you’re just raising a red flag.”
Plant Bucholz said the number of referrals in the 13th Judicial District has remained relatively consistent over the last decade, ranging between 900 and 1,200 cases annually. Plant Bucholz said while the numbers have stayed mostly the same, there has been a slight increase in cases from last year moving into 2025.
“We just want to use the month of April to talk about what child abuse looks like here in the 13th judicial district and what we can do to shed light on that and like you mentioned earlier work towards prevention versus intervention,” Plant Bucholz said. “You’re just raising a red flag for something to be looked into and you know the importance of that is just that we are all caretakers of each other and we want to take care of the most vulnerable in our community and that is our children.”
Plant Bucholz said socioeconomic factors like poverty and substance abuse can impact the number of neglect referrals. Plant Bucholz said severe abuse occurs across all socioeconomic levels, though families with more resources may have a greater ability to hide the abuse from the community.
“I think we as a society like to pretend sometimes that bad things don’t happen, it’s hard for us to imagine that someone could hurt a child and I think that’s something that we have to overcome,” Plant Bucholz said. “I think it’s hard for people to take a look at that because that may mean that it’s someone you care about- um your brother, your uncle, your aunt, your mother could be the alleged perpetrator and I think those types of things are difficult.”
Plant Bucholz said the majority of cases handled by the center involve sexual abuse, which is often difficult for the public to discuss because the perpetrator is usually someone the child knows and loves. Plant Bucholz said the center works as part of a multi-disciplinary team including the District Attorney’s Office, law enforcement, and the Department of Children’s Services to investigate these claims.
“I don’t want people to feel afraid that if they make a call or they raise a red flag that you know automatically that means a child’s going to be taken away or something like that,” Plant Bucholz said. “I think a lot of times people are reluctant to report because of the fear of what may happen.”
Reports can be made anonymously through the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services hotline at 1-877-237-0004 or online at the state’s website.