The Florida Abuse Hotline is the centralized operation responsible for receiving, analyzing, and assigning reports of alleged of abuse, neglect, exploitation, and special conditions for all children and vulnerable adults in Florida.  The hotline accepts reports 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The hotline also conducts criminal background checks on participants of reports, potential caregivers for children in out-of-home care, and for reunification purposes.

The hotline receives calls, faxes, and web-based reports from citizens and professionals with concerns of abuse, neglect, or exploitation of children or vulnerable adults. Individuals can contact the Florida Abuse Hotline at 1-800-96-ABUSE or 1-800-962-2873; fax a report to 1-800-914-0004; or report online. A hotline counselor assesses the information provided by the caller and determines if the information provided meets statutory criteria for the department to conduct an investigation by a child protective investigator or adult protective investigator in the appropriate county office.

The Florida Abuse Hotline accepts, screens, and refers reports of alleged abuse, neglect, or exploitation for two vulnerable groups.

• Adults. Adults with disabilities and elders receive services through the Adult Protective Services Program. Clients include adults with physical and mental incapacities who are unable to protect themselves from abuse, neglect, or exploitation.
• Children. Children who are abused and neglected receive services through the department's Family Safety Program. Clients include children who are alleged to have been abused, neglected, or abandoned, or who are in a situation of threatened harm due to acts or omissions of the parent, adult household member, or other household member responsible for the child's welfare.

In Fiscal Year 2018-19, the hotline received 496,283 contacts.

Contact Source	Number of Contacts
Calls	423,511
Online	72,772
Total	496,283
Contact Type	Number of Contacts
Child	354,502
Adult	126,268
Total	454,210

Source: Department of Children and Families.

The hotline also received 36,877 requests for referral information on services from the public and completed 570,254 criminal background checks.

The Florida Abuse Hotline's abandoned call rate for Fiscal Year 2018-19 was 14%, which did not meet the legislative standard of 3%.

The Florida Abuse Hotline is funded as part of the Family Safety Program budget entity.

The 2020 Legislature enacted two laws that create new communication requirements for  Department of Children and Families (DCF) staff, law enforcement officers, and judges.  

• Child Welfare. Chapter 2020-40, Laws of Florida, creates a communication process beginning March 1, 2021, to make information available to law enforcement agencies that a person is a parent or caregiver involved in the child welfare system, and requires an officer to contact the central abuse hotline if the office interacts with such a person and has concerns for a child's health, safety, or well-being. 

• Child Welfare.  Chapter 2020-138, Laws of Florida, requires DCF to notify judges of all central abuse hotline reports that are accepted for an investigation involving a child over whom the court has jurisdiction.

Annual Report on the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in Florida, 2020, Report 20-05, July 2020

DCF and Its Lead Agencies Have Not Resolved Issues Related to Serving Commercially Sexually Exploited Children, Report 17-09, June 2017

Placement Challenges Persist for Child Victims of Commercial Sexual Exploitation; Questions Regarding Effective Interventions and Outcomes Remain, Report 16-04, July 2016

Other Reports
The Auditor General reports on department operations are located on its website.
Websites of Interest
Reporting Abuse/Neglect/Exploitation to the Florida Abuse Hotline

Child Welfare Information Gateway, Identification of Child Abuse and Neglect  

Performance Information
Performance measures and standards for the department may be found in its Long Range Program Plan and Planning and Performance Measures, which reports the department's performance on external and internal measures for its various programs. The measures allow the user to view performance at both a statewide and geographic region level.

Chapter 39 Part II and s. 415.103, Florida Statutes.

Department of Children and Families, 850-487-1111 or 1-800-96-ABUSE

Website