What needs to change in Rhode Island.

• All-person reporting duty (§ 40-11-3(a))

  Rhode Island is one of a small group of states (with North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Texas) that uses an **any-person** trigger rather than an enumerated professional list. Section 40-11-3(a) requires any person with reasonable cause to know or suspect that a child has been abused or neglected (or has been a victim of sexual abuse by another child) to transfer that information to DCYF or its agent within **24 hours**. Clergy are covered as members of the general public.

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• Clergy-penitent privilege not preserved (§ 40-11-11)

  The privilege-abrogation section sweeps in spousal communications and **any professional-client relationship**, carving out only attorney-client. Clergy, physicians, and therapists are not exempted, and the section additionally bars invocation of privilege as grounds for failure to report, failure to cooperate, or exclusion of evidence. Combined with the all-person duty, Rhode Island has **no clergy-penitent shield** for child abuse or neglect.

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• Penalty for knowing failure to report (§ 40-11-6.1)

  Knowing failure to perform any act required by Chapter 40-11, including the § 40-11-3 reporting duty, is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500, imprisonment of up to one year, or both, and exposes the non-reporter to civil liability for damages proximately caused by the failure. The penalty applies equally to clergy by operation of the all-person duty.

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• March 2026 AG investigation: what the text alone didn't surface

  The Attorney General's 284-page investigative report, released March 4, 2026 after a multi-year review of 250,000+ pages of records produced by the Diocese, identified **75 credibly accused clergy and 300+ victims** dating to 1950. The text of § 40-11-3 has required this reporting since long before any of those disclosures; surfacing the scale required external prosecutorial investigation. The report's recommendations propose clarifying the statute to **explicitly enumerate clergy and religious-organization employees** with supervisory responsibility over children. This is additive clarity, not a corrective override.

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• Civil SOL revival window enacted (2026)

  In June 2026 Rhode Island enacted a civil statute-of-limitations revival window (H7200 and its Senate companion S2616), signed into law on June 11, 2026. The law opens a **two-year window**, from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2028, for survivors to bring previously time-barred claims against the institutions and supervisors that enabled or covered up child sexual abuse. It is the civil-accountability half of the reform package recommended by the March 2026 Attorney General report, moving Rhode Island from strong reporting text toward an actual remedy for survivors.

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What it takes to close the gap.

Bills in motion right now.

• H8093Apassed one chamber

  Abused and Neglected Children: expansion of mandatory reporting

  Recommended in the AG's March 2026 report. Expands the definition of 'educational program' in Chapter 40-11 to include charter schools, parochial schools, after-school programs, and camps, and adds religious-organization language including clergy. Passed the House 73-0 on April 7, 2026; pending in the Senate. Does not narrow the existing all-person duty under § 40-11-3; broadens the institutional reporting overlay alongside it.

  SponsorsRep. Carol Hagan McEntee
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How Rhode Island got here.

• 1950–2026
  Decades of hidden abuse

  The conduct later documented by the AG spans roughly 75 years, through every revision of § 40-11-3. The text required reporting; the institutions did not.

• 2026-03
  AG report released

  Attorney General Peter Neronha releases the 284-page Diocese of Providence report after a multi-year review of 250,000+ pages of records produced by the Diocese, identifying 75 credibly accused clergy and 300+ victims. The recommendations propose statutory clarifications and a civil SOL revival window.

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• 2026-04
  House passes the reform package

  On April 7, 2026, the House passes H8093A (mandatory-reporting expansion) 73-0 and H7200 (civil SOL revival window). Both bills move to the Senate.

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• 2026-05
  Senate prepares advisory-opinion vote

  Senate Judiciary signals it will vote on a resolution asking the Rhode Island Supreme Court for an advisory opinion on the revival window's constitutionality, rather than voting on the bill. The House sponsor and survivors say the maneuver is designed to stop the bill from coming to a floor vote.

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• 2026-06
  SOL revival window signed into law

  Despite the advisory-opinion maneuver, the Senate passed substitute versions of the civil SOL revival bills (H7200 and its Senate companion S2616) on June 3, 2026; the House concurred on June 8, and the Governor signed them into law on June 11, opening a revival window from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2028 for previously time-barred claims against institutions that enabled or covered up abuse. The Senate companion to the mandatory-reporting expansion (S3106) was held for further study and did not advance, though the House version (H8093A) passed 73-0 and remains pending in the Senate.

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Public-record sources UCO is tracking.

Always verify against the underlying statute or filing before quoting.

• Rhode Island General Assembly
  R.I. Gen. Laws § 40-11-3 — Duty to report

  Principal statute. Subsection (a) requires any person with reasonable cause to know or suspect child abuse or neglect to transfer the information to DCYF or its agent within 24 hours, the all-person framing.

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• Child Welfare Information Gateway (HHS Children's Bureau)· May 2023
  Mandatory Reporters of Child Abuse and Neglect (State Statutes Series)

  Cross-state comparative reference. Footnote 26 lists Rhode Island, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Texas among the states whose statutes require any person (not just enumerated professionals) to report suspected child abuse. Confirms the any-person framing for all four states cited in legalNotes[0].

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• Rhode Island General Assembly
  R.I. Gen. Laws § 40-11-11 — Abrogation of privileged communications

  Operative privilege-abrogation section. Abrogates spousal privilege and any professional-client privilege except attorney-client; bars privilege as grounds for failure to report or to cooperate. Clergy-penitent is not preserved.

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• Child Welfare Information Gateway (HHS Children's Bureau)· May 2023
  Clergy as Mandatory Reporters of Child Abuse and Neglect — Rhode Island

  Federal HHS state-by-state catalog. Confirms the all-person framing under § 40-11-3 and the privilege override under § 40-11-11. Authoritative federal cross-reference for both the statusBucket and privilegePosture classifications.

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• Rhode Island Office of the Attorney General· March 4, 2026
  Report on Child Sexual Abuse in the Diocese of Providence — Recommendations

  AG Peter Neronha's 284-page investigative report. Identifies 75 credibly accused clergy and 300+ victims dating to 1950; the recommendations page proposes statutory clarifications and a civil SOL revival window, the source of the 2026 House reform package.

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• Rhode Island Current· May 11, 2026
  Senate to mull asking RI Supreme Court for opinion on clergy abuse lawsuit revival bill

  Coverage of the active Senate procedural posture: Senate Judiciary preparing a resolution asking the Rhode Island Supreme Court for an advisory opinion on the SOL revival window's constitutionality, rather than voting on the bill. House sponsor and survivors say the move is designed to stop the bill from coming to a floor vote.

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• Rhode Island Current· April 7, 2026
  House OKs legislation that could open RI's Catholic Church to lawsuits

  Coverage of the House passage of H8093A and H7200 on April 7, 2026 (H8093A passed 73-0), confirming both the vote count and the structure of the reform package.

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• Rhode Island Office of the Attorney General· 2026-03-04
  Attorney General Neronha Publishes Comprehensive Report on Child Sexual Abuse in Diocese of Providence

  Official AG press release confirming the March 4, 2026 release date, 75 credibly accused clergy, and that investigators reviewed over 250,000 pages of records produced by the Diocese. The 284-page report length is confirmed by multiple independent news outlets (America Magazine, OSV News, Catholic Review).

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• BillTrack50· 2026
  Rhode Island H7200 Bill Summary (2026 Regular Session)

  Confirms H7200 would create a revival window effective July 1, 2026 with a June 30, 2028 deadline for bringing revived childhood-sexual-abuse actions previously barred by limitations.

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