Mandatory Reporting of Abuse and Neglect
The Arizona Child Abuse Information Center provides on-line training for mandatory reporting of child abuse and neglect. The training provides the investigation protocol to identify when it’s necessary to report, what qualifies as abuse and neglect, and what processes to follow when abuse and neglect are identified. As mandated reporters, social workers must be knowledgeable regarding all processes of abuse and neglect reporting in order to adequately protect those who are most vulnerable.
When to Report
It is important to know when it is necessary to report abuse and neglect. In an effort to provide clear guidelines, Arizona state statute 13-3620 outlines the processes for mandatory reporting in the state of Arizona. The statute states, "any person who reasonably believes that a minor is or has been the victim of abuse... or neglect... shall immediately report or cause reports to be made.” (as cited in, “Mandatory Reporting,” 2009). “Reasonable belief” does not mean that proof has to be provided before a report can be made. Reasonable belief can be garnered from a child who indicates or reveals abuse or neglect, or from an outside source that gives the mandated reporter information in regards to abuse or neglect. The mandated reporter can also attain “reasonable belief” if he or she identifies injuries on the
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Types of abuse can fall under the following categories: physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, or neglect. Physical abuse is any injury that a child receives that is not accidental. Sexual abuse is involving children in any sexual acts. Emotional abuse includes any behavior that causes children to suffer from psychological or emotional trauma. Lastly, neglect is failure on behalf of the child’s guardian to provide for the essential needs of the child
I am on the fence with the Mandatory Reporting Laws, however if any, human being is at risk for hurt, harm or danger due to the maltreatment of another human I believe the proper precautionary measures should be taken to ensure that the treatment doesn’t continue. Furthermore, I agree on one hand with the advantages of mandatory reporting laws especially in some professions where children are in constant contact with the same adults everyday which give them the opportunity to observe & step in when needed with prevention services to children that may need the help. Furthermore as a professional working in any type of public service position, especially with children per child welfare there are statutes that specifically identify persons who
The different forms of child abuse are physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, and Shaken Baby Syndrome. Physical abuse is violence directed toward a child by a parent. Emotional abuse is when the victim feels worthless and rejected. Sexual abuse is sexual contact between the child and an adult or even the perpetrator speaks to the child in a sexually explicit way. Neglect is when parents fail to take care of their child’s basic physical, emotional, disciplinary, and educational needs. Shaken Baby Syndrome is a form of child abuse, which occurs with startling
It is our role in identifying Child Abuse and Neglect. It is important for us to learn about this subject. Child abuse and neglect occurs in all socioeconomic families as well as in child care programs. It is more prevalent than you may think, and you may be the only person in a position to intervene. You have not only a moral obligation to intervene, but as we will discuss, you have a legal obligation to report it.
When a child is suspected of being abused, neglected or placed at imminent risk of serious harm by a member of the staff of a private or public school or an institution that cares for the child, the person in charge of the school or facility must notify the child’s parent or other person responsible for the child’s care that a report has been made. The state’s department of child abuse responsibility is to notify the head of a facility, school or establishment that a report has been made.
Physical abuse can be hitting, slapping, pushing, dragging, forcing limbs and putting them into to situations and actions they don’t want to do, this can also know as restraint. Other types of abuse can be medication abuse, force feeding.
Neglect is the failure to meet a child’s basic physical and or psychological needs, which is likely to affect the child’s health or development. Neglect is when a parent or carer fails to provide adequate food, clothing, shelter (including exclusion from home or abandonment), medical care, or protection from physical and emotional harm or danger. Additionally failure to ensure access to education or to look after a child because the carer is under the influence of alcohol or drugs, is considered as Neglect.
If any professional becomes concerned that a child might be at risk of abuse, be it physical, sexual, emotional or neglect, it is their legal duty to pass on such concerns to the appropriate professionals who can assess if and what action should be taken. In cases where it will not put the child at greater risk or danger, the parents / carers of the child will be informed that such action has been taken.
“ The Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) … defines child abuse and neglect as, at minimum: "Any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation"; or "An act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm."” (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services and Administration for Children & Families, "Definitions of Child Abuse
abuse or suspected abuse of vulnerable individuals is mandated to be reported in most states
In the state of New York the Child Protective System identifies certain professional a vital purpose in reporting child abuse, a code of ethic is used here B.2.a., Probable Harm and Legal requirements under the ACA code of ethics (Counseling, 2015). It is mandated to certain professionals to report
Child Protective Services (CPS) is a complex system of assessments, investigations, and conclusions. CPS is the central agency in each communities child abuse and neglect service system. It is responsible for ensuring that preventative, investigative, and treatment services are available to children and families endangered by child abuse and neglect. As a result, CPS workers must perform a variety of functions when responding to situations of child maltreatment and play a variety of roles throughout their involvement with child protective clients. Reporting a suspective case of child maltreatment to the local CPS agency (or a family member’s own request for help with the problem) initiates
There are many different types of child abuse. There is maltreatment and sexual abuse. Maltreatment is an area that encompasses many different things, such as physical abuse, child neglect, and emotional abuse. Physical abuse may begin with “shaken – baby syndrome” and
Somebody may abuse or neglect a child by inflicting harm, or by failing to act to prevent harm. Children may be abused in a family or in an institutional or community setting, by those known to them or, more rarely, by a stranger for example, via the internet. They may be abused by an adult or adults, or another child or children. Physical abuse: Physical abuse may involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning, suffocating, or otherwise causing physical harm to a child. Physical harm may also be caused when a parent or carer fabricates the symptoms of, or deliberately induces, illness in a child.
New York state office of children and family services provides a 2 hour training that is narrative on interacting cases of child abuse and neglect. This is an online course. A certificate will be received upon completion. In this training it teaches us ways to detect if the child is a victim of child abuse. If the child is being abused, educators who become mandated reporter must report any abuse. This is a very sensitive topic. We as educators never want to see our children hurt. As educators our number one goal is keeping the children safe from harm and danger. Being a Mandate reporter can protect our students from being abused. In early childhood it is likely that children are abused because people tend to think the child is too young to talk.
Westat found that professionals failed to report many of the children they saw who had signs of child abuse and neglect. It found that in 1986, 56 percent of apparently abused or neglected children, or about 500,000 children, were not reported to the authorities. This figure, however, seems more alarming than it is: Basically, the more serious the case, the more likely the report. For example, the surveyed professionals reported over 85 percent of the fatal or serious physical abuse cases they saw, 72 percent of the sexual abuse cases, and 60 percent of the moderate physical abuse cases. They only reported 15 percent of the educational neglect cases they saw, 24 percent of the emotional neglect cases, and 25 percent of the moderate physical neglect cases.