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Child Maltreatment: Mandated Reporting

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Handbook of Interpersonal Violence Across the Lifespan

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Abstract

The adoption of mandated reporting statutes in the 1960s marked a cultural shift in how society viewed child maltreatment and our responsibility to protect children from harm. This chapter explores the early efforts of child maltreatment pioneers to raise awareness about non-accidental injuries and build a system for intervention. With the enactment of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA – 1974), all states implemented some type of reporting process, initially targeting professionals who regularly interacted with children (physicians, teachers, counselors, and law enforcement officers) to report suspicions of child maltreatment. Most states developed 24/7 staffed hotline systems for capturing reporter’s information, screening the content and initiating investigations when warranted. Over the years the categories of professions required to report have grown to include numerous disciplines, with some states adopting universal mandated reporting that require all community members to take responsibility for reporting child maltreatment. Research indicates that mandated reporters have encountered challenges with reporting, from concerns about making mistakes to believing that they must have documented evidence of abuse in order to report. Additionally, some reporters are concerned about retaliation for reporting or about lack of response from the child welfare system. Mandated reporter training continues to be a problem across numerous disciplines, many of whom have had little to no training to fully understand the roles and responsibilities of mandated reporters.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Illinois Springfield, Springfield, IL, USA

    Betsy P. Goulet

  2. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA

    Yu-Ling Chiu & Theodore P. Cross

Authors
  1. Betsy P. Goulet
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  2. Yu-Ling Chiu
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  3. Theodore P. Cross
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Betsy P. Goulet .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute on Violence, Abuse and Trauma, Alliant International University, San Diego, CA, USA

    Robert Geffner

  2. School of Health and Human Sciences, University of North Carolina at Greensbo, Greensboro, NC, USA

    Jacquelyn W. White

  3. Dept of Family and Community Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA

    L. Kevin Hamberger

  4. Department of Psychology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA

    Alan Rosenbaum

  5. Ethelyn R. Strong School of Social Work, Norfolk State University, Norfolk, VA, USA

    Viola Vaughan-Eden

  6. Education and Research, Zero Abuse Project, St. Paul, MN, USA

    Victor I. Vieth

Section Editor information

  1. Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

    Ernestine Briggs

  2. School of Social Work, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA

    Javonda Williams

  3. Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Eastern Virginia Medical School/Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters, Norfolk, VA, USA

    Michelle Clayton

  4. New Orleans Child Advocacy Center, New Orleans, LA, USA

    Stacie LeBlanc

  5. School of Social Work - PhD Program, Norfolk State University, Norfolk, VA, USA

    Viola Vaughan-Eden

  6. Owner/Principal Consultant & Trainer, Russell Consulting Specialists, LLc, Vancouver, Washington, USA

    Amy Russell

  7. Executive Director, Arthur D. Curtis Children's Justice Center http://www.clark.wa.gov/cjc

    Amy Russell

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Goulet, B.P., Chiu, YL., Cross, T.P. (2020). Child Maltreatment: Mandated Reporting. In: Geffner, R., White, J., Hamberger, L., Rosenbaum, A., Vaughan-Eden, V., Vieth, V. (eds) Handbook of Interpersonal Violence Across the Lifespan. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62122-7_264-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62122-7_264-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-62122-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-62122-7

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