Legislation and Social Issues-Law 1002 Duty to Report:
I. Who must report child abuse and who do you report to?
Ontario's Child and Family Services Act, states that each individual has the responsibility to report child abuse. This includes, members of the public and professionals who work with children.
Why do professionals have a "special" duty to report child abuse?
Everyone has the responsibility to protect children from harm, however professionals have a special duty to report child abuse under the Child and Family Services Act. The act recognizes that professionals working closely with children have special awareness, they are trained to recognize child abuse and neglect. Professionals are obligated by law to report suspected abuse,
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
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.
Child abuse in America is an ongoing problem and something needs to be done. There are approximately one million children abused annually in the United States. (Table 339) Cases of child abuse and neglect are reported every ten seconds, and researchers believe that there’s three times that amount that goes unnoticed. (Child Abuse: Know the Signs and Stop the Violence Against Children.) Something needs to be done for these children who are too weak and too powerless to help themselves.
“The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act” states’ that “child abuse is the leading cause of death in children under the age of eighteen.” Child abuse occurs when adults inflict violence and cruelty upon children. Abuse is any willful act that results in physical, mental, or sexual injury that causes or is likely to cause the child to be physically, mental, or emotionally impaired. Abuse happens to children of any age, sex, race, religion, and social status.
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.
The current legislation is the result of the children’s Act 1989, which is used to ensure that all people who work with children are working together and are clear about their responsibilities and know how to act if allegations of child abuse are made. The children’s act 2004 is a legal framework for “Every Child Matters” and is a direct result of the Laming Report following the death of the Victoria Climbie case in the year 2000. Hereafter an independent inquiry highlighted so many problems with how the reports of neglect and child abuse was dealt with and that vulnerable people in society were not being properly safeguarded. The main points of the 2004 Children’s Act were that every local authority has a director of children’s services who is ultimately responsible for ensuring that children are safeguarded.
For 30 years, advocates, program administrators, and politicians have joined to encourage even more reports of suspected child abuse and neglect. Their efforts have been successful, with about three million cases of suspected child abuse having been reported in 1993. Large numbers of endangered children still go unreported, but a serious problem had developed: Upon investigation, as many as 65 percent or the reports now being made are determined to be "unsubstantiated", raising serious civil liberties concerns and placing a huge burden on investigative staffs.
Professionals working in health and social services, educational establishments, and those working for the police and the probation services are bound by statutory law such as Working Together to Safeguard Children 2013 (replacing previous 2010 Act). The statutory includes all nature and impact of child abuse and neglect, procedures to best protect a child, the different roles, processes and responsibilities of all agencies and practitioners involved. It also provided the appropriate action to be taken to safeguard and to promote wellbeing and welfare of children at risk of a possibility significant harm. The 2013 Act sets out important principles to be followed when working with children and their families. Among the other aspect of the act
In order to respond appropriately where abuse or neglect may be taking place, anyone in contact with the adult, whether in a voluntary or paid role, must understand their own role and responsibility and have access to practical and legal guidance, advice and support. This will include understanding local inter-agency policies and procedures. Your organisation’s policies and procedures or agreed ways of working will give you guidance on prevention and procedures to follow if and when abuse or neglect has happened or is suspected. Your manager or a senior member of staff should always be your point of contact for any questions or concerns you might have. A lot of organisations offer additional safeguarding training to raise awareness, explain
To comply with federal law, all states have some form of regulation that requires health professionals to report child abuse/neglect to the appropriate agency.
Child abuse in American today is amongst the most saddened topics of mankind. Many children are subjected to neglect and abuse on a daily basis. The sex and age of child makes no difference when it comes to child abuse.. Boys and girls are equally likely to suffer maltreatment. The problem is how often child abuse goes unreported. Millions of children across the world are abused in some way, whether it is verbal, emotional, physical or sexual. Child abuse has been happening all over the world to young children, however many children keep this a secret because of fear of what could happen. Child Abuse consists of any act of commission or omission that endangers or impairs a child’s physical or emotional health and development. It can be
Reporting child abuse is a serious matter. It is okay to report neglect or abuse because they may feel that the child is in danger. As long as they report it to the right authority they are not violating the law. HIPPA allows this type of disclosure without parental or guardian permission. The guardian should be verbally notified unless it would place the child at risk. In some states they are required to report names of people with positive HIV test to public health authorities for infectious diseases surveillance. If I was ever in a situation where I had to report a serious a matter I would not go around telling everyone according to the HIPAA you must always report to the appropriate authority. I would not want to jeopardize my job by violating
I live and work in the state of Ohio, a state which has established mandated reporting laws in place. According to the Ohio Revised Code (ORC 2151.421 R), those individuals “acting in an official or professional capacity and knows, or has reasonable cause to suspect” (www.codes.ohio.gov/orc/2151.421) incidents of abuse or neglect involving a minor
Sexual abuse to a child at times is confusing to the family. Families who are affected by sexual abuse to a child tend to have a difficult time talking about the abuse. About one out of every four girls and one out of every five boys are sexually abused by the time they are 18 years old.
The maltreatment and neglect of children and youth has increasingly come to be perceived as a social blight. As with most social problems, child abuse influences our school systems. Children that are being emotionally, physically and sexually abused often use school as a cop out. These children spend around thirty hours a week in a safe, enjoyable and carefree environment, however within these thirty hours teachers must be taking the time to make observations. Teachers have the ability to compare current behaviors with peers, norms and past behaviors of their students. Therefore, teachers are an important role in reporting cases of child abuse or maltreatment.