A Misunderstanding Regarding the Duty to Report Suspected Abuse

Abstract

Confusion exists among professionals as to the circumstances under which a mandatory child abuse reporter must file a report. A review of the literature reveals that professionals sometimes feel obligated to make reports, even though they harbor no suspicion that abuse actually occurred. For example, some individuals believe that they must report abuse allegations made by other individuals, even if the mandatory reporter does not suspect abuse. The authors found that the mandatory reporting statutes of 49 states and the District of Columbia do not require reports unless the reporter has a suspicion of abuse. New York may be an exception. The authors conclude that mandatory reporters generally are not required to report abuse allegations if they themselves do not suspect that abuse occurred. This article encourages mandatory reporters to report abuse as required by the law, but not make unnecessary reports out of confusion or misinformation.