Mandated Reporters of Child Abuse Walk a Fine Line

Two stories I found this week illustrate the difficult balance that mandated reporters have to find in their jobs. In the first story, a New York City school reported a student for educational neglect, even though he never enrolled there. He actually was an honor student at a nearby private school. When he didn't appear for remote classes, the local public school reported him to protective services. Although the family eventually was cleared, the parents said the experience was "very traumatizing and shocking" for the entire family.

At the other end of the spectrum, a waitress in Orlando is credited with saving a boy's life after spotting signs of physical abuse. She held up a note that the parents could not see, asking him if he needed help. When he nodded, she called the police.

Dramatic stories like the Orlando rescue explain the repeated mantra "better safe than sorry." Yet, we should not forget the trauma that the NYC family suffered from being investigated. Getting a visit from protective services is not a benign event. That's one reason that NYC has procedures, such as repeatedly contacting the family and assigning an attendance officer, that the school in the first story apparently did not follow.

There is no magic formula for finding the right balance, but recognizing the need for it is one place to start. If your organization is a mandated reporter, make certain that you have both policies for reporting and knowledge of what signs warrant a report. Making referrals based on guesswork or shoddy record-keeping simply ties up investigators' time and traumatizes the children that we are supposed to be protecting