Why Mandated Reporters Hesitate to Report

One question that bedevils the child protection field is why mandated reporters hesitate to make reports. A very interesting review of literature in 2017 concluded that the major reason for the hesitation may be bad experiences after making prior reports. The researchers looked at 42 studies from around the world, and noted that 73% of the articles reported bad experiences after making reports. Those negative experiences included harm to the therapeutic relationship, lack of follow-up by child protection authorities, seeing the child in a foster care environment that was worse than the original family home, and child death after a report. The studies revealed the most hesitation in cases where the signals were mixed, such as neglect, emotional abuse, or exposure to domestic violence. The authors noted that they did not evaluate the effectiveness of mandated reporting, but simply reviewed the concerns that mandated reporters expressed in the studies.

This study is consistent with what I have seen with my clients who serve youth. They do care about the children, and they care about what happens after they make a report. If child protection workers determine that the report was unsubstantiated, then my clients have damaged their relationship with the family for no good result. Even worse, if there is abuse occurring that authorities don't see or stop, then when family moves the child to another facility (the most common response), and my clients will have lost any opportunity to continue to help the child.

There is no magic formula for this problem.  Some child protection investigators ignore clear signs of abuse, while others overlook benign causes for injuries. But it is a problem that we need to grapple with. Increasing the pressure on mandated reporters will not solve the problem if the barrier truly is lack of trust in child protection authorities.