Re-Thinking Mandated Reporting: Improving Practice to Keep Children, Families and Communities Safe - Considerations for Social Work Education & Research

Every U.S. state and Canadian province has a law requiring certain professionals who work with children to report incidents of suspected child abuse and neglect to public child welfare authorities. Referred to as mandated reporting, it is the mechanism by which families enter the child welfare system (Itzkowitz & Olson, 2022). Despite the intent of mandated reporting laws to protect children, studies have found that expanding mandated reporting does not correlate with a decrease in the occurrence of child abuse and neglect (Raz, 2020). In fact, mandated reporting laws result in overreporting suspected abuse, overwhelming child welfare systems, and diverting limited resources from children actually experiencing severe harm (Raz, 2020). In addition to overwhelming child welfare systems, reports to child welfare authorities can have serious consequences for children and families, including intrusive and stigmatizing investigations, long-term surveillance, emotional and psychological trauma, fear of asking for help, erosion of trust, and temporary or permanent family separation (Dettlaff et al.,2020; Harvey et al.,2021; Melton, 2005; Raz, 2020).

After a brief overview of the history of mandated reporting and present day reporting data from both the U.S. and Canadian contexts, this roundtable session will facilitate a dialogue about the critical questions surrounding mandated reporting policies and practices. Drawing on the speakers' research, teaching, and practice experiences, the following issues will be explored: 1. specific requirements of mandated reporting statutes vs. interpretations of these requirements by social workers; how mandated reporting as a policy and practice is taught in social work education 2. social workers' philosophies on mandated reporting and how they experience the practice of mandated reporting; 3. conceptualizations of risk and safety and their impact on mandated reporting decision-making; 4. gaps between what social workers hope the outcomes of mandated reporting will be and the actual outcomes for children and families; 5. evidence-based practices such as family engagement and resource connection as alternatives to reporting; 6. the reasonable belief standard of reporting; and 7. the role of race and class bias in mandated reporting practices.

Significant time will be devoted to discussing ways to harness social work research and practice experience to inform policy changes in both the U.S. and Canada that promote the welfare of children, families, and communities.s.