Every week in this country, child protective service agencies receive 50,000 reports that a child has been abused or neglected. And of the nearly one million children who are determined to be victims of maltreatment each year, more than 1,000 of these children will die from their injuries or neglect.
Types of maltreatment that these children may suffer include: physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect -- such as withholding basic needs from the child such as food or medicine, or psychological and emotional neglect.
Medical Professionals Requirements
Sources for these 50,000 weekly reports may include lawyers, social workers, teachers, parents, spouses or the victim themselves along with other sources. But about 25 percent of the reports of child maltreatment come from medical professionals and personnel who are required by law to report. A wide range of people involved in the healthcare profession, and many other professions, are required by law to report child abuse and neglect when they suspect it. This can include everyone from physicians to nurses or even hospital employees or private medical office personnel. In general, healthcare workers are required to report under these conditions:
- When a healthcare professional such as a physician (including interns and other residents) or a nurse has a reasonable cause to suspect that a child who they have seen as a patient is being abused or neglected.
- When a person who is legally responsible for a child comes to a medical professional and reports that they suspect that their child is being maltreated because of personal knowledge that they have about the child.
- Or, when a staff member, such as an office worker in a medical practice or a hospital admissions staff who comes in contact with children but does not directly care for those children, suspects maltreatment. They must report their suspicions directly to the person in charge of the office or their hospital department who will determine if a report is justified.
States Vary in Reporting Requirements
When any of the above criteria is present a person is required by law to report the case immediately by phone to their local Child Protective Services Agency or whatever agency the state requires be contacted. A written report must also generally be filed within a certain time frame. It depends on the state laws.
There may be other situations in which reporting is required. Each state has its own reporting laws and procedures that should be reviewed by and well known to all medical professionals and their staff.
For more information about the details of reporting, go to the Administration for Children and Families website, which provides further details about how to report child, abuse and neglect and also provides toll free numbers for reporting state by state. |
