MANDATORY REPORTING

It has been repeatedly documented that mandated reporters fail to recognize or consider the impact of poverty, systemic racism, and cross generational trauma when they suspect maltreatment. This lack of awareness contributes to and compounds bias in mandated reporting, resulting in generations of communities of color experiencing the child welfare system as a system of surveillance and not support.

Advocates working in the field of domestic violence (DV) have long grappled with their role as mandated reporters of child abuse and neglect alongside their commitment to support, empower, and keep survivors of DV safe from harm and oppression. Several questions have been repeatedly raised and examined.

Who is a mandated reporter?
When do I need to file a report?
How do I file a report more safely?
Is children’s exposure to domestic violence a reportable condition even if the child wasn’t hurt physically or sexually?

You can find the answers to these questions and more here (Schechter, S., 1982) (Ganley, A. L., & Schechter, S., 1995) (Schechter, S., 1999) (“The Greenbook,” 2006).

History

Children’s exposure to domestic violence is something that the child welfare system became concerned about because of advocacy by leaders in the domestic violence field who worked to raise awareness about:

the harm of children’s exposure to domestic violence;
root causes of DV; and
bias against women embedded in public systems, DV practices, and child and family policies.

As part of their efforts, leaders called for a bridging of the gap between services to support survivors in violent intimate relationships and services to protect children from maltreatment. The intent of that education was to build community capacity to help children by seeing and responding to their experiences specifically and fully, not just as an extension of what their parents and caregivers experience. Instead, the impact of this work to raise awareness, improve systems, and engage community has been that domestic violence has become a condition that warrants a nearly automatic, knee jerk response by professionals to report child exposure to domestic violence as a form of child maltreatment.

In reality, harm to children who live in homes where there is domestic violence requires thoughtful assessment and a thorough understanding of the dynamics at play. Often, professionals outside of the domestic violence field do not consider the context of violence in a family but instead they are only focused on incidents. This is further clouded by a threshold of reasonable suspicion to warrant a mandated report which is highly subjective to bias – both explicit and implicit (Palusci, V., Botash, A., 2021) (Beniwal, 2017) (Knispel, 2020) (Luken, A., Nair, R., Fix, R., 2021) (Barbarin, 2020).

It has been repeatedly documented that mandated reporters fail to recognize or consider the impact of poverty, systemic racism, and cross generational trauma when they suspect maltreatment (Sheats, K. J., Irving, S. M., Mercy, J. A., Simon, T. R., Crosby, A. E., Ford, D. C., … & Morgan, R. E., 2018) (Morsy, L., & Rothstein, R., 2019). This lack of awareness contributes to and compounds bias in mandated reporting, resulting in generations of communities of color experiencing the child welfare system as a system of surveillance and not support. The threat and consequence of family separation are real, particularly for Black, Indigenous and other families and communities of color.

There is an open dialogue now in the U.S. about the fairness and efficacy of mandatory reporting. Some policy advocates and activists are organizing to make changes to the law by arguing that the law criminalizes poverty, is racist and sexist, and disrupts relationships between professionals and families. See an example from New York City here.

Call to Action – Mandatory Supporting Instead of Mandatory Reporting

Mandatory Supporting

Motivated by outreach & support
Nonjudgemental & compassionate
Prioritizes Partnership
Fosters Community connection
Centers family driven needs
Practices whole family care