Mandated reporter

People legally required to report abuse
In the United States and Canada, a mandated reporter is a person who is legally required to report to Child Protective Services if they observe or suspect abuse or neglect in children. Mandatory reporting laws generally apply to professionals who come into contact with children (for example, physicians, nurses, teachers, therapists, and childcare providers) while in other places, it applies to all adults regardless of profession. If a mandated reporter fails to report, they may incur civil penalties, criminal prosecution, or both. In many jurisdictions, mandatory reporting laws can also extend to adults who passed the age of majority but are deemed vulnerable to abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation due to a disability or old age. Hence, it is not uncommon for nursing homes or group homes staff to also be mandated to report. The Adult Protective Services protects these adults.

In 1962, United States doctors C. Henry Kempe and Brandt Steele published "The Battered Child Syndrome", which helped doctors identify child abuse, its effects, and the need to report serious physical abuse to legal authorities. Its publication changed the prevalent views in the United States, where child abuse was previously seen as uncommon, and not a regular issue. In 1974, the United States Congress passed the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA), which provides funds to states for development of Child Protective Services (CPS) and hotlines to prevent serious injuries to children. These laws and the media and advocacy coverage and research brought about a gradual change in societal expectations on reporting in the United States and, at different rates, in other western nations. Originally created to respond to physical abuse, reporting systems in various countries began to expand to address sexual and emotional abuse, neglect, and exposure to domestic abuse. This expansion was accompanied by broader requirements for reporting abuse: previously reports were only submitted when an incident caused serious physical injury, but as the definitions changed, more minor physical injuries and developmental and psychological trauma began to be included as well. There has been a huge increase of reporting over the decades with enormous numbers of unsubstantiated cases. Referrals increase each year, but the actual substantiated cases remain low and are approximately the same or decline each year. In 2014, in response to the Penn State sex abuse scandal, then Governor Tom Corbett passed a bill that extended the state's mandatory reporting obligations to include additional professionals as a measure to increase reports concerning child abuse. However, an article published by NBC News and ProPublica finds in the first half of the 2010s (before the changes), there were 29,766 children investigated with only 10,410 being sustained. In the later half of the decade, after the changes, the number of reported children was 42,366, but only 10,399 were sustained. Critics of mandatory reporting laws point out the number of fatalities relating to child abuse rose from 96 in 2014 to 194 in 2021 (seven years after the implementation).

In 2015–16, of the total number of notifications (355,935), 164,987 cases (involving 115,024 children) of child abuse were investigated or were in the process of being investigated. Of these investigations, 60,989 cases were substantiated

Brazil has a mandatory reporting system for child maltreatment that is enforced by the health and educational systems, but due to the absence of national prevalence surveys, the difference between data generated by such mandatory reports and actual incidence of abuse is not known, although it is believed that mandatory report systems may result in underreporting. While specific data on mandatory reporting is unavailable, data collected from 314 municipalities (out of 5564) across the country revealed that in the second half of 2005 alone, 27,986 children received attention from the Social Welfare Centers: either because of sexual abuse (13,240), psychological violence (4,340), neglect (4,073), physical violence (3,436) and sexual exploitation (2,887). Most victims were in the 7–14 years group (17,738). 4,936 were under 6 years old.

Canada provides data on substantiations but not reports. In Canada in 2008,
In 2012, the UK reports 50,573 children were on child protection registers or subject to a child protection plan: England (42,850), Scotland (2,706), Wales (2,890), Northern Ireland (2,127).

In the US there was a 2348% increase in hotline calls from 150,000 in 1963 to 3.3 million in 2009. In the US, there are approximately 3.6 million calls each year: 9,000/day, 63,000/week, affecting on average 1 out of 10 U. S. families with children under the age of 18 each year (there are 32.2 million such families). From 1998 to 2011 there were a total of 43 million hotline calls.

The criteria for reporting vary significantly based on jurisdiction. Typically, mandatory reporting applies to people who have reason to suspect the abuse or neglect of a child, but it can also apply to people who suspect abuse or neglect of a dependent adult or the elderly, or to any members of society (sometimes called Universal Mandatory Reporting [UMR]). A large majority of European countries – 86 percent – have some form of mandatory reporting; 77 percent of African countries do; 72 percent of Asian countries and 90 percent of the Americas do. In Australia, the Northern Territory requires all citizens to report suspected child abuse, and the other states and territories have mandatory reporting for designated work roles. In Brazil, notification is mandatory in the health system, in schools and by the Child Protection Councils (CPC) network, present in many municipalities. In South Africa, Section 110 of the Children's Act, 2005 mandates 'Any correctional official, dentist, homeopath, immigration official, labour inspector, legal practitioner, medical practitioner, midwife, minister of religion, nurse, occupational therapist, physiotherapist, psychologist, religious leader, social service professional, social worker, speech therapist, teacher, traditional health practitioner, traditional leader or member of staff or volunteer worker at a partial care facility, drop in centre or child and youth care centre' to report when they suspect that a child has been abused 'in a manner causing physical injury, sexually abused or deliberately neglected'. The Sexual Offences Act, 1957, compels all citizens who are aware of the sexual exploitation of children to report the offence to the police. Under UK law only local authority social workers, health and social service board social workers (Northern Ireland) and police have a duty to report suspicions that a child is in need of care and protection. Local child protection guidelines and professional codes of conduct may expect other professionals, such as teachers and medical staff, to report, but they do not have to do so as a matter of law.

In the United States, states frequently amend their laws, but as of April 2019 all states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U. S. Virgin Islands have statutes identifying persons who are required to report suspected child maltreatment to an appropriate agency. In all other States, territories, and the District of Columbia, any non mandated person is also allowed to report. Canada imposes a mandatory requirement on all citizens, except in the Yukon Territory where it is restricted to those who come in contact with children in their professional roles.

The Council of Europe has urged all countries to have mandatory reporting of child abuse but several European countries do not. Fifteen member States (Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden, as well as the United Kingdom, which has left the EU on 31 January 2020) have reporting obligations in place for all professionals. In 10 member states (Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Greece, Finland, Italy, Latvia, Portugal and Slovakia) existing obligations only address certain professional groups such as social workers or teachers. More than half (15) of the EU member states (Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden) have specific reporting obligations addressing civilians, with specific obligations for civilians to report cases of child abuse, neglect and/or exploitation. In many member states without specific provisions, general provisions on the obligation for all citizens to report a criminal act under national law apply, but with no specific obligation to report a child at risk of abuse. In Germany, Malta and the Netherlands, no reporting obligations were in place in March 2014. In Malta, however, the new draft Child Protection Act (Out of Home Care), introduces the obligation of mandatory reporting for all professionals and volunteers.

Mandated reporting requirements generally apply to professions that have frequent contact with children, although in some jurisdictions all citizens are required to report suspicions of some forms of abuse. Other jurisdictions have mandated requirements only of doctors or medical professionals. Jurisdictions may note that, while these groups are legally required (mandated) to report, most jurisdictions allow for voluntary reports by any concerned people.

Conflicts between a mandated reporter's duties and some privileged communication statutes are common but, in general, attorney–client privileges and clergy–penitent privileges are exempt from mandatory reporting in many jurisdictions. In some states in the US, psychiatrist and psychologists are also exempt from mandatory reporting. "Clergy–penitent privilege" is privileged communication that protects communication between a member of the clergy and a communicant, who shares information in confidence. When applied, neither the minister nor the "penitent" can be forced to testify in court, by deposition, or other legal proceedings, about the contents of the communication. Most US states provide the privilege, typically in rules of evidence or civil procedure, and the confidentiality privilege has also been extended to non catholic clergy and non Sacramental counseling.