TABLE 3.1
| Mandatory reporting statutes for child abuse and neglect, 2003 | |||||||||
| Professions that must report | Others who must report | ||||||||
| State | Health care | Mental health | Social work | Education/child care | Law enforcement | All persons | Other | Standard for reporting | Privileged communications |
| Alabama | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Any other person called upon to give aid or assistance to any child | Known or suspected | Attorney/client | |
| § 26-14-3(a) | |||||||||
| § 26-14-10 | |||||||||
| Alaska | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Paid employees of domestic violence and sexual assault programs and drug and alcohol treatment facilities | Have reasonable cause to suspect | ||
| § 47.17.020(a) | |||||||||
| § 47.17.023 | |||||||||
| § 47.17.060 | |||||||||
| Members of a child fatality review team or multidisciplinary child protection team | |||||||||
| Commercial or private film or photograph processors | |||||||||
| American Samoa | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Medical examiner or coroner | Have reasonable cause to know or suspect | |||
| § 45.2002 | |||||||||
| Christian Science practitioner | Have observed conditions which would reasonably result | ||||||||
| Arizona | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Parents | Have reasonable grounds to believe | Clergy/penitent | |
| § 13-3620(A) | Anyone responsible for care or treatment of children | Attorney/client | |||||||
| § 8-805(B)-(C) | |||||||||
| Clergy/Christian Science practitioners | |||||||||
| Domestic violence victim advocates | |||||||||
| Arkansas | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Prosecutors | Have reasonable cause to suspect | Clergy/penitent | |
| § 12-12-507(b)-(c) | Judges | Attorney/client | |||||||
| § 12-12-518(b)(1) | Department of Human Services employees | Have observed conditions which would reasonably result | |||||||
| Domestic violence shelter employees and volunteers | |||||||||
| Foster parents | |||||||||
| Court Appointed Special Advocates | |||||||||
| Clergy/Christian Science practitioners | |||||||||
| California | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Firefighters | Have knowledge of or observe | Clergy/penitent | |
| Penal Code | Animal control officers | ||||||||
| § 11166(a), (c) | Commercial film and photographic print processors | Know or reasonably suspect | |||||||
| § 11165.7(a) | |||||||||
| Clergy | |||||||||
| Court Appointed Special Advocates | |||||||||
| Colorado | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Christian Science practitioners | Have reasonable cause to know or suspect | Clergy/penitent | |
| § 19-3-304(1), (2) (2.5) | |||||||||
| § 19-3-311 | Veterinarians | ||||||||
| Firefighters | Have observed conditions which would reasonably result | ||||||||
| Victim advocates | |||||||||
| Commercial film and photographic print processors | |||||||||
| Clergy | |||||||||
| Connecticut | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Substance abuse counselors | Have reasonable cause to suspect or believe | ||
| § 17a-101(b) | |||||||||
| § 17a-103(a) | Sexual assault counselors | ||||||||
| Battered women's | |||||||||
| Clergy | |||||||||
| Child advocates | |||||||||
| Delaware | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Know or in good faith suspect | Attorney/client | ||
| tit. 16, § 903 | Clergy/penitent | ||||||||
| § 909 | |||||||||
| District of Columbia | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Know or have reasonable cause to suspect | |||
| § 4-1321.02(a), (b), (d) | |||||||||
| § 4-1321.05 | |||||||||
| Florida | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Judges | Know or have reasonable cause to suspect | Attorney/client |
| § 39.201(1) | Religious healers | ||||||||
| § 39.204 | |||||||||
| Georgia | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Persons who produce visual or printed matter | Have reasonable cause to believe | ||
| § 19-7-5(c)(1), (g) | |||||||||
| § 16-12-100(c) | |||||||||
| Guam | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Christian Science practitioners | Have reason to suspect | ||
| Tit. 19 | |||||||||
| § 13201 | Commercial film and photographic print processors | Have knowledge or observe | |||||||
| Hawaii | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Employees of recreational or sports activities | Have reason to believe | ||
| § 350-1.1(a) | |||||||||
| § 350-5 | |||||||||
| Idaho | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Have reason to believe | Clergy/penitent | |
| § 16-1619(a), (c) | Attorney/client | ||||||||
| § 16-1620 | Have observed conditions which would reasonably result | ||||||||
| Illinois | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Homemakers, substance abuse treatment personnel | Have reasonable cause to believe | Clergy/penitent | |
| 325 ILCS § 5/4 | |||||||||
| Christian Science practitioners | |||||||||
| Funeral home directors | |||||||||
| Commercial film and photographic print processors | |||||||||
| Clergy | |||||||||
| Indiana | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Staff member of any public or private institution, school, facility, or agency | Have reason to believe | |
| § 31-33-5-1 | |||||||||
| § 31-33-5-2 | |||||||||
| § 31-32-11-1 | |||||||||
| Iowa | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Commercial film and photographic print processors | Reasonably believe | ||
| § 232.69(1)(a)-(b) | |||||||||
| § 728.14(1) | |||||||||
| § 232.74 | Employees of substance abuse programs | ||||||||
| Coaches | |||||||||
| Kansas | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Firefighters | Have reason to suspect | ||
| § 38-1522(a), (b) | Juvenile intake and assessment workers | ||||||||
| Kentucky | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Know or have reasonable cause to believe | Attorney/client | |
| § 620.030(1), (2) | Clergy/penitent | ||||||||
| § 620.050(2) | |||||||||
| Louisiana | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Commercial film or photographic print processors | Have cause to believe | Clergy, Christian Science | |
| Ch. Code art. | |||||||||
| § 603(13) | practitioner/penitent | ||||||||
| § 609(A)(1) | Mediators | ||||||||
| § 610(F) | |||||||||
| Maine | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Guardians ad litem and Court Appointed Special Advocates | Know or have reasonable cause to suspect | Clergy/penitent | |
| tit. 22, § 4011(1) | |||||||||
| tit. 22, § 4015 | |||||||||
| Fire inspectors | |||||||||
| Commercial film processors | |||||||||
| Homemakers | |||||||||
| Humane agents | |||||||||
| Clergy |
appeared scared when anyone approached her. At the time Gita was also suffering from a fractured skull, but this was never diagnosed by the attending physician, Dr. A. J. Flood.
Gita returned home with her mother and subsequently suffered further serious abuse at the hands of her mother and the mother's boyfriend. Three months later Gita was brought to another hospital for medical treatment, where the doctor diagnosed "battered child syndrome" and reported the abuse to the proper authorities. ("Battered child syndrome" refers to the collection of injuries sustained by a child as a result of repeated mistreatment or beatings. The term was coined in 1961 by Dr. C. Henry Kempe and his colleagues and includes not only
| Maryland | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Have reason to believe | Attorney/client | |
| Family Law | Clergy/penitent | ||||||||
| § 5-704(a) | |||||||||
| § 5-705(a)(1) | |||||||||
| Massachusetts | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Drug and alcoholism counselors | Have reasonable cause to believe | Clergy/penitent | |
| ch. 119, § 51A | |||||||||
| ch. 119, § 51B | Probation and parole officers | ||||||||
| Clerks/magistrates of district courts | |||||||||
| Firefighters | |||||||||
| Clergy/Christian Science practitioners | |||||||||
| Michigan | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Clergy | Have reasonable cause to suspect | Attorney/client | |
| § 722.623 (1), (8) | Clergy/penitent | ||||||||
| § 722.631 | |||||||||
| Minnesota | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Know or have reason to believe | Clergy/penitent | ||
| § 626.556 Subd. 3(a), 8 | |||||||||
| Mississippi | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Attorneys | Have reasonable cause to suspect | |
| § 43-21-353(1) | Ministers | ||||||||
| Missouri | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Persons with responsibility for care of children | Have reasonable cause to suspect | Attorney/client | |
| § 210.115(1) | Clergy/penitent | ||||||||
| § 568.110 | Have observed conditions which would reasonably result | ||||||||
| § 210.140 | Christian Science practitioners | ||||||||
| Probation/parole officers | |||||||||
| Commercial film processors | |||||||||
| Internet service providers | |||||||||
| Clergy | |||||||||
| Montana | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Guardians ad litem | Know or have reasonable cause to suspect | Clergy/penitent | |
| § 41-3-201 (1)-(2), (4) | Clergy | ||||||||
| Religious healers | |||||||||
| Christian Science practitioners | |||||||||
| Nebraska | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Have reasonable cause to believe | ||||
| § 28-711(1) | |||||||||
| § 28-714 | Have observed conditions which would reasonably result | ||||||||
| Nevada | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Religious healers | Know or have reason to believe | Clergy/penitent | ||
| § 432B.220(3), (5) | Alcohol/drug abuse counselors | Attorney/client | |||||||
| § 432B.250 | |||||||||
| Clergy/Christian Science practitioners | |||||||||
| Probation officers | |||||||||
| Attorneys | |||||||||
| Youth shelter workers | |||||||||
| New Hampshire | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Christian Science practitioners | Have reason to suspect | Attorney/client |
| § 169-C:29 | Clergy/penitent | ||||||||
| § 169-C:32 | Clergy | privilege denied | |||||||
| New Jersey | ✓ | Have reasonable cause to believe | |||||||
| § 9:6-8.10 | |||||||||
| New Mexico | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Judges | Know or have reasonable suspicion | Clergy/penitent |
| § 32A-4-3(A) | Clergy | ||||||||
| § 32A-4-5(A) | |||||||||
| New York | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Alcoholism/substance abuse counselors | Have reasonable cause to suspect | ||
| Soc. Serv. Law | |||||||||
| § 413(1) | District attorneys | ||||||||
| Christian Science practitioners |
physical assault but other forms of abuse, such as malnourishment, failure to thrive, medical neglect, and sexual and emotional abuse. The term now used is child maltreatment.)
After surgery the child was placed with foster parents. The mother and boyfriend were eventually convicted of the crime of child abuse. The guardian ad litem (a court-appointed special advocate) for Gita Landeros filed a malpractice suit against Dr. Flood and the hospital, citing painful permanent physical injury to the plaintiff as a result of the defendants' negligence.
| North Carolina | ✓ | Any institution | Have cause to suspect | Attorney/client | |||||
| § 7B-301 | Clergy/penitent | ||||||||
| § 7B-310 | privilege denied | ||||||||
| North Dakota | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Clergy | Have knowledge of or reasonable cause to suspect | Clergy/penitent | |
| § 50-25.1-03 | Religious healers | Attorney/client | |||||||
| § 50-25.1-10 | Addiction counselors | ||||||||
| Northern Mariana Islands | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Medical examiners/coroners | Know or have reasonable cause to suspect | Attorney/client | |||
| Tit. 6, | |||||||||
| § 5313(a); | Religious healers | ||||||||
| § 5316 | |||||||||
| Ohio | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Attorneys | Know or suspect | Attorney/client | ||
| § 2151.421(A)(1), (A)(2), (G)(1)(b) | Religious healers | Physician/patient | |||||||
| Agents of humane societies | |||||||||
| Oklahoma | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Commercial film and photographic print processors | Have reason to believe | ||||
| tit. 10, § 7103(A)(1) | |||||||||
| tit. 10, § 7104 | |||||||||
| tit. 10, § 7113 | |||||||||
| Oregon | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Attorneys | Have reasonable cause to believe | Mental health/patient | |
| § 419B.005(3) | Clergy | ||||||||
| § 419B.010(1) | Firefighters | Clergy/penitent | |||||||
| Court Appointed Special Advocates | Attorney/client | ||||||||
| Pennsylvania | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Funeral directors | Have reasonable cause to suspect | Clergy/penitent | |
| 23 Pa. | Christian Science practitioners | ||||||||
| § 6311(a),(b) | |||||||||
| Clergy | |||||||||
| Puerto Rico | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Professionals or public officials | Should know or have knowledge of | |
| Tit. 8, | |||||||||
| § 441a; | Processors of film or photographs | Suspects | |||||||
| § 411b | Observes | ||||||||
| Rhode Island | ✓ | ✓ | Have reasonable cause to know or suspect | Attorney/client | |||||
| § 40-11-3(a) | Clergy/penitent | ||||||||
| § 40-11-6(a) | privilege denied | ||||||||
| § 40-11-11 | |||||||||
| South Carolina | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Judges | Have reason to believe | Attorney/client | |
| § 20-7-510(A) | Funeral home directors and employees | Clergy/penitent | |||||||
| § 20-7-550 | |||||||||
| Christian Science practitioners | |||||||||
| Film processors | |||||||||
| Religious healers | |||||||||
| Substance abuse treatment staff | |||||||||
| Computer technicians | |||||||||
| South Dakota | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Chemical dependency counselors | Have reasonable cause to suspect | ||
| § 26-8A-3 | |||||||||
| § 26-8A-15 | Religious healers | ||||||||
| Parole or court services officers | |||||||||
| Employees of domestic abuse shelters | |||||||||
| Tennessee | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Judges | Knowledge of/reasonably know | |
| § 37-1-403(a) | Neighbors | ||||||||
| § 37-1-605(a) | Relatives | Have reasonable cause to suspect | |||||||
| § 37-1-411 | Friends | ||||||||
| Religious healers | |||||||||
| Texas | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Juvenile probation or detention officers | Have cause to believe | Clergy/penitent | |||
| Family Code | privilege denied | ||||||||
| § 261.101(a)-(c) | Employees or clinics that provide reproductive services | ||||||||
| § 261.102 | |||||||||
| Utah | ✓ | ✓ | Have reason to believe | Clergy/penitent | |||||
| § 62A-4a-403(1)-(3) | |||||||||
| § 62A-4a-412(5) | Have observed conditions which would reasonably result |
| SOURCE: 2003 Child Abuse and Neglect State Statute Series Statutes-at-a-Glance: Mandatory Reporters of Child Abuse and Neglect, U.S. Department of Health and Human Service, Administration for Children and Families, National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information, June 2003, http://nccanch.acf.hhs.gov/general/legal/statutes/manda.pdf (accessed October 27, 2004) | |||||||||
| Vermont | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Camp administrators and counselors | Have reasonable cause to believe | Clergy/penitent | |
| tit. 33, | |||||||||
| § 4913(a), (f)-(h) | Probation officers | ||||||||
| Clergy | |||||||||
| Virgin Islands | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Have reasonable cause to suspect | Attorney/client | ||
| Tit. 5, | |||||||||
| § 2533(a) | Observe conditions which would reasonably result | ||||||||
| § 2538 | |||||||||
| Virginia | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Mediators | Have reason to suspect | ||
| § 63.2-1509(A) | Christian Science practitioners | ||||||||
| § 63.2-1519 | |||||||||
| Probation officers | |||||||||
| Court Appointed Special Advocates | |||||||||
| Washington | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Any adult with whom a child resides | Have reasonable cause to believe | ||
| § 26.44.030 (1), (2) | |||||||||
| § 26.44.060(3) | Responsible living skills program staff | ||||||||
| West Virginia | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Clergy | Reasonable cause to suspect | Attorney/client | |
| § 49-6A-2 | Religious healers | Clergy/penitent | |||||||
| § 49-6A-7 | Judges, family law masters or magistrates | When believe | privilege denied | ||||||
| Have observed | |||||||||
| Christian Science practitioners | |||||||||
| Wisconsin | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Alcohol or drug abuse counselors | Have reasonable cause to suspect | ||
| § 48.981(2), (2m)(c)-(e) | |||||||||
| Mediators | Have reason to believe | ||||||||
| Financial and employment planners | |||||||||
| Court Appointed Special Advocates | |||||||||
| Wyoming | ✓ | Know or have reasonable cause to believe or suspect | Attorney/client | ||||||
| § 14-3-205(a) | Physician/patient | ||||||||
| § 14-3-210 | Clergy/penitent | ||||||||
| Have observed conditions which would reasonably result | |||||||||
The trial court of Santa Clara County dismissed the Landeros complaint, and the case was appealed to the California Supreme Court. The California Supreme Court agreed that the "battered child syndrome" was a recognized medical condition that Dr. Flood should have been aware of and diagnosed. The court ruled that the doctor's failure to do so contributed to the child's continued suffering, and Dr. Flood and the hospital were liable for this. While this case applied specifically to a medical doctor, the principles reached by the court are applicable to other professionals. Most professionals are familiar with the court's decision in Landeros.
State Statutes Vary in Reporting Standards
Although all states have enacted legislation requiring, among other things, the mandatory reporting of child maltreatment by certain professionals, states vary in the standard for reporting. The standard to report child maltreatment varies from, "have reasonable cause to suspect," to "have reason to believe," to "have observed conditions which would reasonably result," to "know or suspect."
EMERGENCY NURSE CHARGED WITH FAILURE TO REPORT. On August 10, 2002, two-year-old Dominic James was brought to Cox South Hospital in Springfield, Missouri. Paramedics told emergency nurse Leslie Ann Brown that the boy, who was having seizure-like symptoms, had bruises on his back and to report this to the attending physician. Told by Dominic's foster parents that the child got bruised by leaning back on a booster seat, Brown did not report the bruises to the physician. Neither did she include the presence of bruises on her medical reports. Dominic was rehospitalized a week later and died soon after.
In February 2003 the state of Missouri charged Brown with failure to report child abuse. In September 2003 Green County Judge Calvin Holden dismissed the
FIGURE 3.1
criminal charges, stating that the Missouri statute with the "reasonable cause to suspect" standard for reporting child abuse was unconstitutionally vague in violation of the U.S. and Missouri Constitutions. The state appealed the case in May 2004. In August 2004 the Missouri Supreme Court reversed Judge Holden's ruling, allowing the case to proceed to trial.
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