NCJ Number
202233
Journal
Child Abuse & Neglect Volume: 25 Issue: 12 Dated: December 2001 Pages: 1603-1625
Editor(s)
Richard D. Krugman
Date Published
December 2001
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This study investigated the effectiveness of Australia’s Mandated Notification Training program and whether it has met its achieved aims in preparing educators and other mandated reporters in reporting suspected child abuse and neglect.
Abstract
South Australian educators are among a large group of professionals mandated to report their suspicions of child abuse and neglect to the Department of Family and Community Services. In 1989, the South Australian Mandated Notification Training program was developed, under the South Australian Child Protection Council, to prepare educators and other mandated reporters to fulfill their reporting obligations. To date, no research has investigated the effectiveness of the training program. In that there are five aims of the program, this study provides the first empirical investigation of the training program with the main objective being whether the Mandated Notification Training achieved its stated aims. A three-sample independent group design was used with the groups consisting of (1) teachers and school personnel who had not completed the training; (2) teachers and school personnel who had recently completed the training; and (3) teachers and personnel who had completed the training more than 1 year previously. The results indicate that the South Australian Education Department, Mandated Notification Training was effective at achieving its specified aims. It showed evidence of increased confidence in ability to recognize the indicators of abuse in people who had completed the training program and increases in participants’ awareness of their reporting responsibilities, knowledge of what constitutes reasonable grounds, and of how to respond appropriately to a child’s disclosure of abuse. Tables, appendix, and references