NCJ Number
172318
Date Published
1996
Length
23 pages
Annotation
State laws have been enacted to increase public awareness of child maltreatment and the number of child maltreatment reports, but the success of these laws has created substantial and unanticipated problems for child protective service (CPS) agencies.
Abstract
State reporting laws have clearly succeeded in encouraging the identification of child abuse and neglect. Medical and mental health professionals, school personnel, police officers, and other mandated reports now report suspected incidents of child abuse and neglect in growing numbers. The success of State reporting laws, however, has created problems for CPS agencies designated to receive the reports. Most CPS agencies lack the capacity to respond adequately to all reported child abuse and neglect cases. In addition, widespread violations of reporting requirements reduce professional support for State reporting laws. Studies are cited that provide national data on the degree of compliance with State reporting laws and reasons professionals may not report, the National Incidence and Prevalence of Child Abuse and Neglect Study and a mandated reporter study of professionals in 15 States. Reasons for not reporting child abuse and neglect are identified, including the substantial amount of time involved in making reports, fear of a lawsuit, overreaction of CPS agencies to reports, and lack of sufficient evidence that abuse has occurred. Further, discretionary reporters indicate their reports often have negative consequences for the children involved. Studies are also described that deal with victim and offender disclosure of maltreatment, the prevalence of physical and sexual child abuse, the relationship between victim and offender reports and official reports, case management and disposition after reporting, and the classification of child abuse and neglect cases after investigation. 85 references, 7 notes, and 2 tables