Intro
Reporting Requirements
Types
Talking to
a Child
Making the
Report
Conclusion
Reporting requirements vary slightly for a few groups...
Select the affiliation that best fits you:
Mandated Reporters
by State Statute
Did you find yourself in the left column of the previous page?
If so (or if you're not sure), then choose this affiliation.
UW System
Do you work within the
UW System? *
If so, then choose this affiliation.
* As a UW System employee, you may have a role that falls into s. 48.981. If so, you must follow the "Mandated Reporters by State Statute."
Clergy
Do you hold a position within a church or other faith organization?
If so, then choose this affiliation.
Other Special Considerations
Disabilities
Bias
Threats of School Violence
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Children With Disabilities
As a Mandated Reporter, there are important factors to take into consideration when working with a child who has a disability. Here are a few points to think about:
- Based on available data, just over 1/3 of the children in Wisconsin’s Child Welfare System have a disability.*
- Children with disabilities are more likely to have repeated contacts with the child welfare system.*
- Child abuse and neglect may look different in children with disabilities than children without a disability. Pay attention to changes in behavior in addition to physical appearances.
- But just like all children, if you suspect abuse or neglect you should report.
*Wisconsin Department of Children and Families Report on Children with Disabilities in the Child Welfare System Report (2016)
- Lack of services or supports to meet the family’s and child’s needs. This can mean more demands and stress on the child’s parents or caregivers.
- Greater financial stress on the family due to the cost of meeting the child’s unique needs. Not all of the child’s unique needs may be fully covered by other funding sources.
- Increased risk of social isolation for the child or family. There may not be respite care or in-home supports, and sometimes other families may not be comfortable with or interested in socializing with the child and/or the family.
- More dependence on paid and informal caregivers for the child’s care. This can include the child’s intimate personal care that can create potential opportunities for abuse.
- Children with disabilities are more likely to be in situations in schools and in the community where they are physically isolated with limited oversight. This isolation can create potential opportunities for abuse.
- The child may have more limited ability to self-protect and self-advocate. This can increase the risk of the child being targeted by some maltreaters.
- Perceptions that a child with a disability may not be viewed as credible by law enforcement or other professionals. This may inhibit individuals from reporting possible child maltreatment.
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Avoiding Bias
When determining whether to make a report on an individual or family, it is sometimes easy to allow your pre-existing biases to get in the way.
Image by Rosa Sheng
As a mandated reporter, however, it is important that you avoid letting bias influence your decision-making about whether to report suspected child maltreatment.
Remember that just because a parent or caregiver has a different way of parenting or taking care of a child than you are used to doesn’t mean that they are committing child maltreatment. Your decision to report or not to report should be based on the factors that we have discussed in this training – whether the conduct falls into one of the categories of maltreatment or whether the child is exhibiting signs of maltreatment – and not on who the child and family are or their race, religion or ethnicity.
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Threats of School Violence
In addition to being obligated to report suspected child maltreatment, as a Wisconsin Mandated Reporter you have an obligation under state law to report threats of school violence to law enforcement.
You need to make a report if you:
Believe in good faith, based on a threat made by an individual seen in the course of your professional duties, regarding violence in or targeted at a school, that there is a serious and imminent threat to the health or safety of a student, school employee, or the public.
There are additional specific provisions of this law that only apply to people who are court-appointed special advocates or members of the clergy. If you fall into one of these categories, you can learn more about your obligations by going to this link.
The way in which threats of school violence must be reported is slightly different than reporting of child maltreatment. There is a separate training available that is specific to reporting threats of school violence.
Make sure to visit all the tabs before continuing the course!