The New Social Worker Vol. 20, No. 2, Spring 2013 | Page 16

Making the Tough Call:
Social Workers as Mandated Reporters
Part I: What Does It Mean That I’m a Mandated Reporter?
by Kathryn S. Krase, Ph.D., J.D., MSW
Editor’s Note: “Making the Tough Call” is
a special series of articles that will address
social workers’ questions about mandated
reporting of suspected child abuse. This is the
first part of the series. Please welcome series
writer Kathryn Krase.

Y

ou notice an awkward bruise on
the upper arm of a child you’re
working with. Or perhaps while
you’re shopping at the mall, you see a
parent grab a young child by the arm
and spank them for touching something
off limits. As a social worker, you’ve
heard about child abuse and neglect, and
probably learned about it, but what are
you supposed to do in these situations?

You may have heard the term
“mandated reporter” and wondered: Am
I a mandated reporter? What exactly is a
mandated reporter? What am I mandated to do? What am I supposed to report?
The simple answer to the first question
is “yes.” If you are a social worker, you
are a mandated reporter. To answer the
other questions, we need some context
and more detail. This article will explain
what a mandated reporter is and why
there are mandated reporters. We’ll also
discuss the social worker’s role as mandated reporter and tease out when you’re
a mandated reporter, and when you’re
not. Other articles in this series will
provide more detail on what, when, and
how to report suspicions of child abuse
and neglect.

What is a mandated
reporter?

Mandated reporters are individuals required by the law of a given state
to report concerning suspicions. Most
often the term “mandated reporter”
refers to individuals required to report
suspicions of child abuse or neglect, but
in some states the law may require some
people to report elder abuse, institutional
corruption, or other behaviors. For the

14

The New Social Worker

purposes of this article and series, we’ll
be focusing on the role of social workers
as mandated reporters of suspected child
abuse and neglect.

Why are there mandated
reporters?

Most social workers in practice
today have always been mandated
reporters, but mandated reporting itself
is only about 50 years old, and the
role of mandated reporter is constantly
evolving. For the first 75 years of child
protective systems in the United States,
private agencies like the New York
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Children provided the means through
which abused children were identified
and protected from further harm. State
and federal governments were largely removed from these processes until societal
pressure required governmental response
in the mid-twentieth century.

In 1962, an important research
article published in the Journal of the
American Medical Association began a
movement that demanded governmental
response (Kempe, Silverman, Steele,
Droegemueller, & Silver, 1962). This
article, written by a group of doctors led
by C. Henry Kempe, reported on a study
of pediatric x-rays that found an alarming number of children with a history of
unexplained fractures. The only possible
explanation the doctors could agree on ?v2'W6R?'W6Rv2??6RF??Vv?BF?&P?F?R&?&?V??b???fW&?6?VB???w&?@?f??W2v?F??6????2fF?W'2?'WBF??0?7GVG?6??vVBF?B'W6VB6???G&V?6?P?g&????v?2?b?fR????&W7??6RF?F?RF?66?fW'?F?@?6???B'W6Rv2??&R&Wf?V?BF??&V?WfVBf?"vV?W&F???2?&?fW76?????VF?6?76?6?F???2?B?F?W"6??6W&?V@?6??7F?GVV?6?W2??&&?VB7FFR?BfVFW&??v?fW&??V?G2f?"&W7??6?fR?Vv?6?F???????R?bF?R??7B?V?"??7?&??6?2v2??FF??r?VF?6?W'6???V?F???7&??r#0??&W?'B7W7?6???2?b'W6RF?F?R??6R??F?R?FVv2F?B?b?VF?6?W'6???V??6?V?B?FV?F?g??B&W?'B7W7?6???2?`?6???B'W6R?F?Rv?fW&??V?B6?V?B7FW????B&WfV?B?'&WfW'6?&?R?&?F?F?P?6???B??"WfV?FVF??2&W7V?B?bF?W6P?Gf?67?Vff?'G2?'??cr??S7FFW0??BF?RF?7G&?7B?b6??V?&??B76V@??Vv?6?F???F?B?FR?VF?6?W'6???V????FFVB&W?'FW'2?F?R?Wr??7?v0?6??6?FW&VBw&VB7V66W72????Wr??&??7FFR?f?"??7F?6R?v?F???f?fR?V'2gFW ?76??rF?Rf?'7B??FFVB&W?'F??r?r??6???BfF?F?W2G&?VB'?SR?v??&R??FFV@?&W?'FW'3????7&?F?6?6??bV&???FFV@?&W?'FW"?w2v2F?BF?W?vW&R?'&?p??B7V6?f?2?f?"??7F?6R?F?Rf?'7B?w0????&WV?&VB?VF?6?W'6???V??7V6??2F?7F?'2?B?W'6W2?F?&W?'BF?V? ??