Handling Suspected Child Abuse Procedure
Girl Scouts Western Pennsylvania (GSWPA) supports and maintains environments that are free of child
abuse and neglect as defined by the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act. Child abuse and
neglect are unlawful acts and it is against the council’s policy for any adult, male or female, to physically,
sexually or mentally abuse or neglect any girl member.
The council reserves the right to refuse membership endorsement or reappointment, and to dismiss or
to exclude from affiliation with the council, any adult implementing Girl Scout program who has been
convicted of child abuse or neglect.
Any adult working directly with a girl is a mandated reporter, which means that volunteers and staff are:
“required to report when they have reasonable cause to suspect that a child under the care,
supervision, guidance or training of that person or of their agency, institution or organization is an
abused child. In addition, any person may report suspected abuse, even if the individual wishes to
remain anonymous.” -according to the PA Department of Public Welfare
The adult who suspects child abuse is required to complete the following actions in the order presented:
1. Call Pennsylvania Child Protective Services at 1-800-932-0313, or the Childhelp National Child
Abuse hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child.
2. Contact the local GSWPA staff person or vice president, recruitment & retention to share any
concerns or suspicions, and report any action taken. The name of the child will not be shared
with staff.
3. The GSWPA staff or vice president, recruitment & retention will take notes and forward the
documentation to the chief operations officer.
If the adult suspects the abuse of a child by another Girl Scout volunteer or staff member, he/she will:
1. Call Pennsylvania Child Protective Services at 1-800-932-0313, or the Childhelp National Child
Abuse hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child.
2. Contact the vice president, recruitment & retention or chief operations officer to share
concerns, suspicions, and report action taken and then forward the documentation to the chief
operations officer.
3. The chief operations officer will immediately open an investigation of the volunteer or staff
member accused of abusing a child.
4. Depending on the outcome of the investigation, the adult may be dismissed from her/his
volunteer or staff position.
It is not a mandated reporter’s responsibility to establish guilt, but rather report suspicion or potential
reasons for concern. If the adult needs help in assessing the existence of child abuse he/she will:
1. Call his/her GSWPA staff person or the vice president, recruitment & retention to discuss any
suspicions and clarify the need to call authorities.