Health As I See It: mandated reporter

Health Is Vital

Health is taken for granted, until you can't any more. In this blog I hope to put down on paper some of the articles I come across and want to remember, about health. I will be personalizing these articles to apply to me. I am diabetic, over weight, have high blood pressure and tinnitus, so these are the things you will find here. I will include nutrition, exercise, and holistic health, and many other ideas. I work in the health profession, particularly mental health, and have an interest in suicide prevention; so these topics will also be covered in this blog. Please, if you are suffering reach out. Our county health and crisis line is 1-855-278-4204.

Monday, January 30, 2017

Mandated Reporter Training

After an incident at the hospital where two doctors were fired, as they each assumed the other had made a CPS report for a physical abuse situation, and the perpetrator eventually killed the child; mandated reporter training has become an important part of our business. This training really makes you think as a mandated reporter. Our training was presented by Jane Smithson J.D.

I really like her the definition of why you report. It is not only for the safety of children, which is important enough; it can also be the catalyst for a family in trouble to get they help they need.
Much of the training revolved around when a child abuse report is needed in a sexual situation, which are sometimes mutual. The light didn't turn on for me until I realized that statuary rape is not necessarily child abuse, although it could be reported to the police. In this situation that would be a parent who would need to report. A child abuse report is warranted based on the age difference of those involved.