For over 50 years, professionals have been required by law to report suspicions of child abuse and neglect as “mandated reporters”. This workshop explores the role of mandated reporting by applying foundational ethical principles through the lens of racial & social justice. An exploration of the original intent of mandated reporter laws will be juxtaposed with the evolution of the legal responsibility, and resulting disproportionalities in the current system. As society grapples with the role that certain systems, including the child welfare system, have played in poor outcomes for children of color, it is vital that we explore the role that individual reporters play in this process. This workshop will provide a framework for professionals to place their role in context, with the goal of furthering racial and social justice for all children and families.
https://frumtherapist.com/workshops/RacialSocialJustice/viewAddressing Concerns for Racial & Social Justice in the Reporting of Suspected Child Abuse & Neglect
Sunday, March 30, 2025, 1:00 PM EDT
Presenter: Kathryn Krase, Ph.D.,
Course Length: 3 Hours
This workshop Offers 3 Live Interactive Continuing Education Credits
For over 50 years, professionals have been required by law to report suspicions of child abuse and neglect as “mandated reporters”. This workshop explores the role of mandated reporting by applying foundational ethical principles through the lens of racial & social justice. An exploration of the original intent of mandated reporter laws will be juxtaposed with the evolution of the legal responsibility, and resulting disproportionalities in the current system. As society grapples with the role that certain systems, including the child welfare system, have played in poor outcomes for children of color, it is vital that we explore the role that individual reporters play in this process. This workshop will provide a framework for professionals to place their role in context, with the goal of furthering racial and social justice for all children and families.
1) Ethical Principles (45 minutes)
o Introduce ethical principles:
§ Autonomy
§ Beneficence
§ Non-Maleficence
§ Justice
o Explore the sub-components of “Justice”
§ Social & racial justice
o Place mandated reporting in the context of ethical responsibilities
2) Historical Development of Mandated Reporting (45 minutes)
o Origins of Mandated Reporting
o Expansion of Mandated Reporting
o Current State of Mandated Reporting & the Child Welfare System
§ Highlighting disproportionate impacts
· Socioeconomic status
· Community level factors
· Racial disproportionality
o Quasi-criminalization
3) Explore Roots of Disproportionate Impacts (30 minutes)
o Macro Level:
· Civil Rights Movement
· Neo-liberalism
· Political Systems
o Mezzo Level:
· Community resources
· Community connections
o Micro Level:
· Professionalism
· Personal lens
4) Framework for “Just” (as in “Justice”) Reporting (45 minutes)
o Legal responsibility to report
· When suspicions are required to be reported & when they are not
· Challenging legal requirements
· Abolition movement
o Evaluating influence of personal lenses to reporting decision
o Ethical responsibility for just practice
· Ethical responsibilities when report is made
· Ethical responsibilities when report is not made
o Case examples & application of framework
Review & Summarize (15 minutes)