What are the New Mandated Reporter Laws?
Mandated Reporters; Chapter 193 of the Laws of 2007
Effective October 1, 2007
Mandated Reporters who work for a:
? School
? Child care center or school-age child care program
? Foster Care facility
? Residential care facility
? Hospital
? Medical institution
? Mental Health facility
? Residential or Non-residential program for Domestic Violence
? Other agency or organization that employs mandated reporters

And who, through their work have direct contact with a child or with the parent or other person who is legally responsible for a child that causes them to have reasonable cause to suspect that a child has been abused or maltreated, must PERSONALLY make a report to the SCR.
They must then immediately notify the person in charge of the institution, school, facility or agency where they work or the designated agent of the person in charge that a report has been made.
The mandated reporter’s report to the SCR must include (to the best of his/her knowledge) the name, title, and contact information for every staff person believed to have direct knowledge regarding the allegations in the report.
Once the report is made, the person in charge at the institution, school, facility or agency, or the designated agent of such person, is responsible for all subsequent administration necessitated by the report. This may include providing follow-up information (e.g., relevant information contained in the child’s education record) to CPS, and will also include completing the form LDSS 2221A, which requires listing the names, titles, and contact information of all staff of the institution, school, facility, or agency who are believed to have knowledge of the allegations contained in the report.
How the new law differs from the old
The law now requires that a mandated reporter who has direct knowledge of possible child abuse or maltreatment, and not the person in charge of the institution, school, facility or agency, who does not have direct knowledge of the alleged abuse or maltreatment, must make the initial report to the SCR.
Chapter 193 also specifies that no medical or other public or private institution, school, facility or agency shall take any retaliatory personnel action against an employee who made a report to the SCR. Also, no school, school official, child care provider, foster care provider, residential care facility provider, hospital, medical institution provider or mental health facility provider shall impose any conditions, including prior approval or prior notification, upon a member of their staff mandated to report suspected child abuse or maltreatment.
Chapter 193 also amends section 413 of the SSL to clarify that the term “school official” includes school teachers, guidance counselors, school psychologist, school nurses, school social workers, school administrators and other school personnel required to hold a teaching or administrative license or certificate in the list of individuals classified as mandated reporters and there fore required to report case of suspected child abuse or maltreatment to the SCR.

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1. Do You Suspect Child Abuse?
2. Mandated Reporter - How Do I Make a Call?
3. What are the New Mandated Reporter Laws?
4. What Constitutes Educational Neglect?