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1. Do You Suspect Child Abuse?

Do You Suspect Abuse or Maltreatment?
Report it Now!
Call our Statewide Toll Free Telephone Number:
1-800-342-3720

If you are deaf or hard of hearing, call TDD/TTY at
1-800-638-5163
or have your Video Relay System provider call
1-800-342-3720

If you believe that a child is in immediate danger,
call 911 or your local police department.

2. Mandated Reporter - How Do I Make a Call?

Making a Report to the NYS Central Register as a Mandated Reporter
Chapter 513 of the Laws of 2007 amends Section 413 of the SSL effective October 14, 2007, to
require that "social services workers" make a report whenever they have reasonable cause to suspect that a child has been abused or maltreated where any person comes before them in their professional or official capacity and states from personal knowledge facts, conditions or circumstances which, if correct, would mean that a child has been abused or maltreated.

When you are in a position to make a report to the NYS Central Register:
1. Whenever possible, be sure you have the names of family members living in the household, their address, and their phone number. In the course of doing business, it would be acceptable for you to use systems available to you (WMS) to verify this information. If it is not possible to provide complete information (in the case of witnessing something of concern within the course of the workday, but being uncertain as to who the individuals are) it is acceptable to provide the
information you have that can be used to identify the individuals (i.e. a license plate number).

2. Prepare a DSS 2221-A form – complete as much of it as you are able. This will help guide you through the phone call to make the report. Forms are available in all Divisions as well as in the Director of Administrative Services’ office.

3. Notify your Unit Senior / Supervisor of your concerns and of your intention to contact the State
Central Register.

4. As a courtesy, contact the Services CPS Unit Supervisor or Senior to notify them of your intention to call in a report. This will give them a heads up that a report may be coming and will give them time to determine whether or not they are already working with this family and how best to proceed.

5. Call the Mandated Reporter Hotline # 1-800-635-1522 and follow the prescribed instructions.
Provide the information that you have – the SCR attendant will determine whether or not it meets the criteria for them to accept a report. If they do not accept the report and you feel strongly that they should, you can ask to speak to a Supervisor.

6. If the report is accepted:
a. Note the Report ID number and other information provided to you in the top right
section of the form. The attendant speaking to you will also offer you his/her name to
be noted. If they do not, please feel free to ask for it.
b. Forward the entire completed 2221A triplicate form to the in-house CPS unit. If the
report is assigned to another county, please forward the entire triplicate form by mail to
that county’s CPS Unit. The envelope should be marked Confidential. The form is a
triplicate carbon form - do not remove any copies for your files.
c. Forward a copy (not one of the triplicate carbon pages) of the completed 2221A form to
the office of the Director of Administrative Services where it will be filed.
7. If the report is denied:
a. Make a note on the form including the date/time that you attempted to file the report.
Again, it would be recommended to note the name of the attendant taking your call.
b. Forward the entire 2221A triplicate form to the office of the Director of Administrative
Services where it will be filed.
9. Whether the report is accepted or denied, it is important for you to document your call to the SCR and the outcome of that call (accepted or denied) in your case notes. Because the report can be unfounded, which means it essentially never existed, you should not file any copy of the DSS 2221A form in your files. Again, simply make a brief note in your record.
10. If the report is accepted, it is customary for the receiving county’s CPS Unit to contact you as the source of the report. Please be sure you leave a phone number where you can be reached, especially if it is late in the day as they may need to contact you at an after-hours number.
11. As a Mandated Reporter, you can “check” a box on the form that indicates you will want to know the outcome of the report. Doing so will entitle you to know whether the report was “Unfounded” or “Indicated” – it does not permit you to know any details of the case.

3. 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.

4. What Constitutes Educational Neglect?

There are three elements necessary for acceptance of a report of educational neglect based on
absenteeism, as identified in guidance established at the Statewide Central Register for Child
Abuse and Maltreatment (SCR)
1. Excessive absence from school by the child. Confirmation that the absences are unexcused
is an issue for the CPS investigation and a decision on this issue is not required at the point of
making a report. However, any information the school has as to whether the absences are
excused or unexcused should be provided to the SCR AND
2. Reasonable cause to suspect that the parent is aware or should have been aware of the
excessive absenteeism and that the parent has contributed to the problem or is failing to take
steps to effectively address the problem (in other words, failure to provide a minimum degree of
care) AND
3. Reasonable cause to suspect educational impairment or harm to the child or imminent
danger of such impairment or harm.