CPLEE - Child Abuse Reporting

As legally mandated reporters, psychologists must report known or suspected cases of abuse and neglect of children and adolescents under the age of 18, including minors who are emancipated. In addition, a report must be made whether the perpetrator is an adult or a child.

Reports of suspected child abuse or neglect shall be made ... to any police department or sheriff’s department, not including a school district police or security department, county probation department, if designated by the county to receive mandated reports, or the county welfare department.” Note that the county welfare department is also referred to as the county welfare service agency (CWS agency) and child protective services (CPS).

Physical abuse

 Sexual abuse (Non-intercourse sexual acts are not a mandated report if they are committed voluntarily and if there are no indicators of abuse, unless that contact is between a person who is 21 years of age or older and a minor who is under 16 years of age.)

Willful harm or injury

Unlawful corporal punishment or injury

Neglect

Psychologists may – but are not required to – report “serious emotional damage.” As stated in PC Section 11166.05, “any mandated reporter who has knowledge of or who reasonably suspects that a child is suffering serious emotional damage or is at a substantial risk of suffering serious emotional damage, evidenced by states of being or behavior, including, but not limited to, severe anxiety, depression, withdrawal, or untoward aggressive behavior toward self or others, may make a report.”

any mandated reporter who fails to report an incident of known or reasonably suspected child abuse or neglect as required by this section is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months confinement in a county jail or by a fine of one thousand dollars ($1,000) or by both that imprisonment and fine.

If a mandated reporter intentionally conceals their failure to report an incident known by the mandated reporter to be abuse or severe neglect under this section, the failure to report is a continuing offense until an agency specified in Section 11165.9 discovers the offense.”

any mandated reporter who willfully fails to report abuse or neglect, or any person who impedes or inhibits a report of abuse or neglect, in violation of this article, where that abuse or neglect results in death or great bodily injury, shall be punished by not more than one year in a county jail, by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment.

As mandated reporters, psychologists are not legally required to tell involved individuals that they are filing a report. However, if a psychologist foresees a future therapeutic relationship with an involved individual, it is usually best to advise them of the intent to make a report, unless doing so is contraindicated (for example, if the psychologist believes that telling a client will cause him/her to become violent).

Unless the victim of abuse is still under age 18, a mandated reporter is not required to file a report regarding the abuse of that individual. However, psychologists should be alerted to the possibility that an adult client’s abuser may be currently victimizing other children and, if a reasonable suspicion arises, must file a report. When a psychologist has doubts about whether or not there is sufficient information to warrant a reasonable suspicion, they may call CPS anonymously to ask for guidance. A psychologist may also advise the client to file assault charges with the police or initiate civil action for damages.

When psychologists learn about child abuse from a third party, they must make a report if the information is revealed to them in their professional capacity. For example, assume that a therapy client tells a psychologist that her adult son often hits his 2-year-old when they misbehave, to the extent that the child has cuts and bruises. Because this information was revealed in a professional setting, the psychologist is mandated to file a report even though they did not learn about the abuse directly from the victim or perpetrator

In contrast, assume that a psychologist overhears a conversation at the supermarket that leads them to believe a child is being abused. Because the psychologist did not learn about the possible child abuse in his professional capacity, they are not legally required to make a report but may choose to report the information as a private citizen.

an elder is any person residing in California who is 60 years of age or older

a dependent adult is any person between the ages of 18 and 59 years who resides in California and “has physical or mental limitations that restrict his or her ability to carry out normal activities or to protect his or her rights, including, but not limited to, persons who have physical or developmental disabilities, or whose physical or mental abilities have diminished because of age ... [or] who is admitted as an inpatient to a 24-hour health facility.

any mandated reporter who, in their professional capacity or scope of employment, has observed, has knowledge of an incident, or has been told by an elder or dependent adult that the elder or dependent adult “has experienced behavior, including an act or omission, constituting physical abuse ..., abandonment, abduction, isolation, financial abuse, or neglect, or reasonably suspects that abuse, shall report the known or suspected instance of abuse by telephone or through a confidential Internet reporting tool ... immediately or as soon as practicably possible. If reported by telephone, a written report shall be sent, or an Internet report shall be made through the confidential Internet reporting tool ... within two working days

note that psychologists are mandated to report cases of spousal/partner abuse that they learn about in the course of their practice as a psychotherapist only when the partner being abused is an elder or dependent adult or is under the age of 18

Physical abuse

Abandonment

Abduction

 Isolation -  includes deliberately preventing an elder or dependent adult from receiving their mail or phone calls; telling a caller or visitor that an elder or dependent adult is not present or does not want to talk to them when the statement is contrary to the elder or dependent adult’s wishes and/or is made for the purpose of preventing the elder or dependent adult from having contact with family members, friends, or other concerned individuals; false imprisonment of the elder or dependent adult; and physical restraint of an elder or dependent adult for the purpose of preventing them from meeting with his or her visitors

Financial abuse

Neglect

when they have knowledge of, or reasonably suspect, “that types of elder or dependent adult abuse for which reports are not mandated have been inflicted upon an elder or dependent adult, or that his or her emotional well-being is endangered in any other way

failure to report or impeding or inhibiting a report of abuse “is a misdemeanor, punishable by not more than six months in the county jail, by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment.” In addition, a failure to report an incident of abuse that results in death or great bodily injury “shall be punished by not more than one year in a county jail, by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment.”

You would have been able to identify answer 4 as the correct response if you recalled that consensual sexual intercourse is not reportable when both minors are under the age of 14 and are similar in age (answer 1) or when a minor is 14 or 15 and their partner is over 14 but under 21 (answers 2 and 3).

The penalty for failing to report known or reasonably suspected cases of child abuse is described in California Penal Code Section 11166, which states: “Any mandated reporter who fails to report an incident of known or reasonably suspected child abuse or neglect as required by this section is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months confinement in a county jail or by a fine of one thousand dollars ($1,000) or by both that imprisonment and fine.” Therefore, answer 2 is correct.

Answer and Rationale: WIC Section 15630(b)(1) identifies physical abuse, abandonment, abduction, isolation, financial abuse, and neglect as types of elder abuse that must be reported by a mandated reporter. A mandated reporter may report other types of abuse (e.g., emotional abuse) but is not required to do so. Therefore, answer 4 is correct.

WIC Section 15630(b)(1) requires that, when elder or dependent adult abuse involving serious physical (bodily) injury occurs in a long-term care facility that is not a state mental health hospital or state developmental center, a telephone report must be made to the local law enforcement agency immediately and a written report must be sent within two hours to the local ombudsperson, corresponding licensing agency, and local law enforcement agency. Residential care facilities and assisted living facilities are types of long-term facilities, so answer 3 is the correct answer.