Mandated Reporting

 Personnel from an agency responsible for making a placement of a child;

 Out-of-state law enforcement agencies conducting an investigation of child abuse or neglect under certain circumstances;

 Each chairperson of a county child death review team.

G. I MMUNITY F ROM S UIT A mandated reporter is immune from civil and criminal liability for filing a report where the reporter had a reasonable suspicion or knowledge of abuse or neglect. The immunity applies even where the mandated reporter acquired the reasonable suspicion outside of the scope of his or her employment. Similar protections apply to non-mandated reporters who file a mandated report, except for a false report or one made with reckless disregard for the truth. 65 A mandated reporter may recover attorney’s fees and costs that are incurred as a result of the mandated reporter defending himself or herself for making a report. 66 In contrast, mandated reporters are not immune where they have an obligation to report but fail to do so. H. I NSTITUTIONAL R EPORTING O BLIGATIONS U NDER THE S AFE S PORT A CT While the CANRA only imposes an individual duty to report suspected abuse, schools should be aware that the federal Safe Sport Act imposes a duty on the educational institution itself, in certain circumstances. Specifically, an educational institution will have a duty to report suspected abuse and neglect if the school engages in interstate athletic competitions. The Safe Sport Act amends federal Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 and the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act. The Safe Sport Act, passed in 2018, declares that its purpose is to “prevent the sexual abuse of minors and amateur athletes.” 67 If a school engages in athletic competitions across state lines, then the federal law may apply as well as California state law, and the school itself would have a duty to report.

The amended Victims of Child Abuse Act requires the following individuals to report suspicion of child abuse:

(1) Covered professional is defined as “A person who, while engaged in a professional capacity or activity … on Federal land or in a federally operated (or contracted) facility, learns of facts that give reason to suspect that a child has suffered an incident of child abuse.” Professionals subject to this provision include mental and physical health care professionals, social workers and counselors, teachers, and law enforcement personnel. 68

Mandated Reporting ©2020 Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 17