Each year, there are approximately 4 million referrals of suspected child maltreatment, with around 2 million of those reports meeting the criteria for an investigation or alternative response. However, only about 600,000 of those reports are substantiated (i.e., an investigator determines that abuse or neglect occurred) as cases of child maltreatment. Seventy-six percent of substantiated reports include allegations of neglect.

While federal law establishes a broad definition of child maltreatment—inclusive of both neglect and various forms of abuse—neglect is particularly hard to define, investigate, and address because it is often related to poverty. While poverty is not the same as neglect, all states’ definitions of maltreatment include at least one factor related to income. This results in poverty-related concerns routinely being reported as child maltreatment to the child welfare agency. These definitions may contribute to racial disparities within the child welfare system, since families of color are more likely to experience poverty due to systemic racism and bias and families in poverty are more likely to be reported to child welfare agencies and overrepresented in foster care.

States have enacted various mandated reporting policies, including training requirements for mandated reporters (to ensure that mandated reporters are knowledgeable of the warning signs of maltreatment and understand the requirements of reporting suspected maltreatment) and universal mandated reporting (making all adults responsible for reporting maltreatment). Teachers, medical professionals, police, and others whose occupations make them legally responsible for reporting suspected child maltreatment account for more than two thirds of all maltreatment reports, with the remainder coming from family or friends.

Child Trends studied the relationship between mandated reporting laws and mandated reporters’ ability to detect maltreatment—particularly neglect—to understand the potential influence of these laws in supporting accurate reporting. Specifically, we examined the relationship between three mandated reporting policies and substantiation rates (i.e., whether the allegation in a report was confirmed as maltreatment). We then explored how the type of maltreatment changes the relationship between mandated reporting policies and the likelihood of a report being substantiated. Using substantiation rates as a measure of accuracy, we found that, overall, mandated reporting policies do not promote accurate detection and reporting of neglect-related concerns.[1]

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Findings

We did not find a relationship between mandated reporting policies and the overall likelihood of a report being substantiated in FFY 2019. However, we did find that the relationship between mandated reporting policies and the likelihood of substantiation changes based on the type of maltreatment included and investigated in the report (e.g., neglect vs. other types of maltreatment).

First, in states with universal mandated reporting policies (where all adults are mandated to report suspected maltreatment), non-neglect reports and reports of neglect plus another form of maltreatment were more likely to be substantiated (our measure of accuracy) than neglect-only reports. This indicates that other types of maltreatment (e.g., physical abuse, sexual abuse, parental substance use) may be easier for people to identify and accurately report than neglect alone. Therefore, we conclude that universal mandated reporting policies do not help accurately detect neglect, specifically.

Second, in states that allow some or all mandated reporters to report anonymously, non-neglect reports and reports of neglect plus another form of maltreatment were also more likely to be substantiated than neglect-only reports. Research shows that, for some mandated reporters (e.g., doctor and patient), the fear of jeopardizing their relationship with the child/family is a factor that deters them from making a maltreatment report; the ability to report anonymously may alleviate that fear. However, our findings indicate that, while reporting anonymously may result in reporters making more maltreatment reports, such policies do not promote the accurate detection of neglect.

Finally, in states that require training for some or all mandated reporters, non-neglect reports and reports of neglect plus another form of maltreatment were still more likely to be substantiated than neglect-only reports. Training requirements attempt to educate mandated reporters on what qualifies as maltreatment and how to report it, with the expectation that mandated reporters will then be better able to accurately identify and report maltreatment. However, our findings indicate that—much like universal mandated reporting and policies that allow anonymous reports—policies requiring training do not help accurately detect neglect compared to other types of maltreatment.

Using substantiation rates as a measure of accuracy, we conclude that these three mandated reporting policies do not promote more accurate reporting of suspected neglect, compared to other types of maltreatment. This finding is particularly salient given that neglect is the most commonly reported type of maltreatment.

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Implications

Our findings in this brief suggest that, overall, mandated reporting policies do not have the intended effect of ensuring the accurate detection of maltreatment (as measured by substantiation rates), especially neglect. Child welfare agencies must expend resources to investigate reports, which drains the system’s already limited resources. To address this, the child welfare system must identify other ways to reduce the number of unnecessary reports, or reports that could be addressed with a more holistic community response rather than child welfare involvement. One strategy could be to enhance training for mandated reporters, focusing on nuanced differences between conditions of poverty and neglect as defined in state statutes.

Additionally, given the large proportion of reports that include neglect and the relationship between neglect and poverty, child welfare systems should partner with the communities they serve to establish processes that offer mandated reporters alternative ways of supporting families experiencing poverty that are not conditional on receiving services through the child welfare agency. These strategies include increased access to concrete supports such as the Earned Income Tax Credit, cash supports to help meet emergency needs such as rent, and community/family resource centers that can provide families with referrals to needed services. Furthermore, using alternative methods to support families may also address racial disproportionality within the child welfare system, given the overrepresentation of families of color that experience poverty.

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Footnote

[1] We used substantiated reports as a proxy for accuracy because there is no true measure of whether a report is accurate due to personal and systemic biases that can influence the substantiation process. If a report is not substantiated, it may indicate maltreatment did not occur or that there is not enough evidence to prove it occurred.

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