{"id":14981,"date":"2015-02-11T09:13:56","date_gmt":"2015-02-11T14:13:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=14981"},"modified":"2015-02-11T09:13:56","modified_gmt":"2015-02-11T14:13:56","slug":"reporting-child-abuse-we-all-have-a-responsibility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=14981","title":{"rendered":"Reporting child abuse: we all have a responsibility"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Act 31 means penalties for those suspect abuse but don’t report it<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

By Dr. Stephanie McGann<\/strong>, DMD FAGD, Columnist, The Times<\/em><\/p>\n

\"UTStephCollogo\"<\/a>Children, their health, well-being and protection from predators are all of our business. Dentists and dental hygienists have always been listed as mandated reporters of child abuse in the state of Pennsylvania.\u00a0 What\u2019s new is the effect of the newly passed ACT 31 on everyone.<\/p>\n

In light of the horror that was inflicted by Jerry Sandusky\u2019s 52 counts of serial child abuse and the failure of the Penn State system to report this, 28 new pieces of new legislation have been adopted by our state government. All designed to protect our children by streamline reporting, increasing penalties for failure to report and mandate regular training. Training on recognizing and reporting abuse is now part of the requirement for maintaining a state issued license to practice.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

ACT 31 applies to all license holders who may have contact with children. This includes physicians, nurses, dentists, hygienists, expanded function dental assistants, hairdressers, morticians, social workers and many more. It also extends to employees of these folks who see children regularly.\u00a0\u00a0 Individuals who hold a Pennsylvania issued license will need to participate in a two-hour state-approved training seminar every two years.\u00a0 Licenses will not be renewed without proof of completion.<\/p>\n

Last week I took the seminar.\u00a0\u00a0 Nothing really prepares you to see photographs of abused children or hear the numbers of fatalities or near fatalities.\u00a0 I knew when I prepared to take the seminar what I was in for. I\u2019ve participated voluntarily in courses like this before but this was a little different.\u00a0 The new legislation offers some very stiff penalties for failure to report.<\/p>\n

In the event of an abuse charge, any mandated reporter who had a suspicion but failed to report will be charged with the same crime as the abuser. \u00a0Employers are no longer permitted to require subordinates to notify a superior in lieu of making a report.<\/p>\n

Child abuse happens everywhere.\u00a0\u00a0 In 2013 (2014 numbers won\u2019t be available for a few weeks) just over 27,000 reports of suspected abuse were reported in Pennsylvania.\u00a0\u00a0 Approximately 3500 of those were substantiated.\u00a0 Of The substantiated cases 67% were female victims, 33% were male.\u00a0\u00a0 9% of those children were abused before.\u00a0 Of the 3500 substantiated cases 53% were determined to be sexual in nature. \u00a0\u00a068% of the abusers in PA were Caucasian and 57% of the cases occurred in non-urban environments. \u00a030% of abusers in Pennsylvania were college educated.\u00a0 This can and does happen in our own neighborhoods.<\/p>\n

\"AbusePSA\"<\/a>In 2013, 38 Pennsylvania children died from child abuse, 52 were classified as near fatalities.\u00a0 Of the near fatalities, these children were spared from death because of a report. Mandatory reporting saved at least 52 lives in PA in 2013.<\/p>\n

What about the 23,500 unsubstantiated cases?\u00a0 These families \u00a0in many cases had family needs that could be helped by social services. So while no charges of child abuse or negligence were indicated, social services and parenting education were made available to many of these families. These families were provided services as a result of someone who cared enough to report.<\/p>\n

A mandated reporter is obligated by their professional licensing board to report any situation where they have a reasonable cause to suspect possible abuse.\u00a0 It\u2019s not up the provider to determine if it\u2019s true or not, that\u2019s up to the investigative team. \u00a0This mandate now extends beyond the scope of the professional license. If a mandated reporter witnesses or hears of abuse outside the workplace, they are still mandated to report.<\/p>\n

What is child abuse?\u00a0 Any physical, sexual or mental injury that causes significant pain and impedes the ability of the child (age 18 and under) to perform normal activity can be classified as child abuse or neglect.\u00a0\u00a0 Any pain or injury related to failure to act by the adult responsible can also be considered abuse or neglect.\u00a0 Pennsylvania also defines abuse as forcefully shaking or striking a child under age 1, interfering with the breathing of a child or leaving the child in the care of a registered sex offender. Fabricating medical information or failure to provide appropriate and timely medical care can also be cause for an investigation.<\/p>\n

Mandated reporters are not the only ones who can file a report of suspected abuse.\u00a0\u00a0 Anyone who is concerned about the safety of a child can call PA CHILDLINE 1-800-932-0313.\u00a0 The important thing to know is that you don\u2019t have to be sure or have any proof. You must have a reasonable suspicion that abuse is occurring. \u00a0The reporter\u2019s identity is confidential however it will be released to police and investigators as needed.\u00a0 Learn more at KeepKidsSafe.PA.gov<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dr. Stephanie McGann, who has more than two decades of dental practice experience, is a resident of the Unionville area and along with her partner, Dr. Marie Scott, operates The Brandywine Smile Center<\/a>, a family-friendly dental practice in Concordville. Dr. McGann <\/em>has opened a new practice in Valley Township, Rainbow Valley Dental<\/a>. She is a Fellow of the Academy of General Dentistry.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New Act 31 means penalties for those suspect abuse but don’t report it By Dr. Stephanie McGann, DMD FAGD, Columnist, The Times Children, their health, well-being and protection from predators are all of our business. Dentists and dental hygienists have always been listed as mandated reporters of child abuse in the state of Pennsylvania.\u00a0 What\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14980,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,4],"tags":[5853,4991,5854,5855],"class_list":["post-14981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","category-featured","tag-act-31","tag-child-abuse","tag-reporting","tag-responsibility"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14981"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14981\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}