Important Points to Remember - Chapter 1

• As an educator, I am considered a mandated reporter and am legally required to report any incidents of suspected abuse or neglect.
• As a mandated reporter, I am immune from civil liability and criminal penalty if I make a report in good faith.
• The definition of child abuse and neglect is: the mistreatment of a child which results in non-accidental injury or harm to the child’s health, safety or welfare.
• Over 690,000 children are known to be victims of child abuse and neglect each year in the United States.  Many more children suffer abuse that is never reported.
• Child abuse and neglect have existed throughout the history of mankind.  To understand it, we must also understand the historical, cultural, and societal factors that have contributed to the existence and acceptance of abuse and neglect.
• Some signs of abuse and neglect are neglected appearance, unexplained injuries, abnormal or extreme behaviors in students, and critical or uncooperative parents.
• When a child makes a disclosure of abuse, I need to remain calm and be supportive of that child.  I need to be honest and reassure the child that the incident was not his or her fault.  I especially need to remember not to promise to do things, such as protect them from further abuse or not tell anyone, that I cannot follow up on or deliver.
• A child frequently discloses abuse only once.  CPS caseworkers are the ones trained in investigation techniques, not me.  Therefore, I must do everything I can to support the student in cooperating with the CPS caseworker so that the investigation will be successful.
• After a report has been made, CPS may include the school in providing services to the family and the teacher in providing assistance and support to the child.
• Confidentiality about all aspects of the reported case must be maintained.  Operate on a “need to know” basis.  My administrator needs to know I have made the report for legal reasons, but does not necessarily need to see the report, depending on school district policy.
• Certain characteristics may predispose a parent to abuse or neglect his or her children.  Mental illness, depression, and having been abused as a child are all contributing factors.

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs):

• There is a strong correlation between experiencing abuse or neglect in childhood and negative outcomes in life as an adult.  Besides maltreatment, ACES can include being exposed to domestic violence, parental separation and/or divorce, death of a parent, parental substance abuse or criminal activity, disasters, etc.
• As the number or severity of the ACEs increase, so does the likelihood of future problems.
• Adults who experienced 3 or more ACEs as a child are likely to develop poor health, have lower employment and education, engage in substance abuse, develop a mental health disorder, experience social problems including divorce, etc.
• ACEs affect different races in different ways.  The most common ACE for all are parental separation and poverty.  Black children as a group have the most ACEs and frequently experience the ravages of parental substance abuse and death of a parent.  Hispanic children experience higher rates of parental substance abuse and parental incarceration.  White children most frequently experience living with an adult who has mental illness and parental substance abuse.
• Abuse or neglect during the early childhood years causes regions of the brain to form and function improperly with long-term consequences on cognitive, language, and social-emotional development.  The brain may be more easily aroused due to increased amounts of the stress hormone cortisol, which results in hyperactivity, sleep disturbances, learning disabilities, and poor short-term memory.
• Training in Trauma Informed Care can help educators recognize symptoms of trauma and know how to teach the child the necessary skills for self-control.
• Parents who were maltreated as children may not have effective parenting skills.
• Drug and alcohol use in the family increases the likelihood of child abuse.
• Domestic violence often spills over onto the children in the form of physical or emotional abuse.
• Improper discipline methods or unrealistic expectations of the parents regarding their children often cause physical discipline to be too harsh and parents to become abusive.
• Isolation and a lack of support are often factors in abuse.
• Stress coupled with a life crisis in the family often precipitates abuse when the parent is unable to deal with change.
• The characteristics of the child can contribute to the incidence of abuse.  These characteristics may be visual, behavioral, or circumstantial.
• Children with special needs are abused at a higher rate than are their peers without disabilities.
• Cultural and societal attitudes about child-rearing and the family unit influence our behaviors and how we feel about ourselves.
• Rapid cultural changes within the family unit have created stress within the nuclear family.