Reasonable Suspicion of Child Abuse
Most state child abuse reporting laws employ the “reasonable suspicion” standard as the threshold above which mandated reporters must report the case. However, the definition of this term is not widely understood. As a result there is large variation in the rates of child abuse reporting in different states, from a low (in Pennsylvania) of 8/1000 children/year to a high of 125/1000 children/year (in District of Columbia).
References.
1. Levi, B.H. and S.G. Portwood, Reasonable suspicion of child abuse: finding a common language. J Law Med Ethics, 2011. 39(1): pp. 62–9. 2. Levi, B.H. and K. Crowell, Child abuse experts disagree about the threshold for mandated reporting. 2011. 50(4): pp. 321–9. 3. Flaherty, E.G. and R. Sege, Barriers to physician identification and reporting of child abuse. Pediatr Ann, 2005. 34(5): pp. 349–56. 4. Kids Count Data. 2009.
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