At the Alabama Free Will Baptist Children’s Home, our ministry focuses on providing children a safe haven during crises, but we also do what we can to help their families and support other families going through similar situations. However, the safety and well-being of the children we serve will always come first, which is why we take our role as mandatory reporters of child abuse and neglect very seriously.
In this blog, we’ll talk about Alabama mandatory reporting laws, who counts as a mandatory reporter, and how, sometimes, mandated reporters have to make complicated, but necessary, decisions to do what’s right in the eyes of the law and to protect children.
Who Counts as a Mandatory Reporter + Examples of Mandatory Reporters
According to Alabama DHR, a mandatory reporter is someone who “regularly comes into contact with children” and therefore has a “legal obligation to report incidents of suspected or obvious child abuse or neglect” to their county’s Department of Human Resources.
Examples of who counts as a mandatory reporter include any of the following adults:
- Healthcare professionals (administrators, doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses, paramedics, EMTs, phlebotomists, x-ray or other medical equipment technicians)
- Dentists
- Optometrists
- Pharmacists
- Social workers and other employees of CPS or DHR
- Group home workers
- Teachers, coaches, administrators, special education professionals, and all other employees and volunteers at both private and public educational institutions, including preschools and kindergartens, elementary schools, middle/junior high schools, daycares, after-school cares, summer schools, alternative schools, and tutoring centers
- Sports coaches, dance instructors, children’s theatre directors, camp counselors, etc.
- Police officers and firefighters
- Licensed professional counselors (LPCs), psychologists, psychiatrists, and other mental health and counseling professionals
- Clergymen (pastors, priests, popes, rabbis, children’s ministers, bible study leaders, and other mentors or leaders from religious organizations)
- Any other volunteers, office staff, or other employees at healthcare, religious, education, and government institutions.
If you do not fall into any of these roles, but you’re aware of or have witnessed signs or instances of child abuse or neglect, report your concerns to your local department of human resources or someone who is one of the mandatory reporters above.
Alabama Mandatory Reporting Procedure for Reporting Child Neglect or Abuse
Code of Alabama Section 26-14-3 states that when an adult discovers or suspects that a child for whom they are a mandatory reporter is a child abuse or neglect victim, they must immediately report it orally (via phone or face-to-face), then subsequently provide a written statement to a “duly constituted authority.”
A duly constituted authority may be a law enforcement officer who can submit the report to the Department of Human Resources or a direct representative of the department. If you qualify as a mandatory reporter and are unsure of who to speak to or need advice on submitting your oral or written report, contact your county’s local department of Human Resources for specific details.
A Notable Nuance of Mandatory Reporting
It is important to note that not all abuse and neglect that should be reported is committed by parents or guardians. Sometimes, mandatory reporters notice signs of child abuse and neglect that are committed by other adults in their lives, such as teachers, coaches, and others who are supposed to be mandatory reporters themselves.
Why It May Be Hard to Report Child Neglect or Abuse
Doing the right thing isn’t always an easy choice, especially when it comes to mandatory reporting. Maybe it’s someone you never thought would abuse a child in their care, wouldn’t do so if they were in the right state of mind, swears they wouldn’t do it again, or someone you love. Maybe you’re scared that the victim will be “thrown to the wolves,” so to speak, at the mercy of the foster care system.
Despite how it may make us or others feel, or what we fear may go wrong, we, as mandatory reporters, have to report child neglect and abuse. It’s also essential to note that, by law, your report will remain anonymous; your identity will not be disclosed to the perpetrator, so rest assured, you don’t need to fear retaliation from them.
At the Alabama Free Will Baptist Children’s Home, we provide a haven for many children who are survivors of child neglect and abuse. Without mandatory reporters, many of these children would still be in situations where they endure abuse and neglect, so we are very grateful that these laws exist.
How Mandatory Reporting Can Help Prevent Further Abuse and Neglect for Foster Kids
Although some children are at risk of other forms of abuse and neglect in the foster care system after a mandatory report takes them from the family that already abused and neglected them, mandatory reporting also helps to lower this risk for children in foster homes.
If a teacher or other adult in a foster child’s life notices that they show signs of being abused or neglected and reports it correctly, CPS and DHR are responsible for investigating the child’s foster family and home life. Social workers are also appointed to foster cases to check in on the children and watch for signs of abuse and neglect; they also have a responsibility to report it as mandatory reporters.
Abuse and Neglect Don’t Always Mean Permanent Family Separation
There are also many cases in which a guardian is only the culprit of abuse or neglect because they are in the throes of addiction or mental health crises—not because they do not love their children or are abusive or neglectful in their right state of mind. In these cases, the guardians sometimes have remorse for their failures to do right by their children and have the potential to rehabilitate, recover, and restore their guardianship and relationship with their children.
For cases such as these, there are many resources, such as our home, that can help families keep their kids out of foster care or from permanent separation of the family while the parents rehabilitate and end the abuse or neglect.
Thank you for reading today’s blog on Alabama mandatory reporting from the AL Free Will Baptist Children’s Home. We take our role as mandated reporters very seriously, are grateful for the support of other mandatory reporters, and are glad to share this information here for others who may need it.
If you know of or suspect a case of child abuse or neglect in your life, please don’t stay silent about it. Even if you’re not a mandatory reporter, we’ve provided a comprehensive list above of who is, and you can disclose it to them so they can report it.