When the child abuse committed by Pennsylvania State University’s assistant coach Jerry Sandusky made national headlines in 2011, the legislature in Oregon and in states across the nation considered strengthening mandatory reporting laws intended to prevent such abuse. On January 1 2013, Oregon implemented the changes made to its mandatory reporting law, which adds university employees — including students employed by the school — to the list of those required to report suspected child abuse on or off campus.
“What the statute means is, on or off campus, is that a mandatory reporter must report child abuse to either local law enforcement or the Oregon Department of Human Services,” Oregon University System board secretary Ryan Hagemann@@google search@@ said in an e-mail.
The policy, sometimes known as the “Penn State bill”, also added child athletic coaches and employees of organizations such as day camps, scout groups and youth groups to the list of mandatory reporters and added abuse by students to its reporting obligations.
Lane County Department of Human Services manager John Radich@@http://www.oregon.gov/dhs/pages/localoffices/sdamanagers.aspx@@ hopes the new law will reduce child abuse by allowing the state to intervene early and prevent further abuse.
“If we can intervene and stop (the perpetrator), there won’t be additional victims,” Radich said.
For the university, the biggest responsibility is notifying the employees of the obligation, UO associate vice president for human resources Linda King said. In order to help employees understand the full scope of the obligation, the university is preparing regular notifications to be sent to staff about the law and is planning training opportunities to help employees recognize child abuse.
“We’re working very hard to ensure employees understand the law … by providing resources and information,” King said.
In 2011, Oregon child protective services received 74,342 reports of suspected child abuse or neglect, but not all cases are reported. By making reporting child abuse a legal obligation, Radich said the mandatory reporting law could decrease the number of unreported cases.
“Some people don’t know what to do … Sometimes people are reluctant to get involved with other people’s family business,” Radich said. “But the mandatory reporting law says if you see those things, you are required to report them.”
Ideally, the Department of Child Welfare’s goal is for child abuse to be nonexistent, according to Radich. Although this is more easily said than done, Radich said mandatory reporting is one step in decreasing child abuse.
“(We) want to make sure any child is safe … and not the subject of abuse,” Radich said. “The experience never goes away … and it impacts them for the rest of their lives. We want to prevent that.”