Health Center to Host Mandated Reporter Training

Livingston County Health Center would like to announce a Mandated Reporter Training being held at their offices on Tuesday, March 24^th at 10 a.m.

Cherisse Thibaut, Prevention and Community Outreach Manager for Missouri Kids First, will update mandated reporters on changes in the law and empower them with the skills to protect children and appropriately respond to child abuse and neglect.  

Missouri’s mandated reporter requirements changed when House Bill 505 passed during the Spring 2013 legislative session.   One of the main changes in the law is that reporting requirements are now individual and not institutional. Mandated Reporters can no longer “cause a report to be made,” by reporting suspect child abuse to a ”designated agent.”   Example: A teacher suspects a student is experiencing abuse. Teacher is mandated to call the Missouri Children’s Division Hotline and make a direct and immediate report. Teacher cannot convey concerns to school counselor or principal for them to make a report on their behalf.

By law, mandated reporters are physicians, nurses, social workers, day care staff, teachers, ministers and law enforcement officials.  Mandated reporters also include any other person with responsibility for the care of children, such as those who volunteer with programs that work directly with children, such as Y-Pals, church youth groups, afterschool programs, etc.

The approximately 2-hour training will cover: mandated reporters’ legal responsibilities; how to respond to suspicions, disclosure or discovery of abuse; how to effectively report and how to follow-up with the case multidisciplinary team. 

There is no charge for this training.  Those interested should call 646-5506 to register, as space is limited.