This is a keynote presentation from a recent lecture I gave at Didi Hirsch on Mandated reporting for new counselors at Suicide Prevention Center.

1. Suicide Prevention Center Volunteer
Training
Mark Allison,
June 19th, 2010

2. Our roles as mandated Reporters
Our role as SPC crisis
counselors
Confidentiality
Mandated Reporters
What’s reportable

3. Confidentiality
Confidentiality vs. Public
Safety
Duty to protect the general
population

4. Suspected Child
Abuse
Elder and
Dependent Abuse
Tarasoff Duty to
Warn

5. Suicidal Intention
There are no specific
mandates on exact steps to
take in the instance of
suicide.
However, we are expected
to take reasonable steps to
help prevent a suicidal
client from harming himself

6. Reasonable suspicion or
judgment
Scope of mandated reporting
responsibilities
Consequences of failing to
report

7. What is child abuse?
FIve types of reportable child abuse:
Physical
Unlawful corporal punishment
Unjustifiable punishment or willful
cruelty
Child Neglect
Sexual
Emotional & Fetal (optional)

8. Physical abuse is physical injury (ranging
from minor bruises to severe fractures or
death) as a result of punching, beating,
kicking, biting, shaking, throwing, stabbing,
choking, hitting (with a hand, stick, strap, or
other object), burning, or otherwise harming
a child. Such injury is considered abuse
regardless of whether the caretaker intended
to hurt the child.

9. Child Neglect: Child neglect is defined as a
failure to provide for the child's basic needs.
Neglect can be on a physical, educational or
emotional level. Examples include failure to
provide food, clothing, or shelter, refusal or
delay in seeking health care, abandonment,
inadequate supervision or willfully
endangering a child’s safety.

10. Sexual abuse includes activities by a parent
or caretaker or other adult such as fondling
a child's genitals, penetration, incest, rape,
sodomy, indecent exposure, and
exploitation through prostitution or the
production of pornographic materials.

11. Consensual Sex between/
With Minors
Mandated Report if:
If a minor is under 14 and engaged in sexual
activity with “persons of disparate age” (14
or older).
If a minor is 14 or 15 and engages in sexual
activity with a person at least 10 years older.
All oral or anal sex or penetration with a
foreign object involving anyone under the
age of 18, consensual or involuntary must

12. Consensual Sex between/
With Minors
Mandated Report if:
Any minor under 16 and is engaging in
sexual intercourse with anyone 21 years of
age or older.
Consensual, non-abusive sex:
Two minors under the age of 14 and of
similar age,maturity and development is not
reportable. Or two minors between 14 and
18 and of similar age,maturity and

13. Emotional abuse is a pattern of behavior that
impairs a child's emotional development or
sense of self-worth. This may include
constant criticism, threats, or rejection, as
well as withholding love, support, or
guidance.
Emotional Abuse may be reported but is not
mandated.

14. Domestic violence is not reportable
unless….
there are minors in the home that witness
the domestic violence and there is
reasonable suspicion that the minors were

15. Historical Abuse
Generally not reportable unless...
if there is reason to believe that the abuser
of an adult client may have victimized others
who are under 18, it is reportable.

16. Immediately notify or flag down your shift supervisor.
Call the Department of minors and Family Services
(DCFS) to file a report. DCFS Child Abuse Report
Number: 1-800-540-4000
Fill out triplicate SCAR Child Abuse Report form and give
to supervisor.
*This form must be filed within 36 hours of making the
phone report.

17. What happens next?
The role of DCFS
Immediate vs. 5-day response
Removal from home
minors aren’t immediately removed from their
homes…
their goal is to help keep families together
Voluntary family maintenance agreement
(VFM)

19. Elder: Individuals aged 65 years or older
Dependent Adult (gravely disabled):
Individuals aged 18 – 64 years old who
have physical or mental limitations that
interfere with their ability to carry out
normal activities and functions.

20. Physical abuse:
Physical elder abuse is non-accidental use of force against
an elderly person that results in physical pain, injury, or
impairment. Sexual abuse is included on physical
Abandonment
In emotional or psychological senior abuse, people speak to
or treat elderly persons in ways that cause emotional pain or
distress.
Isolation :
Abduction: Taking an elder or dependent adult of of
California against will or preventing them from returning
to California.

21. Neglect:
Elder neglect is the failure to fulfill or
abandoning a care-taking obligation; can
either be intentional or unintentional.
Fiduciary abuse:
This involves unauthorized use of an
elderly person’s funds or property, either
by a caregiver or an outside party.

22. How to report elder abuse
Call Adult Protective Services
or Police
File a written report within 2
working days

23. Gravely Disabled
Definition of “gravely disabled”
Inability to perform basic functions of daily activity
Generally due to severe mental illness or intoxication
How to report
Call APS
LA County PET Team: 1-800-854-7771

25. History of Tarasoff: Tarasoff vs.
UC Regents (1969)
What is the Tarasoff duty to
warn?
reasonable suspicion of a serious
threat or plan
of “physical violence”
to a “reasonably” identifiable victim
(this extends to property and the
people inside them)

26. If it is Tarasoff, then what
do I need to do?
We notify authorities
We warn the intended
victim

27. Tarasoff Related Decisions
Bellah vs. Greenson (1977)
Tarasoft does not apply to suicidal client
Thompson vs.. Alameda (1980)
Intended victim must be identifiable and the
peril must be foreseeable.
Hedlund vs.. Superior CT O.C.
Must warn reasonably foreseeable
bystanders.

28. Reporting Summary
Tarasoff warnings, child abuse, elder
abuse and dependent adult abuse
reporting are legally mandated
responsibilities.
Suicidal protocol is not legally
mandated.
Section 1024 of the Evidence Code
ALLOWS therapists to break
confidentiality to maintain safety
and the case of Bellah versus Greenson
says that therapists need to take all
reasonable steps to protect a client's
safety. EV Code 1024 allows us to
break confidentiality

29. Reporting Summary
Tarasoff and Individuals infected with
HIV
The intention to transfer a
communicable disease, such as HIV/
AIDS, does not fall under the Tarasoff
duty

30. DCFS Website:
http://dcfs.co.la.ca.us/
SPC Website: http://
www.didihirsch.org/services/
emergency/spc

31. Questions?