Mandated reporters: a new survey wants to know more about your expertise.
Mandated Reporters: Take a Survey. Make an Impact.
A mandated reporter survey will help impact policies and practices, improve decision-making about families, and develop new and improved pathways for families to get the help they need.
The Quality Improvement Center on Helplines and Hotlines is presenting this mandated reporter survey.
The Center conducts practical research to understand how professionals make critical decisions to keep children safe and help families succeed. As part of this effort, the Center, in partnership with Evident Change, a non-profit that uses data and research to improve social systems, has launched national anonymous surveys.
Your Perspective Shapes Policies and Practices
As a mandated reporter, your perspective can shape the policies and practices that impact children and families. You are being asked to share your experience because The Center believes that those closest to the work have the greatest wisdom to share.
The survey is quick, confidential, and anonymous. Your individual responses will not be shared, but the data from the survey may be reported in publications and could shape the future of mandated reporting.
To thank participants, the Center will raffle off five $50 gift cards to survey respondents.
About the Center: Bridging the Gap Between Hotlines and Helplines
The Quality Improvement Center on Helplines and Hotlines (The Center) was established to provide practical, research-based solutions for child protection hotlines and community helplines, supporting all families in reaching their full potential.
Mandated reporters report to child protective service agencies when they have knowledge or reasonable suspicion of child abuse or neglect. However, many mandated reporters struggle with difficult decisions about whether their concerns involve actual child maltreatment or other factors, such as economic need, that could be addressed through community-based resources. Some may turn to child protection hotlines not to report abuse, but in an attempt to help provide resources for a family.
Child protection hotlines are not equipped to meet all the needs a family may have, and reports involving families needing resources can strain the agencies meant to keep children safe from danger, divert child protection agencies from their mission, and cause families stress.
Many communities are now trialing “helplines,” typically managed by community, faith-based, and nonprofit service providers, designed to connect families in need with prevention services. Helplines can free up child protection hotlines to focus on their important mandate of child safety and make a real difference for families with complex needs.
However, there are currently no nationally established best practices to help mandated reporters and CPS hotline staff determine which reports must be referred to CPS hotlines and what kinds of concerns are appropriate for helplines.
The Quality Improvement Center on Helplines and Hotlines is working to bridge this gap. By taking this survey as a mandated reporter or staff/volunteer at a hotline or helpline, you are helping provide data that can impact future policies and make a difference.
