Last week state Representative Jim Nash (R-Waconia) joined advocates from Safe Passage for Children for a meeting with key leaders from the state’s Child Welfare Training Academy, which provides training to thousands of mandated reporters.
Our ask was simple: Overhaul the state’s online training for mandated reporters.
Mandated reporters are people required by state law to inform child welfare authorities when they see warning signs that a child is being neglected or abused. The current training provided by the Academy devotes little time to recognizing signs of such maltreatment. It was not developed with input from a variety of stakeholders, such as child abuse pediatricians, who can provide medical knowledge. In its overall tone and emphasis, we believe the training currently discourages people from making reports.
Fortunately, the Academy leaders indicated a willingness to listen and to work with us. They announced they are planning to overhaul the training this spring.
This issue is Safe Passage’s top priority in 2025.
That’s because mandated reporters are often an endangered child’s first line of defense. Nearly 80,000 reports of potential maltreatment were made in 2022 – and 80 percent originated from mandated reporters.
Mandated reporters work in many roles across a variety of industries, including healthcare, law enforcement, social services, education, and others. Because these professionals are the people who are making the initial reports, it’s important that they have a voice in shaping the direction and guidance other mandatory reporters receive in training. This is especially true for medical professionals because of their understanding of abuse symptoms.
We look forward to working with the state as well as others in 2025 to ensure mandated reporters have the knowledge and resources they need to help protect children – because there are many who are quietly suffering physical abuse, sexual abuse and neglect in communities across the state.