____________________________ Child Abuse Identification and Reporting: The Pennsylvania Requirement
children for the purposes of supervision, control, and discipline of their children. Such reasonable force shall not constitute child abuse. • Participation in events that involve physical contact with child: An individual participating in a practice or competition in an interscholastic sport, physical educa- tion, recreational activity, or extracurricular activity that involves physical contact with a child does not, in itself, constitute contact that is subject to the reporting requirements of the PA CPSL. • Defensive force: Reasonable force for self-defense or the defense of another individual shall not be considered child abuse. – Reasonable force for self-defense or the defense of another individual (consistent with the provisions
A law enforcement official who receives a report of suspected child abuse is not required to make a report to the department if the person allegedly responsible for the child abuse is a nonperpetrator child. Nothing in the CPSL requires a person who has reasonable cause to suspect a child is a victim of child abuse to consider the exclusions from child abuse before making a report of suspected child abuse; the exclusions from child abuse are considered/determined by DHS or the investigating agency after receipt of a referral/report. PERPETRATOR For the purposes of this course, a perpetrator is defined as an individual who has committed child abuse as defined under section 6303(b.1) of the Child Protective Services Law. The term includes only [2; 13]: • A parent of the child • A spouse or former spouse of the child’s parent • A paramour or former paramour of the child’s parent • A person 14 years of age or older responsible for the child’s welfare or having direct contact with children as an employee of childcare services, a school, or through a program, activity, or service • An individual 14 years of age or older who resides in the same home as the child • An individual 18 years of age or older who does not reside in the same home as the child but is related within the third degree of consanguinity or affinity by birth or adoption to the child • An individual 18 years of age or older who engages a child in severe forms of trafficking in persons or sex trafficking, as those terms are defined under section 103 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 In a significant revision to the definition of perpetrator, school personnel and other childcare providers are consid- ered “individuals responsible for the child’s welfare” and may be perpetrators of child abuse; there is no longer a separate definition for student abuse [2]. As such, a perpetrator may be any such person who has direct or regular contact with a child through any program, activity, or services sponsored by a school, for-profit organization, or religious or other not-for- profit organization. In addition, only the following may be considered a perpetrator for failing to act [2; 13]: • A parent of the child • A spouse or former spouse of the child’s parent • A paramour or former paramour of the child’s parent • A person 18 years of age or older and responsible for the child’s welfare or who resides in the same home as the child
of 18 Pa.C.S. § 505, relating to use of force in self-protection, and § 506 (relating to use of force for the protection of other persons) shall not be considered child abuse.
• Child-on-child contact: – Harm or injury to a child that results from the act of another child shall not constitute child abuse unless the child who caused the harm or injury is a perpetrator. – Notwithstanding paragraph (1) above, the follow- ing shall apply: Acts constituting any of the following crimes against a child shall be subject to the reporting requirements of the PA CPSL: – Rape (as defined in 18 Pa.C.S. § 3121, relating to rape) – Involuntary deviate sexual intercourse (as defined in 18 Pa.C.S. § 3123, relating to involuntary deviate sexual intercourse) – Sexual assault (as defined in 18 Pa.C.S. § 3124.1, relating to sexual assault) – Aggravated indecent assault (as defined in 18 Pa.C.S. § 3125, relating to aggravated indecent assault) – Indecent assault (as defined in 18 Pa.C.S. § 3126, relating to indecent assault),
and indecent exposure (as defined in 18 Pa.C.S. § 3127, relating to indecent expo- sure) No child shall be deemed to be a perpetrator of child abuse based solely on physical or mental injuries caused to another child in the course of a dispute, fight, or scuffle entered into by mutual consent.
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MDPA2326
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