Child Abuse Identification and Reporting: The Pennsylvania Requirement _____________________________
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to penalties for failure to report or refer). In 2016, SB1311 (Act 115) was signed and went into effect. This Act provides for additional grounds for involuntary termi- nation of parental rights, provides for an additional grounds for aggravated circumstances, allows for the release of information in confidential reports to law enforcement when investigating cases of severe forms of trafficking in persons of sex trafficking, and adds a category of child abuse to include human trafficking. In 2017, Governor Tom Wolf approved Act 68 (also known as the Newborn Protection Act) to increase the number of loca- tions for parents to give up their newborn without criminal liability [6]. In 2018, Act 29 was signed and expanded the definition of child abuse in Pennsylvania to include leaving a child unsupervised with a sexual predator [5]. That same year, Act 54 was signed and required mandatory notification when a medical provider has determined that a child (younger than 1 year of age) was born affected by substance use or withdrawal symptoms resulting from prenatal drug or alcohol exposure. This Act also mandates the development of “interagency pro- tocols” to support local multidisciplinary teams to identify, assess, and develop a plan of safe care for infants born affected by substance use or withdrawal symptoms. In 2019, Act 88, relating to penalties for failure to report or refer, was enacted. CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES The Pennsylvania child welfare system is state-supervised and county-administered. County children-and-youth agencies (CCYAs) have two main functions: Child Protective Services (CPS) and General Protective Services (GPS). The first is CPS, which consists of services and activities provided by DHS and each county agency for child abuse cases. Cases identified as CPS require an investigation because the alleged act or failure to act meets the definition of child abuse. The PA CPSL’s definition of child abuse recognizes 10 separate categories of child abuse. Examples of CPS cases include: • Causing bodily injury to a child through any recent act or failure to act • Fabricating, feigning or intentionally exaggerating or inducing a medical symptom or disease which results in a potentially harmful medical evaluation or treatment to the child through any recent act • Causing or substantially contributing to serious mental injury to a child through any act or failure to act or a series of such acts or failures to act • Causing sexual abuse or exploitation of a child through any act or failure to act • Creating a reasonable likelihood of bodily injury to a child through any recent act or failure to act • Creating a likelihood of sexual abuse or exploitation of a child through any recent act or failure to act
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CHILD WELFARE IN PENNSYLVANIA Pennsylvania was also the first state to take a noncriminal view of child abuse [22; 26]. In 1975, the Pennsylvania Child Protective Services Law (CPSL) (23 Pa.C.S. Chapter 63, Child Protective Services was enacted, which established a child abuse hotline and a statewide central registry in Pennsylvania in order to encourage the reporting of child abuse [26]. The purpose of the Law is to protect children from abuse, allow the opportunity for healthy growth and development, and preserve and stabilize the family whenever possible. It does not restrict the generally recognized existing rights of parents to use rea- sonable supervision and control when raising their children. The child welfare system in Pennsylvania is supervised by the state but administered by the different local counties [27]. This means that there are a total of 67 county agencies that administer the child welfare and juvenile justice services [27]. The State of Pennsylvania delineates two functions for the local agencies: child protective services (CPS) and general protective services (GPS). Recent amendments to the PA CPSL relevant to child abuse recognition and reporting include Act 115 of 2016 (relating to human trafficking), Act 54 of 2018 (relating to notification of substance affected infants by healthcare providers and plan of safe care), and Act 88 of 2019 (relating
• Causing serious physical neglect of a child • Engaging in a specific recent “per se” act
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