Mandated Reporting: A Policy without Reason. (Melton, 2005)
Interestingly, this unanimity of response was the product of grassroots action, not federal incentives. The federal government did not enter the child protection arena until more than a decade later with the enactment of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of 1974. (Melton, 2005, p.10)
Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of 1974. Pub. L. 93-247, 88 Stat. 4, codified as amended at 42 USC §§5101–5106
Should Social Workers Be Mandated Reporters of Child Maltreatment? An International Legal Perspective (Pollack, 2007)
The USA has mandated reporting statutes with attendant criminal sanctions a possibility. The failure to report in Tennessee is a misdemeanor. A maximum fine of $50 may be imposed if the defendant pleads guilty Tenn. Code Ann. (Supp. 2001). Mississippi’s law is more severe. It imposes a fine up to $5000 or imprisonment for up to one year, or both (Miss. Code Ann. (Supp. 2004)). (Pollack, 2007, p. 701)
Mandatory Reporting Legislation in the United States, Canada, and Australia: A Cross-Jurisdictional Review of Key Features, Differences, and Issues. (Mathews & Kenny, 2008)
Incidentally, this can be contrasted with the current version of CAPTA, which defines child abuse and neglect as meaning “at a minimum, any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker, which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation, or an act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm ” [Section 42 U.S.C.A. § 5106g(2) (West Supp. 1998)] (Matthews & Kenny, 2008, p. 51)
Recent years have seen some jurisdictions require reports of some new specific types of abuse and neg-lect. Possibly, the most significant of these concerns the duty (typically imposed on medical practitioners) to report prenatal substance abuse when substance-exposed newborns are encountered. This new duty is largely a result of a provision inserted in CAPTA by the Keeping Children and Families Safe Act of 2003; Section 42 U.S.C. (5106(b)(2)(A)(ii) of CAPTA now includes as a condition… (Matthews & Kenny, 2008, p.57)
Mandatory Reporting Laws: Their Origin, Nature, and Development over Time. (Matthews, 2015)
6. The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act 1974 (CAPTA, P.L. 93–247) s 3. The relevant provisions of the US Code are 42 U.S.C. 5101 et seq; 42 U.S.C 5116 et seq.*.
8. The Child Abuse and Prevention and Treatment Act as amended by P.L. 111–320, the CAPTA Reauthorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 5101).