Child Abuse Identification and Reporting: The Pennsylvania Requirement
Course #67542 -
- Participation Instructions
- Review the course material online or in print.
- Complete the course test and receive immediate feedback, you must receive a 75% passing grade.
- Complete the course evaluation.
- Review your Transcript to view and print your Certificate of Completion. Your date of completion will be the date (Pacific Time) the course was electronically submitted for credit, with no exceptions. Partial credit is not available.
In 2020, there were 4,593 substantiated reports to child abuse in Pennsylvania. Healthcare professionals, regardless of their discipline or field, are in a unique position to assist in the identification, education, and prevention of child abuse and neglect. This course describes how victims of abuse can be accurately identified and provides the community resources available in the state of Pennsylvania for child abuse victims. Mandated reporter laws will also be outlined.
- HISTORICAL CONTEXT
- CHILD WELFARE IN PENNSYLVANIA
- DEFINITIONS OF CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT
- EPIDEMIOLOGY OF CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT
- RECOGNIZING WARNING SIGNS
- CONSEQUENCES OF CHILD ABUSE
- REPORTING SUSPECTED CHILD ABUSE
- CASE SCENARIOS
- CONCLUSION
- RESOURCES
- Works Cited
- Evidence-Based Practice Recommendations Citations
This course is approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services to fulfill the requirement for 3 hours of Child Abuse Recognition and Reporting (Act 31) training for healthcare professionals applying for licensure. Provider number CACE000020.
This course is approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services to fulfill the requirement for 2 hours of Child Abuse Recognition and Reporting (Act 31) training for healthcare professionals renewing their license. Provider number CACE000020.
This introductory course is designed for all Pennsylvania psychologists required to complete child abuse education.
Continuing Education (CE) credits for psychologists are provided through the co-sponsorship of the American Psychological Association (APA) Office of Continuing Education in Psychology (CEP). The APA CEP Office maintains responsibility for the content of the programs.
The purpose of this course is to enable psychologists in all practice settings to define child abuse and identify the children who are affected by violence. This course describes how a victim can be accurately diagnosed and identifies the community resources available in the state of Pennsylvania for child abuse victims.
Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:
- Summarize the historical context of child abuse.
- Discuss the emergence of the child welfare system in Pennsylvania.
- Define child abuse and neglect and identify the different forms of child abuse and neglect.
- Discuss the scope of child abuse and neglect in the United States and specifically in Pennsylvania.
- Review the mandatory reporting process and mandated reporters in the state of Pennsylvania, including possible barriers to reporting suspected cases of child abuse.
Alice Yick Flanagan, PhD, MSW, received her Master’s in Social Work from Columbia University, School of Social Work. She has clinical experience in mental health in correctional settings, psychiatric hospitals, and community health centers. In 1997, she received her PhD from UCLA, School of Public Policy and Social Research. Dr. Yick Flanagan completed a year-long post-doctoral fellowship at Hunter College, School of Social Work in 1999. In that year she taught the course Research Methods and Violence Against Women to Masters degree students, as well as conducting qualitative research studies on death and dying in Chinese American families.
Previously acting as a faculty member at Capella University and Northcentral University, Dr. Yick Flanagan is currently a contributing faculty member at Walden University, School of Social Work, and a dissertation chair at Grand Canyon University, College of Doctoral Studies, working with Industrial Organizational Psychology doctoral students. She also serves as a consultant/subject matter expert for the New York City Board of Education and publishing companies for online curriculum development, developing practice MCAT questions in the area of psychology and sociology. Her research focus is on the area of culture and mental health in ethnic minority communities.
Contributing faculty, Alice Yick Flanagan, PhD, MSW, has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
James Trent, PhD
The division planner has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
Sarah Campbell
The Director of Development and Academic Affairs has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
The purpose of NetCE is to provide challenging curricula to assist healthcare professionals to raise their levels of expertise while fulfilling their continuing education requirements, thereby improving the quality of healthcare.
Our contributing faculty members have taken care to ensure that the information and recommendations are accurate and compatible with the standards generally accepted at the time of publication. The publisher disclaims any liability, loss or damage incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents. Participants are cautioned about the potential risk of using limited knowledge when integrating new techniques into practice.
It is the policy of NetCE not to accept commercial support. Furthermore, commercial interests are prohibited from distributing or providing access to this activity to learners.
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The role of implicit biases on healthcare outcomes has become a concern, as there is some evidence that implicit biases contribute to health disparities, professionals' attitudes toward and interactions with patients, quality of care, diagnoses, and treatment decisions. This may produce differences in help-seeking, diagnoses, and ultimately treatments and interventions. Implicit biases may also unwittingly produce professional behaviors, attitudes, and interactions that reduce patients' trust and comfort with their provider, leading to earlier termination of visits and/or reduced adherence and follow-up. Disadvantaged groups are marginalized in the healthcare system and vulnerable on multiple levels; health professionals' implicit biases can further exacerbate these existing disadvantages.
Interventions or strategies designed to reduce implicit bias may be categorized as change-based or control-based. Change-based interventions focus on reducing or changing cognitive associations underlying implicit biases. These interventions might include challenging stereotypes. Conversely, control-based interventions involve reducing the effects of the implicit bias on the individual's behaviors. These strategies include increasing awareness of biased thoughts and responses. The two types of interventions are not mutually exclusive and may be used synergistically.