The Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) has updated its Mandatory Reporter training to highlight the distinction between families in need of support versus child abuse and neglect, and the importance of connecting those families to resources.
“When poverty or other family circumstances are mistaken for neglect, this creates disparities in reporting, impacting some individuals or groups more than others,” said DCYF Assistant Secretary of Partnership, Prevention, and Services Vickie Ybarra. “In Washington, Native American/Alaska Native families, and some communities of color are disproportionality impacted by poverty and the child welfare system.”
The updated training includes:
- Distinctions between poverty and neglect and available resources that mandatory reporters can use to help families
- Modules that address bias with the opportunity to learn how biases contribute to systemic racism
- Videos highlighting the impact of child abuse and neglect reports
- Knowledge checks that allow mandatory reporters to practice complex, real-life scenarios in a no-risk environment
“We hope this training increases the number of mandatory reporters that connect children and families with valuable community resources — preventing intake calls for issues that could be better addressed by ongoing community supports,” said DCYF Assistant Secretary of Child Welfare Natalie Green.
For the past two years, DCYF staff from across the agency collaborated with medical, public education, court, and law enforcement professionals, Tribal partners, parent representatives, lived experts, The Alliance for Professional Development, Training, and Caregiver Excellence, as well as many others to shape this eLearning and inform changes made to DCYF web content and publications that focus on recognizing and reporting child abuse and neglect.
In 2023, more than 129,000 calls were made to the DCYF Intake Line, nearly 74% of the calls were made by mandatory reporters. Of the total calls, more than 85,000 were screened out, meaning they did not meet the legal threshold needed for child welfare intervention. According to the new training, each of these screened out calls could be an opportunity to strengthen a family – connecting them with resources to meet basic needs and increase protective factors.
To learn more, visit the updated reporting abuse and neglect and mandatory reporting webpages or begin the eLearning today.