Private schools are not exempt from child-abuse reporting law

Question: I think Department of Education personnel are required by law to report suspected child abuse to the proper authorities. If sexual abuse/assault are crimes, are private schools and other institutions required by law to report these matters to the proper authorities?

Answer: Yes. Hawaii’s “mandated reporter” law applies to employees of private schools as well as public ones, and to people in many other lines of work, as spelled out in Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter 350. Mandated reporters must immediately report suspected child neglect or abuse (including sexual abuse) to the state Department of Human Services or to the police department.

The law applies when a mandated reporter has “reason to believe” in their “professional or official capacity” that neglect or abuse has occurred or that there is “substantial risk” that it may occur in the “reasonably foreseeable future.”

Per HRS 350-1.1, the following types of people must report:

>> Any licensed or registered professional of the healing arts or any health- related occupation who examines, attends, treats, or provides other professional or specialized services, including but not limited to physicians, physicians in training, psychologists, dentists, nurses, osteopathic physicians and surgeons, optometrists, chiropractors, podiatrists, pharmacists and other health-related professionals.

>> Employees or officers of any public or private school.

>> Employees or officers of any public or private agency or institution, or other individuals, providing social, medical, hospital, or mental health services, including financial assistance.

>> Employees or officers of any law enforcement agency, including but not limited to the courts, police departments, Department of Public Safety, correctional institutions, and parole or probation offices.

>> Individual providers of child care, or employees or officers of any licensed or registered child care facility, foster home, or similar institution.

>> Medical examiners or coroners.

>> Employees of any public or private agency providing recreational or sports activities.

This requirement has been on the books since at least the early 1990s, according to the 1991 supplement to the Hawaii Revised Statutes that we checked.

Under the law, failing to report as required, or preventing another person from doing so, is a petty misdemeanor punishable by up to 30 days in jail.

The statute protects mandatory reporters from civil and criminal liability, as long as they acted in good faith in reporting the suspected neglect or abuse.

We’ll emphasize, as the law does in section 350-1(1)(B), that anyone can report suspected child neglect or abuse; it’s just that certain people are required to do so.

As for the definition of sexual abuse, the law specifies in section 350-(1)(B) that it includes, but is not limited to, subjecting a person under age 18 to sexual assault as defined in the penal code; molestation; sexual fondling; incest; prostitution; pornographic photographing, filming or depiction; or other similar forms of sexual exploitation.

Auwe

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Mahalo

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