Abstract
Recent attacks on the child protective system have included criticism of the mandatory reporting laws to protect children from maltreatment. After a brief history of the development of the reporting laws and an evaluation of the assumptions underlying the use of these laws for case finding, this article analyzes the costs and benefits of the reporting laws for four stakeholders—the state, professionals, families, and children—and concludes that the costs of the laws outweigh the benefits. Recommended policy revisions include improved income maintenance, general social services and family-preservation programs to support families in their care of children, and narrowed definitions of child maltreatment.
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