Ethical Dilemmas for Mental Health Practitioners: Navigating Mandated Child Maltreatment Reporting Decisions

Abstract

All states have legislation establishing child protection agencies and reporting procedures, supported by the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2003), which links federal funding to the stipulation that states must enact mandatory child abuse reporting laws. Despite this legal mandate, mental health practitioners often fail to inform their clients of the limitations of confidentiality and many are not aware of their legal mandate to report child maltreatment. This paper examines ethical and legal parameters mental health practitioners must address when working with cases of suspected child abuse and offers recommendations for practice and policy to improve collaboration between mental health practitioners and child protection agencies, in the interests of protecting children and strengthening families.