Mandated Reporter Academy
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How to Report

Massachusetts (MA)

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Who is required to report?

Citation: Gen. Laws Ch. 119, § 21

  • Mandatory reporters include the following:
    • Medical and mental health professionals, including:
    • Physicians
    • Medical interns
    • Hospital personnel
    • Medical examiners
    • Psychologists
    • Emergency medical technicians
    • Dentists
    • Nurses
    • Chiropractors
    • Podiatrists
    • Optometrists
    • Osteopaths
    • Allied mental health and human services professionals
    • Drug and alcoholism counselors
    • Psychiatrists
    • Clinical social workers
  • Education and child care personnel, including:
    • Public or private schoolteachers
    • Educational administrators
    • Guidance or family counselors
    • Child care workers
  • Child care and residential service personnel, including:
    • Persons paid to care for or work with children in any public or private facility, home, or program providing child care or residential services
    • Persons providing services through:
      • Child care resource and referral agencies
      • Voucher management agencies
      • Family child care systems
      • Child care food programs
  • Regulatory and school officials, including:
    • Licensors of the Department of Early Education and Care
    • School attendance officers
  • Legal and public safety personnel, including:
    • Probation officers
    • Clerk-magistrates of a district court
    • Parole officers
    • Social workers
    • Foster parents
    • Firefighters
    • Police officers
    • Animal control officers
  • Religious officials and affiliates, including:
    • Priests, rabbis, clergy members, ordained or licensed ministers, leaders of any church or religious body, or accredited Christian Science practitioners
    • Persons performing official duties on behalf of a church or religious body that are recognized as the duties of such religious leaders
    • Persons employed by a church or religious body to supervise, educate, coach, train, or counsel a child on a regular basis
  • Institutional leadership, including:
    • Persons in charge of a medical or other public or private institution, school, or facility
    • That person’s designated agent
  • The child advocate

When is a report required?

Citation: Ann. Laws Ch. 119, § 51A

A mandated reporter shall make an oral report immediately when, in his or her professional capacity, he or she has reasonable cause to believe that a child is suffering physical or emotional injury resulting from any of the following:

  • Abuse inflicted upon him or her that causes harm or substantial risk of harm to the child's health or welfare, including sexual abuse
  • Neglect, including malnutrition
  • Being a sexually exploited child
  • Being a human trafficking victim, as defined by chapter 233, § 20M

Within 48 hours of making the oral report, the mandated reporter shall file a written report detailing the suspected abuse or neglect.

What information should the report include?

Citation: Ann. Laws Ch. 119, § 51A

  • The names and addresses of the child and the child’s parents or other person responsible for the child’s care, if known
  • The child’s age and sex
  • The nature and extent of the child’s injuries, abuse, maltreatment or neglect, including any evidence of prior injuries, abuse, maltreatment or neglect
  • The circumstances under which the person required to report first became aware of the child’s injuries, abuse, maltreatment or neglect
  • Whatever action, if any, was taken to treat, shelter or otherwise assist the child
  • The name of the person(s) making the report
  • Any other information that the person reporting believes might be helpful in establishing the cause of the injuries
  • The identity of the person(s) responsible for the neglect or injuries
  • Other information required by the DCF

Additional Notes:

  • For the purpose of reporting, hospital personnel may have photographs taken of the areas of trauma visible on the child without the consent of the child’s parents or guardians
  • These photographs or copies thereof shall be sent to DCF with the report

Failure to report

Citation: Gen. Laws Ch. 119, § 51A

Any mandatory reporter who fails to report shall be punished by a fine of not more than $1,000.

Any mandated reporter who has knowledge of child abuse or neglect that resulted in serious bodily injury to or death of a child and willfully fails to report the abuse or neglect shall be punished by a fine of up to $5,000 or imprisonment for no more than 2 1/2 years or by both, and, upon a guilty finding or a continuance without a finding, the court shall notify any appropriate professional licensing authority of the mandated reporter's violation of this paragraph.