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My perspective as a secondary professional school counselor is that child abuse of any form can be very limiting to students mentally, emotionally, and physically.  It is important to me that all teachers know how to recognize and report suspected child abuse in varying forms, so this information is designed for secondary teachers.

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Recognizing child abuse is important in the field of school counseling because so many students are affected by it.  *There are many different ways that children can be abused by parents, guardians, or other people in their lives, and there are many different levels of abuse.
*Physical abuse may be obvious with broken bones and visible bruises, or it may be easily covered by clothing.
*Emotional abuse is not obvious because the student may not have any recognizable symptoms.
*Neglect may be observed but mistaken for something else.  *Regardless of the level or type of abuse, a child's academic success will be affected in some way if they live in a home environment that is volatile.
*Educators spend the majority of time each day with students and therefore are in a unique position to discover child abuse and report it to the authorities.

Due to the recent pandemic and students learning remotely across our nation, child abuse has become an even bigger topic. Teachers are not able to observe all of their students in-person anymore, and that puts children at an even greater risk.  As we move forward, making decisions about returning all students to in-person learning, it is important for us to consider how our students lives are impacted by being isolated from mandatory child abuse reporters.

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The American School Counselor Association has been instrumental in defining the role of the professional school counselor.
* Yearly conference for school counselors where over 200 sessions are offered
* Webinars and other resources that counselors may need to help support their students.
* Professional School Counseling journal published by the ASCA with articles on abuse and helping students that have experienced child abuse.
www.schoolcounselor.org

An example of the type of articles published by the ASCA is "Child Abuse Reporting by School Counselors".  This article describes a study about what factors school counselors use to decide when it is necessary to report child abuse.

Bryant, J., & Milsom, A. (2005). Child abuse reporting by school counselors. Professional School Counseling. https://doi.org/10.1177/2156759X0500900106

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According to a 2019 Florida study,  the reported incidence rate of verified child physical abuse reports was found to be nearly 4 times higher on Saturdays following a Friday report card release when compared to Saturdays not following a grade check (Bright, Lynne, Masyn, Waldman, Graber, & Alexander).
Significance:
* One of the leading risk factors for physical abuse is corporal punishment.
* Monday-Thursday grade reports did not result in an increase in reported incidences, possibly because students do not have school the next day where the evidence may be seen by teachers.
* Strong informal evidence from professionals working in child protection suggest that physical abuse for school-aged children increases after the release of report cards.
* Schools can use this information to help reduce incidents of abuse by changing the report card release date to a weekday other than Friday.

Citation:
Bright MA, Lynne SD, Masyn KE, Waldman MR, Graber J, Alexander R. (2019). Association of Friday school report card release with Saturday incidence rates of agency-verified physical child abuse. JAMA Pediatrics, 173(2), p. 176–182. doi:10.1001/jama
pediatrics.2018.4346

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2717779

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*School counselors are charged with helping abused children by recognizing abuse based on a child's symptoms or behavior, and understanding how this trauma may affect children emotionally and academically.
*Sexual abuse is a form of child abuse and affects students throughout their lives.
*School Counselors must know how to report abuse, speak with children and adolescents about abuse suspicions, and understand the symptoms of trauma and how they contribute to the difficulties abused children have in school.

Brown, S., Brack, G., & Mullis, F. (2008). Traumatic symptoms in sexually abused children: Implications for school counselors. Professional School Counseling. https://doi.org/10.1177/2156759X0801100603

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Constitutional Law:  The 14th amendment gives children the right to equal protection under the law.

*No state shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws (U. S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1).

https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/amendments-11-27#xiv

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Statutory Law: 1974 federal law, the Child Abuse Prevention & Treatment Act (CAPTA)

*In 1974, Congress enacted the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA, P.L. 93-247) to create a single federal focus for preventing and responding to child abuse and neglect.
*CAPTA defines child abuse as “at a minimum, any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker, which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation, or an act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm” (Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, 1974)

Child Abuse Prevention & Treatment Act

https://www.congress.gov/bill/93rd-congress/senate-bill/1191

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Judicial Law:  Estelle v. McGuire, 502 U.S. 62 (1991)

The Court found that evidence of battered child syndrome is relevant and not a violation of due process since the prosecution was required to prove an intentional act. Since the prosecution is required to prove intent, the Court held this evidence was relevant to help prove an intentional, rather than accidental, act occurred.

https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/502/62/

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Administrative Law:  Texas Family Code

Section 261 of the Texas Family Code defines abuse to a child and the penalties for such abuse.
*Mandatory reporters include: teachers, nurses, doctors, day-care employees, employees of a clinic or health care facility that provides reproductive services, juvenile probation officers, and juvenile detention or correctional officers.
*Reporting must occur within 48 hours of suspicions.
*Knowingly failing to report abuse is a class A misdemeanor
*Failing to report (knowingly) for an individual with intellectual disabilities is a state jail felony.

Texas Family Code § 261

https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/FA/htm/FA.261.htm#261.101

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Slide #10:  Local Administrative Law/Policy/Rule

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Slide #10:  Local Administrative Law/Policy/Rule

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The District Handbook for Krum Independent School District Employees has a policy for reporting child abuse that follows the Texas Family Code, stating, “Any person who has cause to believe that a child's physical or mental health or welfare has been adversely affected by abuse or neglect has a legal responsibility, under state law, to immediately report the suspected abuse or neglect to an appropriate authority" (KISD, 2021, p. 57)

Citation:  Krum Independent School District. (2021). Employee Handbook. P. 57

https://pol.tasb.org/Policy/Download/386?filename=FFG(LOCAL).html&title=STUDENT%20WELFARE&subtitle=CHILD%20ABUSE%20AND%20NEGLECT

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The American School Counselor Association's list of Ethical-Standards specifically mentions child abuse in the following standard:
A.11.b. "Report suspected cases of child abuse and neglect to the proper authorities and take reasonable precautions to protect the privacy of the student for whom abuse or neglect is suspected when alerting the proper authorities."
This standard is specific to child abuse because it is the standard for the mandatory reporting of child abuse.  However, another standard that is important to this topic is:
A.11.d "Develop and maintain the expertise to recognize the signs and indicators of abuse and neglect. Encourage training to enable students and staff to have the knowledge and skills needed to recognize the signs of abuse and neglect and to whom they should report suspected abuse or neglect."
This standard is probably the most important for school counselors dealing with child abuse because it includes recognizing the signs, but it also includes the importance of helping the other educators on our campuses to recognize and report abuse.

ASCA. (2016).  ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors. https://www.schoolcounselor.org/getmedia/f041cbd0-7004-47a5-ba01-3a5d657c6743/Ethical-Standards.pdf

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Slide #13: Recommendations / Best Practices for Compliance:

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Slide #13: Recommendations / Best Practices for Compliance:

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*Know the four kinds of child abuse: physical, emotional, sexual, and neglect.
*Do not wait--Report any suspicion of child abuse and neglect (within 48 hours).
*Provide a safe environment for students to confide--Make sure the setting is confidential and comfortable.
*Listen.  Don't make assumptions, listen more than you talk, and avoid giving advice.
*Don’t ask a lot of questions, especially leading questions.
*Tell your student what you are going to do, what is going to happen next, and who else they will need to talk to. This will help them feel some control over what happens next within the boundaries of the law.
*Document exact quotes that can be used for reporting or in court later on.

Smith, M. (2008). Pre‐professional mandated reporters’ understanding of young children’s eyewitness testimony: Implications for training. Children and Youth Services Review, 30(12), pp. 1355‐1365. doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2008.04.004

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A great resource for anyone concerned about child abuse is the Childhelp Hotline.
What you can find here:
*Mandatory reporters of abuse can find signs and symptoms of the types of abuse, along with the phone numbers of local and state child protection agencies to call for help.
*Parents can call the hotline number and speak to a counselor.
*Children can call and speak to a counselor, who will help them speak to personnel at child protective services about being abused.

https://www.childhelp.org/childhelp-hotline/