With the upswing in online communication and social media, the latest information on human trafficking notes that children are often recruited through social media. This emerging issue has led to numerous trainings on the topic.

Resources
Bastrop School Board. 2022. Bastrop ISD Employee Handbook. p. 62-63. https://www.bisdtx.org/Page/1274

Texas Family Code § 261.101 https://texas.public.law/statutes/tex._fam._code_section_261.101

The American School Counseling Association offers online webinars on various topics. One topic specifically addresses online safety education for kids. This webinar would be an excellent source of information for a preventative program. It offers information about reaching children with warnings before adolescence.

The link for this webinar follows: https://videos.schoolcounselor.org/?s=reporting+child+abuse

The original federal law titled Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA), was enacted in 1974. It has been amended numerous times since then. CAPTA provides funding and guidance for states in support of prevention, assessment, investigation, prosecution, and treatment activities and also provides grants to public agencies and nonprofit organizations for the demonstration of programs (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2019).

Resource

Child Welfare Information Gateway. (2019). About CAPTA: A legislative history. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Children’s Bureau. 

Texas Family Code identifies state employees that work with students in any capacity as mandatory reporters of child abuse and neglect. Any person, specifically any state-licensed or certified professional in Texas, must report any reasonable suspicion of child abuse or neglect within 48 hours of initially having reason to suspect abuse or neglect. This duty to report is not transferable and can not be delegated to another person. The duty to report extends to the information an adult gives of previous abuse, which causes one to believe that another child or elderly person may be in danger of abuse. The responsibility to report does not exempt any privileged communication with lawyers, clergy, or counselors. The report will be confidential unless the reporter requests otherwise or a law officer needs to contact the reporter to complete the investigation of the report (Texas Family Code § 261.101). A link to the full statute is provided below.

Resource
Texas Family Code § 261.101 https://texas.public.law/statutes/tex._fam._code_section_261.101

Texas Education Agency (TEA) regulates the compliancy of TEC § 261.101 through Texas Administrative Code § 61.1051. The Commissioner begins by defining abuse, neglect, maltreatment, and trafficking. The Commissioner then requires the Board of Trustees to adopt and review a district’s policy for reporting child abuse annually. The district policy must mandate that the person that has reason to suspect child abuse report the abuse within 48 hours of reasonable suspicion to one of the four agencies that follows: local or state law enforcement, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, local Child Protective Services, or the state agency that operate the facility in which the child was allegedly abused. TAC § 61.1051 further requires policies requiring that school districts provide additional awareness policies to students, faculty, and parents, along with outreach strategies and counseling options about child sex abuse and maltreatment.

Additionally, the Code states that reporting to an administrator prior to filing a report can not be mandated, the toll-free phone number for the Texas Department of Family Protective Services must be listed in the policy, the policy should be reviewed in staff development, and a child abuse anti-victimization program be included in the policy. TEA then mandates that the policy be distributed to newly hired employees in their employee orientation and addressed yearly in staff development programs. Lastly, the Code states that the district’s policy should be in a readable font and the number for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and Abuse hotline be indicated in bold.

Resource
Texas Administrative Code § 61.1051

  The American School Counselors Association(ASCA) (2022) states that the counselor should “ report all incidents of bullying, dating violence or harassment to the administration, recognizing these behaviors may fall under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 or other federal and state laws as illegal and require administrator intervention.” When students report sexual assault or dating violence from another student, counselors should ethically contact the administration and subsequently law enforcement if a crime was reported.

One situation may arise when the school counselor is listed as the Title IV campus coordinator. Listing the school counselor as the Title IV coordinator creates a conflict of interest. How can the counselor maintain an open and trusting relationship with a student that reports abuse in the school if they are then required to turn around and lead the investigation? 

Resource
American School Counselor Association. (2022). ASCA ethical standards for school counselors. https://www.schoolcounselor.org/getmedia/f041cbd0-7004-47a5-ba01-3a5d657c6743/Ethical-Standards.pdf 

*You are a mandatory reporter as a Texas educator, administrator, counselor, or employee (Texas Family Code§ 261.101)

*Anyone who has reasonable cause to suspect that a child has been physically or mentally abused or neglected shall immediately make a report within 48 hours of initial cause to suspect (Texas Family Code § 261.101).

*The state law and BISD policy require that the person that has a reasonable cause to suspect abuse or neglect must be the person to make the report and that this responsibility is non-transferable.

*You are not liable for any report made in good faith, and the state law protects you from civil or criminal litigation(Texas Family Code§ 261.106).

*Non-reporting is a class A misdemeanor, and covering up abuse is a felony offense and can result in disciplinary action by the SBEC (BISD School Board, 2022).

*CPS online reporting: https://www.txabusehotline.org/Login/Default.aspx 

*Texas Abuse Hotline: (800-252-5400)