As a child care provider, you play an extremely important role in this effort. If you work with babies and young children, this information will be very applicable to your daily work. Equally important is your unique ability to share this information with parents in order protect children and ensure their safety and well being. Everyone in the community needs to be aware of the need to support parents and safeguard the health and well being of children. As a child care provider, you can be one of the frontrunners.
Certain people in Wisconsin are required either by the state statutes or by an executive order of the governor to report suspected child abuse and neglect. There is a system in place — child protective services and law enforcement agencies, tribal services, community treatment and support services, foster care and the court system — to intervene on behalf of children who may be abused or neglected and to secure their safety.
In order for this system to function, however, someone must first identify and refer the children who might be in need of protection. That is the role of mandated reporters. In this course you will learn the legal responsibilities as a mandated reporter, types of child abuse and neglect and their definitions, how to recognize child abuse and neglect, how and where to make a report, what happens after you make a report, and the protections for a reporter under the law.