Mandatory Reporters Should Be Held Accountable For Their Violations Of The Law - Position Statement
In order to qualify for funding under the Child
Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) (Jan. 1996 version), 42 U.S.C. 5101,
et seq., all 50 states have passed some form of a mandatory child abuse and
neglect reporting law. The Act was originally passed in 1974. It has been
amended several times and was amended and reauthorized on October 3, 1996, by
the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment and Adoption Act Amendments of 1996 (P.L.
104-235).
Per CAPTA, “the term ‘child abuse and neglect’ means, 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.”
In accordance with CAPTA, overweight or obese children are physically harmed, e.g., by illnesses such as Type II diabetes, asthma, hypertension and orthopedic disorders; at a higher risk of death from the complications of these and other physical harms; and are emotionally harmed, e.g., through ridicule and social ostracism.
It is clear that childhood overweight and obesity are forms of child abuse. They are nutritional child abuse at the opposite end of the spectrum from starvation.
It is also clear that nutritional child abuse is the most common form of known child abuse.
CAPTA names certain persons as "mandatory reporters" of child abuse. These include health care workers and school personnel.
Clearly, mandatory reporters are not reporting.
Clearly, they are in violation of the law.
Mandatory Reporters Should Be Held Accountable For Their Violations Of The Law - Advocacy Letter
Child abuse is wrong. We should all be opposed to it. We should do what we can to prevent it.
I assume that you are in agreement with these principles.
The most common form of child abuse of which we are aware is nutritional child abuse.
Specifically, this most frequently takes the forms of childhood overweight and obesity.
CAPTA, the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) (Jan. 1996 version), 42 U.S.C. 5101, et seq., states “the term ‘child abuse and neglect’ means, 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.”
Overweight or obese children are physically harmed, e.g., by illnesses such as Type II diabetes, asthma, hypertension and orthopedic disorders; at a higher risk of death from the complications of these and other physical harms; and are emotionally harmed, e.g., through ridicule and social ostracism.
CAPTA names certain persons as "mandatory reporters" of child abuse. These include health care workers and school personnel.
Clearly, mandatory reporters are not reporting.
Clearly, they are in violation of the law.
They are, therefore, complicit in the ongoing abuse suffered by children.
I expect the following from you:
A clear and immediate public declaration that childhood overweight and obesity are forms of child abuse
Action without delay that results in a thorough evaluation of each state's compliance with CAPTA by reviewing state efforts to monitor and punish mandatory reporters who fail to report child abuse and are therefore in violation of the law and complicit in the abuse of children
Immediate cessation of fund disbursement and return of funds if a state is found to have acted in violation of CAPTA by failing to monitor and punish mandatory reporters who do not report child abuse
Thank you for your attention to this important, life-saving matter.