Nearly A Thousand More 'Mandated Reporters' Trained in Recognizing and Reporting Child Abuse

Nearly A Thousand More 'Mandated Reporters' Trained in Recognizing and
Reporting Child Abuse

HARRISBURG, Pa., Oct. 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Pennsylvania Family
Support Alliance (PFSA) provided training in recognizing and reporting child
abuse and neglect to 7,880 "mandated reporters" during its 2008-09 program
year, an increase of nearly 1,000 over the previous year.

PFSA works through schools, early childhood education centers, religious
institutions, and social service agencies to teach mandated reporters to
recognize the signs of child abuse and neglect and how to appropriately report
such cases.

Mandated reporters are people who frequently come into contact with children
in the course of performing their jobs and are required by law to report abuse
and neglect. They include doctors and nurses, health and social service
workers, teachers and school employees, law enforcement authorities, and
members of the clergy.

PFSA provided a total of 294 training sessions across the state in 2008-09 --
about the same number as the year before -- but was able to reach nearly 1,000
more mandated reporters because of greater turnout at the sessions.

PFSA Executive Director Angela Liddle attributed the increase to two factors.
First, she said, the state Department of Public Welfare funded more training
days for community service agencies and, second, the focus on training was
expanded to new groups, in particular juvenile probation offices, early
intervention programs, foster care agencies, and mental health/mental
retardation service providers.

"Reaching more mandated reporters with training is especially important right
now," Liddle said. "Unfortunately, the incidence of child abuse tends to
increase during tough economic times such as we're experiencing at the
moment."

She added, "More than 25,650 cases of suspected abuse were reported in
Pennsylvania in 2008, an increase of about 1,600 over the previous year. Most
of the nonprofit organizations that serve families are reporting an increase
in calls this year. The annual data from the state won't be available for some
time, but we expect to see the number of cases of suspected abuse go way up
for this year."

PFSA also works with affiliated member agencies across Pennsylvania to provide
information, educational materials, and programs that teach and support good
parenting practices. Two new affiliates were added over the past year --
Bedford-Fulton County Head Start and the Children's Aid Society of Clearfield
County -- bringing the total number to more than 50.

For more information, visit the PFSA Web site at www.pa-fsa.org.

SOURCE Pennsylvania Family Support Alliance

Angela M. Liddle, Executive Director, PFSA, +1-800-448-4906 in PA,
+1-717-238-0937, Cell: +1-717-979-3726, aliddle@pa-fsa.org