Why are professionals failing to initiate mandated reports of child maltreatment, and are there any empirically based training programs to assist professionals in the reporting process?

Although millions of children are referred to Child Protective Services (CPS) agencies annually, the true extent of child maltreatment is grossly underestimated, as professionals legally mandated to report child maltreatment often fail to do. Failing to report child maltreatment denies child victims opportunities to receive much needed intervention services. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is twofold: (1) review studies that have been conducted to assist in understanding the reasons professionals fail to report child maltreatment, for example, being unaware of child abuse signs and symptoms, misinterpreting laws pertinent to child abuse reporting practices, fear of negative consequences resulting from the report, and (2) examine the extant training programs that have been proposed to assist professionals in the mandated child abuse and neglect reporting process. Further directions are provided in light of the reviewed study results. (C) 2003 Published by Elsevier Ltd.