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Tags Posts tagged with "Child Abuse"

Child Abuse

PA Family Support Alliance (PFSA) offers virtual mandated reporter training for Pennsylvania’s mandated reporters, with three options available. Approved by the Department of Human Services, the Department of Education, and the Department of State for health-related licenses, these three-hour sessions cover recognizing and reporting child abuse, responding to disclosures, and understanding neglect. They’re also eligible for Act 31 and Act 48 credits.

Visit here to register for a preferred training date and time. Each participant must log in separately to receive credit. For inquiries or to schedule an organization-specific session, contact PFSA via email. You can also contact RCPA Policy Director Jim Sharp with any further questions.

Image by succo from Pixabay

**Editor’s note: This story contains references to sexual abuse, domestic violence, and murders of children.


When a child development professional first told Inaya that they would be filing a Childline report on behalf of her toddler, she felt both relieved and terrified.

The Pittsburgh mother of one was fearful her then-husband would hurt her child once she disclosed the abuse, but her worry poured out to the child development professional. “One weekend I broke down before her because of what had been happening, and she then told me that, ‘You and your daughter are no longer safe here,’” said Inaya, whose real name is being withheld out of concern that publicity might result in negative consequences.

View the full article here.

The Office of Children, Youth, & Families (OCYF) has released the 2021 Pennsylvania Annual Child Abuse report. The report may be accessed here as well as through the Child Abuse Reports Page.

While the report continues to provide detailed data for statewide and individual county responses to reports, for the first time, race and ethnicity data was added for substantiated victims and perpetrators. OCYF in its reporting process will continue to refine this information for future reports and have only presented statewide data and not county by county statistics to avoid providing individually identifiable information.

If you have any questions, please contact RCPA Children’s Policy Director Jim Sharp.

The PA Family Support Alliance is sponsoring a free mandated reporter training entitled “Responding to Disclosures of Child Abuse.” This training is for mandated reporters who have taken training on recognizing and reporting child abuse before and need to take it again. It is 3 hours and available at no cost to mandated reporters in Pennsylvania. This training is designed to help professionals and volunteers respond to disclosures of child abuse in a way that is sensitive and supportive to the child, but without tainting the child’s memory.

The curriculum is approved by the Departments of Human Services, Education, and State and meets all requirements for training on recognizing and reporting child abuse (to include Act 126 for school employees). It is also approved for continuing education credits under Act 31 (Department of State for health-related licenses) and Act 48 (Department of Education for teachers) at no cost. PFSA will submit your training verification to the Department of State or Education as appropriate on your behalf (details provided during training).

Each person must log in through separate devices, using the unique access link emailed to them after registration to receive credit.

For questions or to schedule a session specifically for your organization, please email PFSA or RCPA Children’s Policy Director Jim Sharp.

Please register for your preferred training date and time by clicking one of the session links below.

Wed. June 1, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm

Tues. June 7, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm

Wed. June 8, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm

Thurs. June 9, 12:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Tues. June 14, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm

Wed. June 15, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Thurs. June 16, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm

Fri. June 17, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm

Sat. June 18, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm

Tues. June 21, 12:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Tues. June 21, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Wed. June 22, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm

Thurs. June 23, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm

Mon. June 27, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Tues. June 28, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm

Wed. June 29, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm

Thurs. June 30, 12:00 pm – 3:00 pm

The Pennsylvania Family Support Alliance has created a resource with helpful tips on how to recognize abuse and/or neglect when interacting with children virtually as well as other helpful information and resources. For any questions regarding this resource or mandated reporter training, visit their website at www.pa-fsa.org.

If you have further questions, please contact RCPA Children’s Director Jim Sharp.