Susan K. Smith, Atty. All Rights Reserved. Link to a more detailed discussion of what constitutes abuse and neglect. Many states have modeled their laws after the Model Child Protection Act. All states require certain professionals and institutions to report suspected child abuse, including health care providers and facilities of all types, mental health care providers of all types, teachers and other school personnel, social workers, day care providers and law enforcement personnel.
Many states require film developers to report.
The National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information is legislatively mandated to maintain information on line about mandatory reporting statutes. The NCCA site contains an extensive library of PDF documents summarizing and comparing state child abuse protection and reporting laws. The Clearinghouse keeps its statutory compilations up to date and puts them in concise plain-language format. The Clearinghouse publishes a summary chart which sets forth the basic elements of each state's statute. Extent of the knowledge triggering the duty to report varies.