TPC Digest-Vol 9 Issue 3-FULL

10 TPC Digest E arly career school counselors are often navigating their role in the school while learning new responsibilities. As mandated reporters, one of these responsibilities is reporting child abuse, which can be an unnerving experience for early career school counselors. It is essential that school counselors become familiar with federal guidelines, state laws, and school policies regarding child abuse and mandated reporting laws and procedures. Failure by the school counselor to adhere to these policies can result in ethical and legal violations for the school counselor. Additionally, failure by the school counselor to report suspected child abuse cases can have negative implications for students’ welfare and well-being. Although school counselors are ethically and legally responsible for reporting suspected child abuse cases, some school counselors may not have received adequate training in recognizing and reporting suspected child abuse. Often times the experience of reporting child abuse may cause feelings of anxiousness and fear for these early career professionals. These feelings might be attributed to concerns about collaborating with reporting agencies, lack of knowledge about identifying types of abuse, or fear of repercussions. Therefore, a child abuse reporting framework for early career school counselors is provided as a support to guide the mandated reporting process. The authors recognized that previous literature addressed school counselors as mandated reporters and provided frameworks for reporting child abuse; however, this article in particular focuses on early career school counselors based on what the literature states about their experiences, concerns, and recommendations. New school counselors can be especially vulnerable to challenges because of the difficulty of learning a new role and learning the expectations of their specific school site. Additional training can help alleviate some of the concerns of early career school counselors and increase their self-efficacy toward child abuse reporting. The framework provide in this manuscript is based on the ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors, previous literature reviews, and research studies. The framework provides eight steps for early career school counselors to follow for best practices in mandated reporting. The steps include (1) familiarize and follow state laws and district/ school child abuse reporting policies, (2) familiarize and follow the 2016 ASCA ethical standards, (3) obtain training to identify and recognize signs of child abuse, (4) identify stakeholders, (5) build collaborative partnerships, (6) provide school-based training, (7) report child abuse, and (8) post-reporting procedures. The steps include recommendations and considerations for child abuse reporting. Malti Tuttle is an assistant professor and School Counseling Program Coordinator at Auburn University. Lacey Ricks is an assistant professor at Liberty University. Margie Taylor is a visiting assistant professor at Auburn University. Correspondence can be addressed to Malti Tuttle, 2084 Haley Center, Auburn, AL 36849, mst0022@auburn.edu. 10 | TPC Digest Malti Tuttle, Lacey Ricks, Margie Taylor A Child Abuse Reporting Framework for Early Career School Counselors