Testimony Regarding the Child Welfare System and Mandated Reporting of Child Abuse or Maltreatment in New York State

The New York Civil Liberties Union submitted the following testimony to the New York State Assembly Standing Committee on Children and Families public hearing on the child welfare system and mandatory reporting of child abuse or maltreatment in New York State. Rather than keeping children safe, mandated reporting laws have warped the roles of service professionals, sown confusion, and led to an excess of unjustified reports.

Reforming mandated reporting laws is just one piece of addressing the harms of the family regulation system, and we thank the committee for holding this important hearing.