{"id":32371,"date":"2025-12-10T08:35:13","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T16:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casey.org\/?p=32371"},"modified":"2026-07-23T15:05:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T15:05:31","slug":"obligacion-de-denuncia-estatal-en-california","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casey.org\/es\/mandated-reporting-state-california\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00bfC\u00f3mo se est\u00e1 transformando la obligaci\u00f3n de informar en California?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Summary<\/h3>\n

California’s transformative work includes seven levers for change: examining research and data, looking at funding and policy, engaging those with lived expertise, shifting mindsets, engaging cross-system partners, developing training and tools for mandated reporters, and designing pathways for family support.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Child protection agencies, people with lived experience in the child welfare system, community partners, and advocates around the country are using data and research to explore practices and policies that help to ensure child safety while keeping families safely together. Mandated reporting, as currently designed, is a well-intentioned but often overused and misused practice that can inflict harm and compound trauma on children and families, diverting critical system resources away from those who need them the most.<\/p>\n

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Statewide efforts to transform mandated reporting in California evolved from several years of focus on and investment in supporting families, preventing child maltreatment, and addressing racial disparities. The efforts to transform mandated reporting were rooted in the social awakening about race that followed the murders of George Floyd and other people of color. California\u2019s child welfare system is county-administered, but state work has buoyed and, in some cases, laid the foundation for local efforts. At the same time, early efforts in counties like Los Angeles and San Diego have informed the state\u2019s strategy in powerful ways.<\/p>\n

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Shifting from Reporting Families to Supporting Families<\/a> is a comprehensive report detailing the work of California\u2019s Mandated Reporting to Community Supporting Task Force, which was guided by a vision to \u201ckeep children and families together, safe, well, and strengthened by the resources they need to thrive.\u201d The report includes 14 recommendations to transform mandated reporting in California \u2014 proposals that could also be pursued in other jurisdictions.1<\/sup><\/a> To support implementation of the recommendations, the State of California codified into law<\/a> a mandated reporting advisory committee as a part of the state\u2019s Child Welfare Council.<\/p>\n

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This brief summarizes the state-level efforts in California, and is organized using seven key levers for mandated reporting transformation<\/a> that evolved out of a December 2024 Casey Family Programs-sponsored convening that child protection agency leaders and lived experts attended. For details on local efforts in Los Angeles and San Diego Counties, see: How are two counties in California transforming mandated reporting?<\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \n \n \n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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It is important not to look at this work in isolation. It is an offshoot of efforts to create a holistic approach to prevention and child and family well-being. The focus on mandated reporting emerged from looking at disproportionality \u2014 which hotline calls led to system involvement and which were unsubstantiated.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

— David Swanson Hollinger, Chief Deputy Director, California Department of Social Services<\/cite><\/figcaption>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n
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Start with and routinely examine trends and research<\/h2>\n \n \n \n

The California task force had a strong focus on research, aided through the California Child Welfare Indicator Project<\/a> that allows the state and its counties to access recent and historical data. Several data trends pointed to the need to rethink the front end of the child welfare system. Understanding and sharing data on these trends was foundational to informing the task force\u2019s recommendations.<\/p>\n

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  1. Reporting and substantiation rates<\/strong>. Each year, over 400,000 children are reported to child protection services, yet only slightly more than 1 in 10 of those reports are substantiated. There is variability in substantiation rates across types of mandated reporter, ranging from 4% to 23%. (Task force report, Figure 10, page 32<\/a>)<\/li>\n
  2. General neglect<\/strong>. Nearly half of hotline reports concern general neglect (about 200,000). While California passed legislation to clarify the definition of neglect, changing behavior will take time. Historically, data suggests that general neglect includes issues tied to poverty including housing, food, and utilities. (Task force report, Figure 2, page 8<\/a>)<\/li>\n
  3. Disproportionate outcomes<\/strong>. Though racial disparities in reporting dissipate when poverty is considered, once Black and American Indian\/Alaska Native children are known to the system, they are more likely to be placed into and remain in foster care. (Task force report, Figure 4, page 11<\/a>)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n \n \n \n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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    Examine existing funding and policy approaches<\/h2>\n \n \n \n

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    General neglect historically has accounted for nearly half of all CPS reports in California, according to data from the California Child Welfare Indicators Project<\/a>. This high rate has been due in part to the ambiguity in the statutory definition of general neglect. Assembly Bill 2085<\/a>, signed into law in 2022 and championed by the Children\u2019s Law Center of California<\/a> and other advocates, added necessary specificity to the definition, including new language stating directly that \u201cgeneral neglect does not include a parent\u2019s economic disadvantage.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \n \n \n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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