Colorado’s mandatory reporting laws for child abuse and neglect disproportionately impact communities of color and the disabled, and state law should specify that mandatory reporters should not make a report to child-protective services based on a parent’s indigence or socioeconomic status or a child’s disability, according to a legislative task force.

The 34-member task force, created by the legislature in 2022, recommended sweeping reforms to Colorado’s child abuse laws, including the creation of new training mandates for the more than 40 professions specified by state law as mandatory reporters of child abuse and neglect.

If state lawmakers approve of the recommendations, a broad range of professionals – including school and medical staff, therapists, coaches, clergy members, firefighters, social workers and dentists — will have to take standardized training on their mandatory reporting requirements, perhaps every three years.

The 2017 death of 7-year-old Olivia Gant prompted the creation of the task force. Children’s Hospital Colorado employees had suspicions that Olivia was being medically abused by her mother, but the concerns were never reported to outside authorities until after Olivia’s death, in violation of mandatory reporting laws.

The task force, which was coordinated by the Colorado Child Protection Ombudsman Office and the Keystone Police Center, issued a final 29-page report last week. The report found that Black children are overreported to the state’s child abuse hotline, 1.27 times more than their percentage of the Colorado population.

In contrast, White children are underreported at about 0.64 times less than their representation in the Colorado population, the report further found.

“Mandatory reporters who do not have concerns of abuse or neglect may make a report in an attempt to connect a family with needed resources, such as food and housing assistance programs,” the report stated. “However, because there is no alternative system for mandatory reporters to contact, these calls are placed to a child abuse hotline which often results in a more in-depth intervention and intrusion into families’ lives.”

The report further found that reporting such concerns that do not actually involve child abuse and neglect “has resulted in a system that is overburdened by a high number of calls that do not involve abuse and neglect, and the inappropriate investigation of those families for whom there was no actual suspicion of abuse and neglect.”

The changes in state law recommended by the task force included a clarification that the state’s mandatory reporting law should require mandated reporters to report most suspected abuse within 24 hours instead of the current requirement of reporting “immediately.”

The task force also said large institutions like hospitals and schools can develop their own policies on mandatory reporting, but those policies must adhere to state law and can’t block or impede a mandated reporter from making a report.

The task force recommended that Colorado contract to create a decision support tool to help guide mandatory reporters on when they should or should not report a concern to child-protective services.

It further recommended the creation of an inventory of services and resources available to assist families, which could be used to steer families away from further involvement with unnecessary child abuse investigations when assistance is all that is needed.

The task force pointed to the state of New York, which has introduced a “warmline” to help families connect to resources like housing and childcare. Arapahoe County also already uses a community partnership program that connects families with services or resources to avoid further involvement with child-protective investigations, the task force reported.

While Colorado currently offers training to mandatory reporters, the training is outdated and is not required, the task force reported. The task force recommended that the Colorado Department of Human Services administer new training mandates and oversee compliance with those mandates.

For people applying for or renewing a professional license for a profession specified as a mandatory reporter of child abuse and neglect in Colorado, the state should be able to withhold licensure or certification for failure to complete new standardized training, the task force also recommended.

303-257-2601 chris.osher@gazette.com