Recognizing and Reporting
In Indiana, every adult is a mandated reporter. Most people don’t know that.
A one-hour training for staff, volunteers, professionals, and community members on recognizing the signs of child abuse and neglect, and understanding exactly what Indiana law requires you to do about it. Families First Center brings it to your site.
.
These visits recognize both realities: that recovery takes work, and children still need connection.
Telling Your Supervisor Is Not Reporting.
Indiana law puts the duty on the individual who has reason to believe a child is being abused or neglected, not on the organization they work for. Passing a concern up the chain feels like the responsible thing to do, and on its own it does not satisfy the law. Most people in your building do not know that.
Why People Do Not Report
Almost nobody fails to report because they do not care. They fail to report because they notice something, hold it for a moment, and then find a reason to put it down.
The reasons are predictable and they are nearly always the same four. They are not sure it is bad enough to count. They do not want to be wrong about a family, or about a colleague. They assume someone more senior already knows and is handling it. And they have no idea what happens after the call, which makes the call feel like a bigger act than it is.
Every one of those is a question about the reporter, not about the child, and none of them is answered by a list of warning signs.
What the Session Covers
- The scale of it. National and local data, including what Indiana DCS actually substantiated in our four counties last year.
- What to look for. Neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and emotional abuse. What each looks like from the outside, and why neglect is the hardest to see.
- The law in Indiana. Who must report, what reason to believe means, when to report, and what protects you when you do.
- How to report. The practical steps, what to say, and what to do first if a child tells you something.
- Applying it. Real scenarios, worked through together, including the hard ones where you are not sure.
Almost every adult who ever failed to protect a child had a moment where something felt wrong, and they talked themselves out of it. This session makes sure that does not happen because nobody knew what to do.
Where This Session Fits
Organizations book this for different reasons. These are the most common.
Schools and districts
Your staff are already required to report. This makes sure they know what that actually obliges them to do, and what it does not.
Childcare centers and preschools.
A training that satisfies a real duty and gives you something concrete to point to in a licensing or accreditation review.
Youth sports and clubs.
Coaches and volunteers spend unsupervised time with children and rarely get this training at all.
Faith Communities
Pairs with the safeguarding policy you already have, and covers the volunteers your policy assumes are trained.
Healthcare and social service organizations.
Your team may already be trained as professionals. This covers the Indiana specifics, which are not what most people were taught.
Employers
Anyone whose work brings them into contact with children, and any adult who wants to know what the law asks of them.
Who Should Be In The Room
Anyone whose work brings them into contact with children, and any adult who wants to know what the law asks of them.
- Teachers, aides, and school staff
- Childcare and preschool providers
- Coaches and youth program staff
- Faith community leaders and volunteers
- Healthcare and social service staff
- Employers and HR teams
Train Your Team Before You Need Them to Know.
Tell us roughly when, and roughly how many people, and we will find a date. Many organizations book this alongside Safe Bodies, Safe Words, so their staff and the families they serve hear it in the same season.