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Section 10
Act 88 of 2019 Update
Penalties for Failure to Report

Test | Table of Contents

A mandated reporter who willfully fails to report suspected child abuse or to make a referral to the appropriate authorities, commits an offense.

The offense is a felony of the third degree if: [50]

 The person or official willfully fails to report;
 The child abuse constitutes a felony of the first degree or higher; and
 The person or official has direct knowledge of the nature of the abuse.

An offense not otherwise specified previously is a misdemeanor of the second degree.

If a mandated reporter makes a report to law enforcement or the appropriate county agency in lieu of reporting to ChildLine, this is not an offense for failure to report, as long as the report was made in a good faith effort to comply with the requirements to report. [50]
Updated 2023

50. Center, Legislative Data Processing. “Title 23.” Pennsylvania General Assembly. The official website for the Pennsylvania General Assembly., 21 Nov. 2016. Web. 22 Nov. 2016. http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/LI/consCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&ttl=23&div=0&chpt=63&sctn=18&subsctn=0

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article References:
Babcock Fenerci, R. L., & DePrince, A. P. (2018). Shame and alienation related to child maltreatment: Links to symptoms across generations. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 10(4), 419–426.

Meeker, E. C., O'Connor, B. C., Kelly, L. M., Hodgeman, D. D., Scheel-Jones, A. H., & Berbary, C. (2021). The impact of adverse childhood experiences on adolescent health risk indicators in a community sample. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 13(3), 302–312.

Sousa, C., Mason, W. A., Herrenkohl, T. I., Prince, D., Herrenkohl, R. C., & Russo, M. J. (2018). Direct and indirect effects of child abuse and environmental stress: A lifecourse perspective on adversity and depressive symptoms. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 88(2), 180–188.

Wagner, M. F., Milner, J. S., McCarthy, R. J., Crouch, J. L., McCanne, T. R., & Skowronski, J. J. (2015). Facial emotion recognition accuracy and child physical abuse: An experiment and a meta-analysis. Psychology of Violence, 5(2), 154–162.

Online Continuing Education QUESTION 10
In what instances is a mandated reporter who willfully fails to report suspected child abuse or to make a referral to the appropriate authorities, commits an felony in the third degree? To select and enter your answer go to Test.