Department of Criminology, Sociology and Geography to Present Training for Mandated Reporters of Child Abuse
JONESBORO – Arkansas State’s Department of Criminology, Sociology and Geography joins with the community effort to help reverse the regional problem of child abuse through a public workshop it will conduct for mandated reporters.
“Child Safe Communities and Mandated Reporter Training” on Thursday, Aug. 8, will inform those involved with reporting child abuse, and in particular sexual abuse.
The conference is from 8 a.m. until noon in Centennial Hall of the Carl R. Reng Student Union.
Because child abuse is considered a major problem in Northeast Arkansas and Southeast Missouri, the department will present the workshop as part of a community effort to help reverse the trend. Just last year, the Crimes Against Children Division of the Arkansas State Police investigated 900 cases of alleged severe child abuse in the Second Judicial District.
The goal of the training is to give mandated reporters the information and skills they need to report suspected child abuse and to work with appropriate agencies to make area communities safer for children, according to Dr. Larry Salinger, chair of the Department of Criminology, Sociology and Geography.
Workshop speakers will be Scott Ellington, prosecuting attorney for the Second Judicial District; Carole Robinson of the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office; and Kristy Nichols, executive director of the Northeast Arkansas Child Advocacy Center.
In the State of Arkansas, many professionals are mandated by law to report suspected child abuse. This includes social workers, childcare workers, teachers, college employees, nurses, doctors, counselors, law officers, and many others.
Being a mandated reporter means being responsible for reporting suspected child abuse in any situation, whether or not it is at one’s workplace.
Interested individuals are encouraged to register before 5 p.m. Monday, Aug. 5, by faxing registration to (870) 239-6340, attention Lea Ann Vanaman, or emailing leaann.vanaman@asp.arkansas.gov.
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