Re: An unusual situation
Byron Hynes (bph@GOV.NT.CA)
Wed, 11 Jan 1995 12:58:10 MST
Bill Warde said:
> In Oklahoma, we are REQUIRED by State law to report anything that we
> think smacks of child abuse to the appropriate authorities, and the
> BSA policy is that this is to be done by the CE for him to pass on if
> deemed necessary to our Department of Human Services for
> investigation. With this in mind, it is TOTALLY appropriate for the
> Will Rogers Council
It's interesting to note how laws very from place to place. The law which
governs me, for example, requires reporting to the "supertendent of child
welfare", as represented by the Department of Health and Social Services.
By CONVENTION (not law), the Department and the Police agencies have
agreed that if a person reports to the police, the police will inform
HSS, and the person reporting would not ever have been considered as
failing to report.
However, reporting to my employer DOES NOT relieve me of the obligation
to report it to the authority. If the employer sweeps it under the carpet,
I could be held accountable for not reporting it.
As a concrete example: My wife works in a school. If she has cause to
believe that a child has been abused (especially by someone in the
school), her FIRST call is to the Social Services office, THEN she
leaves a written report for her principal.
My question is this: How can BSA say "tell XXX in BSA, and no one else,"
if the LAW says "Tell YYY in such-and-such a department"?
I would suspect that the law requires the witness to tell the (appropriate)
gov't agency or police, and BSA rules dictate who to tell in BSA, and
that therefore a volunteer may have a dual reporting responsibility...
Brian, you're the expert... any thought?
- byron
--
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City | 
