New York state is launching updated trainings for mandatory reporters, people who are required by state law to report suspected child abuse and maltreatment.

Mandatory reporters include doctors, nurses, teachers, police and child care center workers, some of whom attended the new training to learn what was changed to keep children safe.

“New York is on the cusp of changing so many lives,” said Tim Hathaway, executive director of Prevent Child Abuse New York.

The Office of Children and Family Services is rolling out the new training.

“We have more than 50 professional groups who are designated, mandated reporters,” said Lisa Ghartey Ogundimu, deputy commissioner for the Division of Child Welfare and Community Services with the New York State Office of Children and Family Services.

The groups include school staff, law enforcement and medical personnel.

“In 2022 alone, our emergency department saw nearly 300 pediatric victims of suspected physical and sexual abuse,” said Dr. Rebecca Butterfield, child abuse medicine chief at Albany Medical Center's Division of Pediatrics.

The new training is designed to address biases within the child welfare system that could decrease calls to the Statewide Central Register based on race and poverty.

“We know for too long, too many families of color, African American children, Latinx children and Native American children have not fared well when touched by the child welfare system,” Ogundimu said.

In addition to diminishing gaps in the system, mandated reporters will receive better guidance by way of the latest research on child trauma and on comprehending warning signs of abuse and neglect.

“Last year, of over 100,000 to the Statewide Central Register, only 27% of those calls were actually indicated as abuse,” Ogundimu said.

Funding and resources will also be dispersed to communities across the state to help support online portals and mobile response units that should promote a better collaborative approach on the local level, especially in schools. The training must be complete by April 2025.

“Kids learn when their families are partners and their parents are involved,” state Education Department Assistant Commissioner Kathleen DeCataldo said.