Your Calls to Congress Stall Mandatory Reporting Bill

From the HSLDA e-lert service…


Your Calls to Congress Stall Mandatory Reporting Bill

Dear HSLDA Members and Friends,

Thank you for your calls to senators on the U.S. Senate’s Subcommittee on Children and Families. We had previously urged families nationwide to call their senators and urge them to oppose S. 1877, a bill which would create a federal mandate that all adults be mandatory reporters of child abuse and neglect.

HSLDA believes that this bill would lead to a police-state reporting environment resulting in social services investigations on innocent families. You can read our concerns with this bill online.

The Subcommittee on Children and Families held a hearing about S. 1877 on Tuesday, December 13. At this hearing, numerous witnesses urged passage of the bill. However, under questioning by senators on the committee, the witnesses also acknowledged that a federal requirement that all adults be mandatory reporters of child abuse is a double-edged sword. It was apparent that more reporting does not necessarily mean accurate reporting of child abuse, and will not by itself protect children.

Additionally, the senators on the committee and witnesses discussed that a federal mandate that all adults be mandatory reporters of child abuse could actually make it more difficult to identify and stop abuse of at-risk children.

We encourage you to watch the hearing. We have been told by sources on Capitol Hill that this bill is a knee-jerk response to the tragedy at Penn State University, and that it is unlikely to move out of committee.

HSLDA will continue to educate members of Congress about the dangers posed to innocent families and children who are truly at-risk by S. 1877. Additionally, we will continue to monitor this bill. If it is scheduled for a committee vote or appears poised to move at all, we will send out another action alert.

It is because of your calls and emails to the U.S. Senate that this bill appears to have stalled. Thank you for your action and for making the difference.

If you would like to join HSLDA and partner with us to protect homeschool parents from the federal government’s encroachment on our civil liberties, please click here.

For liberty,

J. Michael Smith, Esq.
President, HSLDA.