AR 3518: Child Abuse Reporting

Mt. Hood Community College recognizes the responsibility of its staff to report to the appropriate agency when there is a reasonable suspicion that abuse or neglect of a child may have occurred. All employees are required to comply with applicable state child abuse and neglect requirements and are considered mandatory child abuse reporters under Oregon law. The duty to report suspected child abuse cases as a mandatory reporter is a 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week responsibility. This legal duty is personal to the individual as a community college employee and applies whether or not on work time.

An employee making a report of child abuse shall make an oral report by telephone or otherwise to the local office of the Department of Human Services, to the designee of the department, or to a law enforcement agency within the county where the person making the report is located at the time of the contact. The report shall contain, if known, the names and addresses of the child and the parents of the child or other persons responsible for the care of the child, the child’s age, the nature and extent of the abuse, including any evidence of previous abuse, the explanation given for the abuse and any other information that the person making the report believes might be helpful in establishing the cause of the abuse and the identity of the perpetrator.

“Child” means an unmarried person who is under 18 years of age.

Approved: 8/29/23

References: ORS 419B.005 to 419B.050