It’s long been a problem. People call child abuse hotlines with false reports as a way to harass parents without identifying themselves — a vindictive spouse, spiteful neighbor, even a scheming landlord. The calls must be screened and triaged. When serious-sounding allegations are made, a social worker must be dispatched to investigate.
But beginning next year, in the states running the nation’s largest child welfare systems, California and Texas, these anonymous callers must now be asked to identify themselves. A California law requiring this was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last month, and takes effect in January. Texas passed a similar law to curb anonymous reports to Child Protective Services in June, and began implementing the new rules in September.
“False reports waste time and resources that could be spent on actual cases of child abuse and they compound the suffering of families that are already struggling,” Los Angeles Democratic Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer wrote in support of his successful legislation, Assembly Bill 391.
Both Texas and California are switching to a system of “confidential reporting” which requires CPS screeners to ask all callers for information such as their name and phone number. These agencies, in turn, will keep the callers’ identity confidential.
The new Texas law also includes a protection against spurious calls, and it’s strongly worded. If a reporter of child maltreatment declines to divulge their name and contact information,...
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