November 30^th, 2022 Mandated Reporter Training Update

New Mandated Reporter Training for professionals identified by law who must make a report of suspected or known child maltreatment has been available since August 2022. As of late October, over 2,700 professionals in Minnesota have completed the training. This article shares information about how learners have reacted to this training.

Learners complete a survey at the end of the training. Approximately 25% of the learners (or about 685 respondents) had completed the survey through late October. Of note, 94% agreed that the training experience was useful for them. Most survey respondents were from the education sector, followed by the social services and health care sectors.

All survey respondents agreed that their understanding of key concepts had changed from before to after the training. For example, 14% of survey respondents strongly agreed that before the training they had “a multi-step standardized process to follow prior to making a decision to report,” but after the training that increased to 91%. Similarly, 22% strongly agreed that before the training they were “aware of how the decisions of mandated reporters intersect with racial disparities in child welfare,” but after the training that also increased to 91%. Survey respondents also strongly agreed that, after the training, they could better:  

• identify the roles (jobs) that are mandated to report child maltreatment;
• summarize the duties of a mandated reporter;
• identify resources that can be used by mandated reporters to support families;
• identify signs (potential indicators) of maltreatment; and
• identify the information that must be included in a report.

For more detailed information, see the table below. 

This new training was created as part of a collaboration between the Minnesota Child Welfare Training Academy (MNCWTA) and the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS).  If you have questions about Mandated Reporter Training, please visit our website or contact MNCWTA anytime.