Those individuals that ignore or have knowledge of child abuse should be disciplined for not reporting it. Unfortunately with the laws this is not possible. In “Child Abuse: Should Child Services Agents and the General Public Be Held More Accountable for Instances of Child Abuse?” maintains that “In 2015, two groups dedicated to the welfare of children . . . released a report calling the federal government’s failure to enforce child protection laws a ‘national disgrace’ ” (qtd. in “Child Abuse: Should Child Services Agents and the General Public Be Held More Accountable for Instances of Child Abuse?” par. 41). Basically the article is saying the laws are not working and change is needed. There are cases in most states that the state fails to provide information about investigations to federal government because the child dies before action is taken (Mohr and Burke par. 14). Action is not being taken fast enough for the children in harmful situations.
The standard way of thinking about child abuse and neglect is that child abuse and neglect needs to be stopped, but the issue comes in when no group of individuals want to take the responsibility upon themselves. Only allowing law enforcement and child service agents to report suspicion of child abuse is harmful to children. In “Encyclopedia: Child Abuse and Neglect” the article explains that “Under state laws requiring physicians--and encouraging other persons--to report incidents of suspected abuse, about 3 million allegations of neglect or physical abuse involving some 5 million children were reported in the year 2000” (“Encyclopedia: Child Abuse and Neglect” par. 2). That was a large number of children affected by a small group of individuals. Increasing the individual's allowed and responsible for reporting child abuse would also increase the number of children saved annually. Brandon Stahl, a well known writer, states that “. . . child protection agencies closed 71 percent of abuse reports without investigation last year” (Stahl par. 17). Failure to look into reports is happening more commonly every year. All states have money that is set aside specifically for investigating reports that deal directly with child abuse and neglect (“Child Abuse: Should Child Services Agents and the General Public Be Held More Accountable for Instances of Child Abuse?” par. 21). The issue does not end with allowing more individuals to report child abuse, but also, getting law enforcement to look into more reports that are received.
The standard way of thinking about child abuse and neglect is that child abuse and neglect needs to be stopped, but the issue comes in when no group of individuals want to take the responsibility upon themselves. Only allowing law enforcement and child service agents to report suspicion of child abuse is harmful to children. In “Encyclopedia: Child Abuse and Neglect” the article explains that “Under state laws requiring physicians--and encouraging other persons--to report incidents of suspected abuse, about 3 million allegations of neglect or physical abuse involving some 5 million children were reported in the year 2000” (“Encyclopedia: Child Abuse and Neglect” par. 2). That was a large number of children affected by a small group of individuals. Increasing the individual's allowed and responsible for reporting child abuse would also increase the number of children saved annually. Brandon Stahl, a well known writer, states that “. . . child protection agencies closed 71 percent of abuse reports without investigation last year” (Stahl par. 17). Failure to look into reports is happening more commonly every year. All states have money that is set aside specifically for investigating reports that deal directly with child abuse and neglect (“Child Abuse: Should Child Services Agents and the General Public Be Held More Accountable for Instances of Child Abuse?” par. 21). The issue does not end with allowing more individuals to report child abuse, but also, getting law enforcement to look into more reports that are received.