Professional Responsibilities in Reporting Abuse

One essential thing to note, concerning reporting abuse, violence and neglect in Pennsylvania, is the fact that a professional responsibility protocol should be followed. At the same time, the protocol followed should adhere with the national law, which is, in this case, the United States constitution, as well as the by-laws that apply within the state of Pennsylvania. In Pennsylvania, for example, according to the PA HB 1895, a defendant is exempted from child sexual abuse through the governmental immunity if the child was abused within an organization, entity or an agency.

In this case, therefore, when professionally reporting a case of abuse, violence or neglect, the complaint should do so following the right protocol, which is, in this case, suing the entity or organization under which the child is. The same bill is supported by the bill PA HB 1990 and PA HB 1999. However, there have been disagreements and varying opinions concerning the three bills, whereby various human rights activists insist that a child should not under any circumstances be left under the guardianship of an agency.

This is due to the fact that children under the guardianship of their parents, as well as guardians, face these forms of children rights violation, which include abuse, neglect, as well as violence. Under the bill PA HB 1999, this is one of the elements and conditions that the bill addresses, whereby it supports direct suing of the defendant (National Conference of State Legislatures, 2012). In this light, therefore, it is necessary to note that reporting of such cases of abuse, neglect, and violence should follow an identified and established protocol, as well as a chain of processes.