Mandated Reporting

Your work gives you regular access to Maryland's children and you play a critical role in protecting them.  According to Maryland family law code 507-4, Mandated reporters are professionals obligated by law to report known or suspected incidents of child abuse and neglect.  As a mandated reporter, you are part of the state wide safety net that provides life-saving interventions for vulnerable children in our communities.

Center for Hope Online Mandated Reporter Training provides the information you need to understand relevant Maryland laws and your role under the law, recognize signs of abuse and neglect, and how to go about making a report.  

What Will I Learn?

After you complete this training, you should be able to:

• Understand your legal obligations as a mandated reporter
• Define the types of child abuse and neglect
• Recognize signs of child abuse and neglect
• Identify groups of children who may be at a higher risk for abuse or neglect
• Learn how to respond to a child who discloses abuse or neglect
• Know how to prepare for and make a report of child abuse/neglect
• Understand the process that occurs after a report is made

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Vicarious Trauma & Building Resiliency

Dealing with traumatic material on a daily basis can cause professionals to feel exhausted and hopeless. This workshop will address the emotional, mental, and physical toll that is often imposed on those in helping professions. Professionals will learn how to identify and define vicarious trauma, and more importantly will learn how to strengthen themselves and their organizations against compassion fatigue and burnout. Participants will also learn how to incorporate resiliency into their everyday personal and professional lives. All the work that helping professionals do carries some amount of exposure to trauma and traumatic material. This training is about helping you to be and stay resilient so that you can continue give to and serve others!

What Will I Learn?

 After this training you should be able to:

• Define Vicarious Trauma, and recognize its signs and symptoms
• Identify your own current level of risk for Vicarious Trauma, Compassion Fatigue, & Burnout
• Define resiliency 
• Understand the Organizational Resiliency Model
• Leave with a toolkit of strategies to build personal and professional resilience

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ACEs: Adverse Childhood Experiences

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are a crisis of epidemic proportions that has been thoroughly studied across the United States by over 70 scientific research articles across the last 20 years. ACEs cause obesity, mental illness, alcohol and drug use, risk of violence, heart disease, and cancer. Some of the worst health and social problems in the nation arise as a consequence of ACEs. ACEs increase the risk of seven of the 10 leading causes of death leading to a 20-year difference in life expectancy.

What Will I Learn?

 After this training you should be able to:

• Understand the history of ACEs
• Understand the history and prevalence of ACEs
• Recognize the long-term impact of ACEs
• Identify risk and protective factors

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Seeing Beyond the Picture: Technology Facilitated Child Sexual Exploitation

This training will provide a general overview of the problem and investigative procedures of technology facilitated child sexual exploitation. Along with strategies and tips for engaging families and youth who have been victimized through technology-facilitated sexual exploitation, the training will explore what these crimes are and how they happen. The training is designed for employees, volunteers, and youth serving organizations and their professionals. Several types of professionals who are likely to encounter potential individuals who have been victimized by commercial sexual exploitation and/or Internet crimes may work for educational, social services,  law enforcement, youth serving organizations, and health care providers and professions.  

What Will I Learn?

 After this training you should be able to:

• Understand pornography, commercial exploitation, and Internet Crimes Against Children
• Highlight the role of Children’s Advocacy Centers and multidisciplinary teams
• Describe how to present evidence in forensic interviews
• Engage families with children and/or adolescents who have appeared in pornography or been victims of Internet crimes against children

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