July 19, 2013
| To: | Campus Community |
| From: | Gene Lucas, Executive Vice Chancellor, Academic Affairs |
| Pam Lombardo, Acting Associate Vice Chancellor, Administrative Services | |
| Re: | New UC Policy on Reporting Child Abuse and Neglect (CANRA) |
On June 13, 2013, UC President Mark Yudof signed the new University of California Policy on Reporting Child Abuse and Neglect with an effective date of July 1, 2013. The California Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (CANRA), codified by California Penal Code § 11164-11174, increased the scope of who is considered a “mandated reporter” in the state of California for reporting child abuse and/or neglect.
More specifically:
“Effective January 1, 2013, employees (including faculty members and other academic personnel) and administrators whose duties bring them into contact with children on a regular basis, or who supervise others with such duties, are mandated reporters for child abuse or neglect occurring on the University’s premises or at official University activities or programs.”
CANRA requires employers, including the University, to identify mandated reporters (individuals required to report observed or suspected child abuse or neglect to designated law enforcement or social service agencies) and secure, as a condition of employment, acknowledgement of their status and reporting obligations. The policy has been written to be generally consistent to the regulatory requirements as the basis for University employee compliance to this regulation; however, there is additional language encouraging “other non-mandated reporters” to report, and a requirement is included for employees to also report any potential issues through the internal reporting mechanism.
Departments with large populations of employees who are likely mandated reviewers will be contacted by Human Resources or Academic Personnel to assist with implementation of the new requirements. However, all departments are responsible for identifying individual employees who should be considered mandated reporters and for assuring the policies have been followed.
For further information, you may access the following helpful links. These links, as well as other training and resources are available at: http://www.hr.ucsb.edu/employment/background-checks/mandatedreporter
UC Policy on Reporting Child Abuse and Neglect (CANRA)
UC Policy - CANRA Frequently Asked Questions
If you have questions, please contact Viktoriya Filippova (Viktoriya.Filippova@ap.ucsb.edu, ext. 5428) for academic employees or Melinda Crawford (Melinda.Crawford@hr.ucsb.edu)