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Any teacher or other mandated reporter, who has a reasonable cause to believe that a child is suffering physical and/ or emotional injury resulting from abuse and/ or neglect, shall report such a belief to the system-wide child protection team member in his/ her school.
A report must be made to the Department of Social Services (Protective Service Division) whenever any member of the Professional Staff determines that there is "reasonable cause " to believe that a child is suffering from abuse and/ or neglect.
The Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse Act – Chapter 119, Section 51A of the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts requires that school personnel report to the Department of Social Services whenever there is a reasonable cause to believe that a child is suffering serious physical and/ or emotional injury resulting from abuse and/ or neglect.
Because of their sustained contact with school-age children, school employees are in an excellent position to identify abuse and/ or neglected children and to refer them for treatment and protection.