WASHINGTON CHILD ABUSE ID TRAINING BILL PASSES COMMITTEE

            HARRISBURG, May 7 - The Senate Education Committee unanimously passed a bill, sponsored by state Sen. LeAnna Washington (D-Philadelphia/Montgomery), that would require the Department of Public Welfare, in consultation with the Department of Education, to establish a child abuse identification training program. 

“It is important for our educators to have knowledge on how to identify the signs of possible child abuse,” Washington said.  “The school employees that complete this training would be required by law to report suspected child abuse to authorities.”

Under Senate Bill 395, school entities would be charged with providing the child abuse identification training to their employees.  Those who are mandated reporters of child abuse must take a required number of hours of child abuse training and for professional employees it would be a requirement for re-certification.