What You Need to Know

Under the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA)1, in order to receive a Federal grant, States must provide provisions for immunity from prosecution under State and local laws and regulations for individuals making good faith reports of suspected or known instances of child abuse or neglect.2

Every State, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, provide some form of immunity from liability for persons who in good faith report suspected instances of abuse or neglect under the reporting laws. Immunity statutes protect reporters from civil or criminal liability that they might otherwise incur. Several States provide immunity not only for the initial report, but also during any judicial proceedings arising from the report.

1 42 U.S.C.A. § 5101 et. seq. (West 1995). back
2 42 U.S.C.A. § 5106a(b)(2)(A)(iv) (West Supp. 1998).