HR-1-0 Mandatory Reporting Procedure

Oregon community college employees are mandatory child abuse reporters. All Central Oregon Community College employees are required to report suspected cases of child abuse under Oregon law, HC 4016 (2012).
The duty to report suspected child abuse cases as a mandatory reporter is a 24-hour-a-day, 7 day-a-week responsibility. This legal duty is personal to you as a community college employee and applies whether or not you are on work time. You must report when you have "reasonable cause to believe" that any child with whom you come in contact has suffered abuse or that any person with whom you come in contact has abused a child.

What are my responsibilities?

1. College employees must immediately report suspected abuse to Department of Human Services (DHS) or local law enforcement, providing only names and observable facts that relate to the potential abuse (what you read, saw, or heard). If an employee or student is involved, remember that privacy rights may apply to the individuals and that requests from DHS or law enforcement for additional information must be made through appropriate college channels - the COCC Risk Manager or the Campus Safety and Emergency Management Office.
2. To report suspected abuse, use a dedicated child abuse county hotline (below) or contact the Department of Human Services at 1-855-503-SAFE (7233).
3. If DHS or local law enforcement contacts you for any information about a student or employee, beyond observable facts related to the reported abuse, instruct them to contact either the COCC Risk Manager or the Campus Safety and Emergency Management office. Do not provide any additional information about the student or employee beyond what you have observed; this restriction only specifically applies to COCC employees or students (FERPA).
4. If you believe child abuse occurred on COCC property or in conjunction with COCC activities, AFTER reporting to local law enforcement or the Department of Human Services, you must also report to the COCC Risk Manager or the Campus Safety and Emergency Management office.
5. Report Title IX incidents: Title IX mandatory reporting requirements are different. If the observable abuse also implicates Title IX, you must submit a report to a COCC Title IX Official with Authority through the college's Incident Reporting process. See G-28-0.1 for contact information. COCC is charged with investigating all reported gender-based and sexual misconduct concerns, offering support to the people involved and implementing measures to maximize safety.

DEFINITIONS

"ABUSE" means:

• Any assault of a child and any physical injury to a child which has been caused by other than accidental means;
• Any mental injury to a child, which shall include only observable and substantial impairment of the child's mental or psychological ability to function caused by cruelty to the child, with due regard to the culture of the child;
• Rape of a child, which includes but is not limited to rape, sodomy, unlawful sexual penetration and incest;
• Sexual abuse;
• Sexual exploitation, including:

1. Contributing to the sexual delinquency of a minor;

2. Allowing, permitting, encouraging or hiring a child to engage in prostitution or patronize a prostitute;

• Negligent treatment or maltreatment of a child;
• Threatened harm to a child, which means subjecting a child to a substantial risk or harm to the child's health or welfare;
• Buying or selling a person under 18 years of age;
• Permitting a person under 18 years of age to enter or remain in or upon premises where methamphetamines are being manufactured; or
• Unlawful exposure to a controlled substance, as defined in ORS 475.005, that subjects a child to a substantial risk of harm to the child's health or safety.

"Child" means an unmarried person who is under 18 years of age.

"Law Enforcement Agency" means:

• a city or municipal police department;
• a county sheriff's office;
• the Oregon State Police; or
• a county juvenile department.

Legal Reference - ORS 419B.005 to 419B.050