Ethical Responsibilities and Domestic Violence Reporting

Over years, the Pennsylvania professional counselors are mandated reporters with a legal and ethical responsibility to report child and domestic abuses (Behun, Owens, and Cerrito, 2015). All the aims of the reviews and formulation of the state laws is to ensure that ethics guide communication of cases and counseling to ensure privacy and reporting within the law. Mandated reporters have an obligation to make report deduced abuse if they have reasonable evidence to indicate and prove that a child is a victim of child abuse guided by law. The circumstances that may guide their reporting are: a) The reporting individual or organization should have contact with the child purportedly abused as part of work or by a standardized and scheduled service or activity.

b) Besides, the reporters should be accountable for the child or work for a bureau directly responsible for the supposedly abused child c) The reporter must show that someone made a specific exposé of an abused and particular child; in this case, the reporter has a legal ability to report on abuse of a child not known to them at the capacity of their work or charity obligations d) Lastly, the reporting person under the law has the responsibility of reporting any case disclosed to them by an individual aged 14 years and above that they have committed child abuse. Domestic elder abuse in Pennsylvania is a responsibility of a long-term care facility staff. Another concern emerges when a counselor seeks to understand if they should be present when a victim is having a privileged communication with the attorney, physician, or mental health experts with dismal waiving of a victim’s right to keep the communications private.