California’s Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act, known as CANRA, defines California’s mandated reporting requirements, including who is required to report, the penalties for failing to report, and other information mandated reporters need to know to fulfill their legal duties.
In addition, CANRA outlines the protections and rights for mandated reporters, including:
- Immunity from criminal liability
- Immunity from civil liability
- Confidentiality
- Retaliation
CANRA Rights Include Criminal Immunity
Mandated reporters are protected from criminal liability for filing a report under the protections of CANRA. CANRA states that “no mandated reporter shall be civilly or criminally liable for any report required or authorized by this article, and this immunity shall apply even if the mandated reporter acquired the knowledge or reasonable suspicion of child abuse or neglect outside of their professional capacity or outside the scope of their employment.”
Learn more: Do mandated reporters have to report when they’re not working?
If you make a report in your duty as a mandated reporter, you do not have to worry about any criminal action resulting from that report, as long as that report was made in good faith.
CANRA Rights Include Civil Immunity
Civil liability is used to compensate an injured party, and civil cases are typically brought by a private party rather than the state. If you are a mandated reporter, you may wonder if someone could sue you or otherwise come after you for civil liability if you file a report alleging their role in abuse or neglect.
CANRA offers mandated reporters immunity from civil liability resulting from their actions.
Again, your report must be made in good faith. If you intentionally make a false report of abuse, you could lose this protection. If a mandated reporter knowingly makes a false report or reports with “reckless disregard of the truth or falsity of the report,” they may be subject to civil and criminal liability, plus additional penalties for false reporting.
CANRA Rights Include Confidentiality
CANRA extends certain levels of reporting confidentiality to mandated reporters. Case information is kept confidential except in certain instances. For the most part, the identity of a mandated reporter is kept confidential. CANRA states that a mandated reporter’s identity “shall be confidential and disclosed only among agencies receiving or investigating mandated reports” and cannot be disclosed by county agencies.
CANRA Rights Include Protection From Retaliation
CANRA’s protections ensure your employer will not be notified that you made a report except by your consent or court order.
If your employee does find out you made a report, CANRA protects mandated reporters from employer retaliation. This means you cannot be fired, demoted, or disciplined for fulfilling your duty as a mandated reporter.
Under CANRA, no person making a report shall be subject to any sanction for making the report.
CANRA also prohibits supervisors and employers from impeding or inhibiting you from reporting.
Do CANRA Rights Protect Permissive Reporters?
Anyone can make a report if they suspect abuse or neglect in California. Reporting is not limited to the professions of mandated reporters named in CANRA. When someone who is not a designated reporter makes a report, they are considered a permissive reporter.
Under CANRA, any other person reporting a known or suspected instance of child abuse or neglect shall not incur civil or criminal liability as a result of any report, including permissive reporters.
Use our state-by-state database to learn more about your role and rights as a mandated reporter. Select your state for mandated reporting guidelines.
