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“Well, I told my boss”
“They’re not our student”
“That’s not what I heard.”
Professor Williams suggested three reforms to help protect all children and address those lines of defense. The first is to clarify in the statute whose responsibility it is to report in order to avoid the “I told my boss defense.” The second is to broaden the coverage to any child so as to avoid the “That’s not our child defense.” The third is to add a subsection that compels mandated reporters to tell the person next in charge and requires the DPW to notify the person in charge to prevent the “That’s not what I heard” defense.