In this assignment, you will defend the application of the mandated reporting laws in the following scenario. Be sure to carefully review the following scenario before responding.
The parents of Joseph, who just celebrated his 14th birthday, have found out that their son will probably be failing some of his classes. Joseph’s parents are concerned that he may not earn sufficient credits to pass his freshman year of high school and ask the school to determine whether he has learning problems. The school refers him for a psychoeducational evaluation. The parents pay close attention as the school provides them with an informed consent listing all the assessments that will be administered. These include measures of general ability, memory functions, abstract reasoning skills, other neuropsychological functioning, and academic achievement levels. Once they understood that the assessment will be limited to the areas indicated, Joseph’s parents sign the informed consent and after the assessment, they are provided the results in a written report.
Soon afterward, Joseph’s parents receive a visit from protective services. Apparently, during the evaluation process, Joseph introduced the topic of sexual orientation and confided to school personnel that his father would probably kill him if he found out about Joseph’s sexual orientation. The parents are furious and threaten to sue the school district. As the principal of the school, write a letter to defend the actions of the assessment team--even if you believe that the assessors overreacted.
In your letter to Joseph’s parents, indicate the rules of your state regarding mandatory reporting. Explain how you would justify the actions of the assessment team since they believed Joseph’s health and safety could have been jeopardized. Indicate why a report to protective services is mandated by law and not optional. Justify that even though an interview was not included in the signed informed consent, Joseph disclosed the information on his own and once disclosed, action was required.
For your protection, be sure to cite the APA Code of Ethics regarding informed consent and disclosures. You also need to cite the specific reporting laws for your state that justified the report. Remember that a successful letter will reduce the likelihood that the parents will proceed with a lawsuit.
Support your assignment with citations from the APA Code of Ethics and the laws of your state. In addition to these specified resources, other appropriate scholarly resources, including seminal articles, may be included.
Length: 2-3 page letter; Be sure to include a summary of the relevant state laws and the APA ethics code for the parents.
Your assignment should demonstrate thoughtful consideration of the ideas and concepts presented in the course by providing new thoughts and insights relating directly to this topic. Your response should reflect scholarly writing and current APA standards. Be sure to adhere to Northcentral University's Academic Integrity Policy.
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