The role of school in child protection reporting: A comparative analysis between France and the US

Objectives: School physicians, in France and in the US, interface with children much more often than a regular pediatrician, making them the most likely observers of potential child maltreatment, but their role in child abuse... [ view full abstract ]

Objectives:
School physicians, in France and in the US, interface with children much more often than a regular pediatrician, making them the most likely observers of potential child maltreatment, but their role in child abuse identification differ. In the US child protection is not mentioned in the critical knowledge base of the school physician in the policy statement of the American Academy of Pediatrics. The contrary is true in France where they have a specific mission and child protection is an integrated part of school health where their role is to promote school health for all students from preschool to high school. Our objective is to understand the role of school physicians in each country and to explore from a public health perspective the role of the school in child abuse prevention in a comparative perspective.
Methods:
A qualitative study will be developed in each country analyzing: 1) the state laws and policies that define the general context of child protection and in particular that define/ or not the role of the school setting; 2) the existing protocols describing school physicians ‘role or teachers role when child abuse is suspected; 3) the perspective of county school and child protection stakeholders regarding their view of the role of the schools in child abuse prevention.
Results
We will answer three questions : 1) how State laws define/or not the role of the schools in the context of child protection 2) how the role of schools physicians vary in their mandate to report and identify maltreated children 3) whether State and county school and child protection stakeholders believe schools have a role in child abuse prevention.
Conclusion
These results will allow making recommendations for schools in terms of preventive approaches to be developed or in terms of training for school professionals.