New law immediately loops law enforcement into child sexual assault cases

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - On Tuesday, the way that mandatory reporters of child abuse report possible cases changed. Now, instead of only calling the Office of Children’s Services when mandatory reporters suspect possible sexual abuse, they are required to immediately call the nearest law enforcement agency as well.

The new law is called Alaska’s Mandatory Child Abuse Reporting Statute. Signed by Governor Dunleavy in July of 2019, it was enacted on Sept. 1.

The Department of Health and Social Services, give examples of who is a mandatory reporter in this tweet.

Starting today the law in Alaska will require mandatory reporters to report possible child sexual abuse to both the Office of Children Services and the nearest law enforcement agency. Find additional information about the change by visiting https://t.co/KN7vT2IndP. pic.twitter.com/3rTwSsczx7
— Alaska DHSS (@Alaska_DHSS) September 1, 2020

For anyone who fits the bill of a mandatory reporter, or anyone looking for guidance in making a report, there are training instructions given by the Children’s Justice Act Task Force.

There are also service providers who help children in a situation of abuse who make these reports, like Covenant House. Senior Program Director, Josh Louwerse said the extra requirement of immediately calling law enforcement could potentially help a lot of kids who need help faster.

“There are scenarios where there are other young people in imminent danger or something like that,” Louwerse said. “It makes sense to have both of those calls happen at the same time. So there’s not a lag when it comes to that timing. Or if there’s evidence or something that needs to be collected at a higher rate, it’s helpful to have both right away.”

Louwerse said about 60% of the children staying at Covenant House are Alaska Natives from all over the state. As of now, he’s not too sure how this law will affect villages with little to no law enforcement at all.

He said the pandemic is keeping many children away from the people who could be reporting abuse on their behalf.

“I think something right now that’s changing reported cases is COVID,” he said, “because there’s less interface with young people with people outside of their homes. There’s less teachers to see things, bus drivers, people like that.”

For those same reasons, he said they’re seeing more kids and families staying at Covenant House for longer periods of time these days.

Still, he said this new law makes it easier to approach a case of child abuse the right way. Sometimes it requires a slower approach, and sometimes you need to have law enforcement go over to help a child immediately. Before this law, he said there were times when police came too late.

The Child Abuse Hotline number is 1-800-478-4444.