The short answer is rarely or never. A new law passed by the Maryland General Assembly and made effective July 1st of 2019 requires any report to Child Protective Services of an accusation of abuse or inappropriate contact- even if completely baseless- must be recorded in the employee's personnel file and reported to any future employer. That means all that has to happen for a CPS red flag to be placed in your file is that an accusation be made.
That means any contact you make with a student, no matter how you intend it, if it is perceived by the student as aggressive, hostile or unwanted will assumed as a basis for a report to CPS by any other mandatory reporter (school employee).
My advice on this subject is:
1. Generally avoid initiating contact with students at anytime. Especially young students may not understand why pats on the back or hugs are off limits now, but my advice is to set that boundary. Young students may want hugs and initiate them, but it should be clear to any observer that you did not initiate that contact. In instances where older students may attempt to initiate physical contact, I would advise that you document the incident and report it to your administrator as soon as you can.
2. Avoid being the only adult supervising non-classroom activities especially with individual students. Also, never close classroom doors if you must be with a student individually.
3. Avoid potentially social situations with students. This becomes a much bigger issue at the secondary level where students are more likely to share every aspect of their lives on social media.
4. When dealing with fights, assaults or destruction of property be sure you have exhausted every alternative before physically intervening. Physical intervention should only be used if there is an imminent threat to the student themselves or other people. Be sure to thoroughly document any physical intervention or incident where people or property are damaged by a student.
This is an uncomfortable and scary subject, but forewarned is forearmed.
That means any contact you make with a student, no matter how you intend it, if it is perceived by the student as aggressive, hostile or unwanted will assumed as a basis for a report to CPS by any other mandatory reporter (school employee).
My advice on this subject is:
1. Generally avoid initiating contact with students at anytime. Especially young students may not understand why pats on the back or hugs are off limits now, but my advice is to set that boundary. Young students may want hugs and initiate them, but it should be clear to any observer that you did not initiate that contact. In instances where older students may attempt to initiate physical contact, I would advise that you document the incident and report it to your administrator as soon as you can.
2. Avoid being the only adult supervising non-classroom activities especially with individual students. Also, never close classroom doors if you must be with a student individually.
3. Avoid potentially social situations with students. This becomes a much bigger issue at the secondary level where students are more likely to share every aspect of their lives on social media.
4. When dealing with fights, assaults or destruction of property be sure you have exhausted every alternative before physically intervening. Physical intervention should only be used if there is an imminent threat to the student themselves or other people. Be sure to thoroughly document any physical intervention or incident where people or property are damaged by a student.
This is an uncomfortable and scary subject, but forewarned is forearmed.