Unringing the Bell: Meet the Title IV-E Alum Working to Transform California’s Mandated Reporting System

There’s an old adage that says you can’t unring a bell once it’s been rung. In just a few words, it tells a cautionary tale about the supposed folly of trying to chart a new course in the wake of past missteps. Tamara Hunter, D.S.W., is not interested in this kind of story.

As division chief of Family First Prevention Services with the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (LA DCFS), this Title IV-E alum is at the forefront of efforts to transform how public child welfare agencies support children, youth and families in need by confronting the troubled legacy of California’s mandated reporting system.

“We’re trying to un-ring a bell that’s been tolling a certain way for decades,” says Tamara, who also serves as director of the Los Angeles County Mandated Supporting Initiative. Since the 1960s, California law has required certain professionals, including teachers and law enforcement officers, to report suspected cases of child neglect and abuse to an appropriate child and family services agency for further investigation.

“Those who come into contact with vulnerable kids obviously need a mechanism for responding to those concerns,” Tamara explains. But as originally designed, California’s mandated reporting framework is a “deeply flawed and profoundly harmful policy response” to this legitimate need.

Understanding the Stakes:

“The decision to report or not report is hugely consequential in the lives of children and families,” Tamara explains. Even those reports that turn out to be unsubstantiated put tremendous strain on the individuals involved. This strain can erode trust in the institutions that families should be able to rely on and make families less likely to seek support in the future, ironically increasing the risk of harm among those most in need.

We’re trying to un-ring a bell that’s been tolling a certain way for decades

Tamara Hunter, D.S.W.

Mandated reporting has also contributed to racial disproportionality in child welfare investigations. Because children of color are more likely to experience poverty, and because reporters often mistake signs of economic hardship—such as a child arriving at school without a warm jacket—for evidence of neglect, Black, Latinx and Native American families are reported at significantly higher rates than white families.

These problems are exacerbated by the culture of fear that has long surrounded reporting requirements. Fearing the legal repercussions of failing to report a possible case of abuse or neglect, many mandated reporters simply report by default, leaving it to investigators to determine whether a child is actually at risk after the fact. 

The Making of a Change-Maker:

Tamara’s efforts to disrupt this state of affairs began in earnest in 2020, when she was serving as executive director of a Los Angeles County commission focused on supporting families at risk of becoming involved with the child welfare system.

But in some respects, her interest in these issues took root decades earlier. From a young age, Tamara recalls being drawn to the helping professions, dreaming for a time of being a pediatrician or a psychologist. Sharpened by the experience of witnessing the crack cocaine addiction epidemic play out in her community, her interest in supporting those in need eventually led her to CSU Fullerton, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in human services.

It wasn’t until she made the choice to pursue graduate study, however, that Tamara’s energies began to crystallize around child welfare, in particular. With the support of a Title IV-E stipend, she enrolled in the School of Social Work at CSU Long Beach to pursue her M.S.W.

I wanted to be engaged in macropractice. I was...interested in the way that systems worked or did not work to support children and families.

Tamara Hunter, D.S.W.

“The most impactful aspect of my graduate studies,” Tamara recalls, “was my second-year internship with LA DCFS.” Where most IV-E interns receive fieldwork assignments, Tamara, not trusting her aging car to survive the freeways of Los Angeles, advocated for a more administrative placement.

“That exposed me to a side of public child welfare work that most people don’t get until much later in their careers and it helped me realize I wanted to be engaged in macropractice. I was more interested in the way that systems worked or did not work to support children and families.”

Envisioning Structural Transformation:

After completing her master’s degree, Tamara put this formative internship experience to work supporting several LA County agencies in and adjacent to the public child welfare system. Her interest in macropractice, however, soon drew her back to academia.

As a doctoral student at the University of Southern California, Tamara deepened her commitment to understanding the challenges facing children, families and child welfare practitioners in structural terms. “I adopted a framework that emphasized deconstructing structural social problems and analyzing their histories at a granular level to develop solutions.” This approach laid the foundation for her holistic approach to mandated reporting reform.

Beyond advocating for specific changes to the letter of state child welfare policy (see, for instance, Assembly Bill 2085, which establishes a new, more narrow definition of general neglect), Tamara and her colleagues are developing new training and decision-support resources to help mandated reporters make more considered, informed choices about if and when to report.

They’re also undertaking major knowledge translation efforts, turning scholarly research on the impact of mandated reporting laws into accessible resources for policymakers. 

Changing the Narrative: 

For Tamara, though, the most critical pillar in the mandated reporting reform movement is narrative change. By emphasizing proactive engagement with families over reactive, fear-driven reporting, her team is working to tell a new story about child welfare in California.

“We are trying to shift to a model that prevents children from experiencing the harm of abuse and neglect in the first place…We want to do a better job of connecting families who are in need–but may not be in need of a public child welfare response–with the resources they need to reduce harm.”

You might not be able to un-ring a bell once it’s been rung, but Hunter and the movement she is helping to lead are proof that you can commit to striking a new chord for a better future.

To learn more about how Title IV-E educators are preparing students to support the movement to reform mandated reporting, check out our latest Community Story.