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Manatee County safety officials brief schools on mandatory‑reporting rules, urge staff to call DCF hotline
Summary
School district and Manatee County Sheriff's Office leaders told district staff that Florida law makes everyone a mandatory reporter, outlined when to call the Department of Children and Families hotline versus law enforcement, and recommended both calls in most cases to protect students and preserve evidence.
Captain Mark Morey of the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office and district safety leaders told a school board workshop that Florida Statute chapter 39 makes almost everyone a mandatory reporter and that school staff should err on the side of reporting suspected child abuse.
The guidance reviewed who must report, how and when to use the Department of Children and Families (DCF) hotline, and how the sheriff’s office and school resource officers (SROs) coordinate criminal investigations. Officials emphasized the hotline phone number as the fastest way to get DCF attention and urged staff to make both a DCF call and a law‑enforcement notification when there is any question about a child’s safety.
At the center of the discussion was a practical framework for school staff: call law enforcement or an SRO immediately for criminal allegations, and call the statewide DCF hotline by phone (rather than web intake) when you have reasonable cause to suspect…
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