Mandatory reporting and adolescent sexual assault: Using a mixed-methods evaluation to tell adolescent survivors' stories

Adolescents are sexually assaulted at alarmingly high rates. They also face unique challenges navigating post-assault systems and services, as their legal minor status dictates a different response as compared to younger and older sexual assault survivors. In some locales, policies require service providers to file a mandatory report of suspected child abuse to child protective services and for the incident to be reported to police and prosecution whenever they provide care for or respond to an adolescent sexual assault survivor. In one locale with such policies, providers did not know if and how these policies impacted criminal case progression or the survivors themselves. Through qualitative interviews with adolescent survivors and the examination of medical and criminal legal system records, we used evaluation to tell the story of these cases and individuals. We share our evaluation findings and lessons learned about using evaluation to tell survivors’ stories that could otherwise go unheard.