Screening Questions for Routine Intake Assessment

You should use screening questions to routinely ask about abuse and neglect. Screening questions should be asked of both parents and children. Most mandated reporters, regardless of where they work, perform some kind of routine intake assessment—for example, as a child enters a new school, as part of a medical examination, or as part of case management services. Screening questions about child abuse and neglect can be added to your assessment form. You can learn to ask these questions in a gentle, non-threatening manner.

Screening questions should be asked in a way that does not create lasting anxiety or fear. If possible, alternate between questions that could uncover abuse, and questions about more conventional subjects, keeping the interview positive and informational. If children describe situations that could be related to abuse or neglect, be sure to avoid placing blame, accusing, or making the child feel shame for what has occurred.

Begin your assessment with open-ended questions. If your questions are answered in a way that makes you wonder, you may need to follow with closed-ended questions that must be answered with simple statements of fact. The following questions are examples and should be tailored to your setting.


WHAT Screening Questions Should I Ask Children and Adolescents?

Questions about physical abuse: