Following evidence-based approaches to evaluating and reporting suspicion of child maltreatment can help minimize bias and promote equity.

Separation of children from their parents is one possible traumatizing consequence of a mandated report, which is not to be taken lightly.

When health care professionals encounter child abuse and neglect, they tend to experience a range of emotions, such as anger, sadness, and frustration.

If it is ethically justifiable for clinicians to err by overreporting suspected abuse and neglect, we must fairly distribute benefits and harms among all children and families.

This narrative illuminates need for students and clinicians to be well prepared to face ethically and structurally complex realities of identifying and responding to children.

Principles of respect for autonomy, beneficence, and nonmaleficence guide trauma-informed care. Care ethics should also support this framework for responding to the health needs of trafficked patients.

The AMA Code of Medical Ethics' opinions related to human trafficking.

Public health surveillance for infectious disease provides a model for a mandatory reporting policy for human trafficking, which poses risks for survivors.

Implementation of child abuse reporting laws may help policymakers assess the potential risks and benefits of mandatory reporting of human trafficking.

Inpatient psychiatric units should be therapeutic environments that support dignity and recovery.