When Mandated Reporting Becomes Ideological Enforcement: A Whistleblower’s Story from New York

A mental health professional questions whether mandatory training is redefining non-affirmation as child abuse

The story the whistleblower shared was troubling — and, she argues, a sign of something bigger.

Photo by Mae Mu on Unsplash

As of April 1, 2025, every licensed health practitioner in New York — regardless of prior experience — must have completed the updated “Identification and Reporting of Child Abuse” training and submit proof to the New York State Education Department (NYSED), per Chapter 56 of the Laws of 2021. This two-hour, web-based course, mandated for all reporters including those previously trained, adds new focuses: implicit bias, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), and virtual abuse recognition. It’s promoted as routine continuing education, free through options like The New York State Office of Children & Family Services (OCFS). But according to this clinician, with 15 years in the field, it’s anything but routine.

“This is the only time in my career I’ve been forced to take a specific course,” she told us. “Usually, we meet ethics requirements our own way. This was different. It felt like it was pushing a view — especially about gender.”

The Scenario That Raised Red Flags

The training includes a fictional scenario to test reporting instincts. A 15-year-old student from a single-parent home, with a history of depression and suicidal ideation, confides in a counselor they know well about coming out as transgender. The parent responded harshly — calling the teen an “abomination,” saying they’re “going to hell,” and warning they can’t stay home if they “choose to identify that way.” Most disturbingly, the parent allegedly adds, “If you were really trans, you should just go and kill yourself already and get it over with.” The teen, visibly shaken, fears being locked out after school and expresses hopelessness. An email from the principal notes the parent wants to disenroll the child, blaming the school and its culture for their trans identity.

Participants must identify “indicators of abuse or maltreatment” and decide if there is reasonable suspicion to report to Child Protective Services (CPS). If they answer “no” — even believing the situation is a crisis but not yet abuse — they’re marked wrong.

The training insists you must report the parent to the State Central Register (SCR).

A Question of Ideology?

“This wasn’t just about protecting a child,” the whistleblower said. “It felt like they wanted me to see non-affirmation as abuse, no exceptions.”

The training aligns with its legal mandate — Social Services Law § 413 requires reporting “reasonable cause” of harm or risk, and the 2021 update emphasizes ACEs like family rejection and implicit bias. Emotional abuse, including verbal attacks risking mental health, fits New York’s definition of maltreatment (§ 412). The fictional parent’s “kill yourself” taunt and threat of expulsion could arguably meet that threshold, especially given the teen’s suicidal history. Yet the clinician balks at the lack of nuance: no option for family counseling, no space to explore whether the parent’s reaction was a one-off rant or a concerning pattern.

She also considers what else might be going on in the student’s life: “A reasonable therapist might wonder if the school’s culture — like a Gender & Sexuality Alliance — or online forum might be shaping the teen’s identity. Research like Lisa Littman’s 2018 ROGD study suggests social contagion might play a role, especially among teens with depression. But the training doesn’t allow me to consider that question — it’s all about the parent’s response in the moment.”

Further complicating the picture, Littman’s study found that teens who self-identify as trans are often coached by their peers on what to say when in conflict with parents about gender-affirming medical procedures. 15 year olds are also capable of being abusive. Like any conflictual situation within a family it is complex and, as the whistleblower pointed out to us, a call to CPS is not a panacea. It opens an investigation. Once opened, an investigation has the potential to lead to other unintended consequences: increasing instability in the teenager’s life, contributing to existing mental health issues and worsening family dynamics.

A Broader Trend

The clinician’s unease reflects a growing critique: psychology and psychiatry are leaning hard into social justice, often sidelining clinical curiosity. Recent articles — like those in The Wall Street Journal and The Free Press — note therapy training increasingly mandates an anti-bias and affirmation framework. In New York, a state dubbed a “safe haven” for trans kids since Governor Hochul’s 2023 law, this trend may be growing. The legislation limits New York’s cooperation with out-of-state custody agreements when gender is the issue. The clinician fears these developments are reshaping child welfare — potentially inflating CPS calls for non-affirming parents.

Historically, emotional abuse makes up 5-10% of the 67,000 annual CPS investigations statewide. Parents questioning identity might nudge those numbers up, but no stats track gender-specific calls. In foster care, though, over a third of NYC youth identify as LGBTQ+, often entering due to family conflict — a troubling trend that begs the question and hints at why non-affirmation may be increasingly pushed as a trigger for investigation.

“I’d normally try to de-escalate,” she said. “Talk to the parent, offer support, assess if the kid is really unsafe. But the training glosses over that — it’s report or bust. In one slide we’re told to check our bias and respect religious beliefs; then the next one says non-affirmation crosses the line. It’s incoherent — and obviously pushing a point of view.”

What This Might Mean

If the training reflects a pattern, as seen in states like California weighing affirmation in custody disputes, it could signal a shift: now, not only actions but attitudes might draw CPS scrutiny. The whistleblower doesn’t deny the teen’s distress but questions what looks like a leap to label every non-affirming parent abusive.

She’s no activist. “I’m just a therapist trying to do my job,” she said. “This is the only mandatory course I’ve ever had to take — not for suicide, not for addiction —just this. And it’s telling me what to think, not how to help. I have to believe in gender ideology in order to be able to know when to call CPS on clients. They’re forcing this belief now.”

In a field where curiosity once ruled — where a therapist might explore school influences or social dynamics alongside family issues — this mandate feels, to her, like a new era: one where compliance trumps judgment, and the state’s view of protection doubles as a belief system.

The Chilling Effect on Clinicians

The whistleblower is clear. She’s not trying to make a political point. She’s a licensed, experienced mental health professional trying to do her job ethically. And now, she’s being forced to choose between her clinical judgment and her license. “In order to be a ‘competent’ professional I now need to work under their belief system that people are born wrong,” she said.

This is how systems of compliance work. Not through overt censorship, but through quiet professional pressure — through requirements, renewals, and checkboxes that reward obedience and punish dissent. Once you redefine non-affirmation as abuse, every system downstream — from counseling and schools to family courts and CPS — becomes an instrument of ideological discipline.

The state is now not just asking clinicians to protect children. It is telling them what beliefs they must hold in order to be considered ethical.

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What You Can Do

At the LGB Courage Coalition, we fight for the rights of children, families, and clinicians trapped in this ideological maze. We believe that gender-nonconforming children are not inherently trans. We believe that parents deserve support, not suspicion. And we believe that mandated reporter laws must never be weaponized to enforce belief.

If you’re a professional who has taken this training or has seen it creeping into your workplace — you are not alone. More and more whistleblowers are coming forward. The silence is breaking.

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Action Steps

• Share this article with counselors, educators, and clinicians in your community.

• Ask your legislators how mandated reporter trainings are designed and reviewed in your state.

• Support whistleblowers like Jamie Reed who have risked their careers to tell the truth.

• Subscribe to the LGB Courage Coalition’s Substack to support journalism and activism that defends families and protects children.

Together, we can resist the quiet creep of ideological capture — one truth, one voice, and one act of courage at a time.