CHAMP Education for Child Abuse Medical Providers

Accessible Version

An impact statement is a letter that outlines your level of concern for child maltreatment. And the difference between your medical note that's in the medical chart and an impact statement is that the latter is written without using any medical jargon. And this is important because typically this letter is written for Department of Social Services or county attorneys or family court judges. And so you want to write in a way that's easy for them to understand. And without medical jargon. I always confirm first, though, because it does take a lot of time to write an impact statement after we've already done an evaluation and written comprehensive consultation note i always ask the team that I'm working with, if they've reviewed my medical note, if they understand it, and if there's a need for clarification. If there's a need for clarification, certainly we'll provide an impact statement.