Reporting of suspected child maltreatment is mandated for specified professionals in all 50 States. Legal definitions of child maltreatment and specified requirements for reporting, however, may interfere with compliance with reporting statutes. Legal definitions of child maltreatment may be narrow, broad, vague, and confusing; they may be at odds with indicators of child abuse and neglect that professionals use in deciding whether or not to report suspected abuse. Although few studies have investigated overreporting of child maltreatment, there are indications that State laws and public pressure encourage professionals to err in the direction of overreporting. Regarding the impact of reporting on professional services, many professionals are concerned about the negative impact of reporting on professional services. Professionals tend to report suspected abuse when they believe the outcome of the reporting will be beneficial for the child, and they do not report suspected maltreatment when they believe the outcome of the reporting will be negative for the child. Professionals' experience in reporting is thus likely to affect future reporting decisions. This article recommends that specific situational parameters beyond the subjective experience of suspicion be incorporated into factors that require reporting. Given that reporting is a tertiary solution to child abuse, resources should be applied primarily to the identification of and intervention with parents at high risk for child abuse. Consideration should also be given to registering professionals with expertise in child-maltreatment detection to allow them discretion in reporting child maltreatment. 58 references