Current Through March 2019

Physical Abuse

Citation: Ala. Code § 26-14-1(1)-(3)

Abuse’ means harm or threatened harm to the health or welfare of a child through any of the following:

• Nonaccidental physical injury
• Sexual abuse or attempted sexual abuse
• Sexual exploitation or attempted sexual exploitation

Neglect

Citation: Ala. Code § 26-14-1(1)-(3)

‘Neglect’ means negligent treatment or maltreatment of a child, including the failure to provide adequate food, clothing, shelter, medical treatment, or supervision.

Sexual Abuse/Exploitation

Citation: Ala. Code § 26-14-1(1)-(3)

‘Sexual abuse’ includes any of the following:

• The employment, use, persuasion, inducement, enticement, or coercion of a child to engage in, or to have a child assist any other person engage in, sexually explicit conduct
• Any simulation of the conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of the conduct
• The rape, molestation, prostitution, or other form of sexual exploitation of children
• Incest with children

‘Sexual exploitation’ includes either of the following:

• Allowing, permitting, or encouraging a child to engage in prostitution
• Allowing, permitting, encouraging, or engaging in obscene or pornographic photographing, filming, or depicting a child for commercial purposes

Emotional Abuse

Citation: Ala. Code § 26-14-1(1)-(3)

The term ‘abuse’ includes nonaccidental mental injury.

Abandonment

This issue is not addressed in the statutes reviewed.

Standards for Reporting

Citation: Ala. Code § 26-14-3
A report is required when a mandatory reporter knows or suspects a child is a victim of child abuse or neglect.

Persons Responsible for the Child

Citation: Ala. Code § 26-14-7.2

Responsible persons include the child’s parent or legal guardian.

Exceptions

Citation: Ala. Code § 26-14-7.2

A parent who fails to provide medical treatment to a child due to the legitimate practice of religious beliefs shall not be considered negligent for that reason alone. This exception shall not preclude a court from ordering that medical services be provided to the child.

Current Through March 2019

Physical Abuse

Citation: Alaska Stat. § 47.17.290

‘Child abuse or neglect’ means the physical injury or neglect, mental injury, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, or maltreatment of a child under age 18 by a person under circumstances that indicate that the child’s health or welfare is harmed or threatened.

‘Maltreatment’ means an act or omission that results in circumstances in which there is reasonable cause to suspect that a child may be a child in need of aid, as described in § 47.10.011, except that for purposes of this chapter, the act or omission need not have been committed by the child’s parent, custodian, or guardian.

Neglect

Citation: Alaska Stat. § 47.17.290

‘Neglect’ means the failure of the person responsible for the child’s welfare to provide the child necessary food, care, clothing, shelter, or medical attention.

Sexual Abuse/Exploitation

Citation: Alaska Stat. §§ 47.17.290; 11.66.110

‘Child abuse or neglect’ includes sexual abuse or sexual exploitation.

‘Sexual exploitation’ includes the following conduct by a person responsible for the child’s welfare:

• Allowing, permitting, or encouraging a child to engage in prostitution, as prohibited by §§ 11.66.100 through 11.66.150
• Allowing, permitting, or encouraging a child to engage in actual or simulated activities of a sexual nature that are prohibited by criminal statute

A person commits the crime of sex trafficking in the first degree if the person does any of the following:

• Induces or causes another person to engage in prostitution through the use of force
• As other than a patron of a prostitute, induces or causes another person who is under age 20 to engage in prostitution
• Induces or causes a person in that person’s legal custody to engage in prostitution

In a prosecution, it is not a defense that the defendant reasonably believed that the person induced or caused to engage in prostitution was age 20 or older.

Emotional Abuse

Citation: Alaska Stat. § 47.17.290

‘Mental injury’ means a serious injury to the child as evidenced by an observable and substantial impairment in the child’s ability to function in a developmentally appropriate manner, and the existence of that impairment is supported by the opinion of a qualified expert witness.

Abandonment

This issue is not addressed in the statutes reviewed.

Standards for Reporting

Citation: Alaska Stat. § 47.17.020
A report is required when a mandatory reporter, in the performance of his or her occupational duties, has reasonable cause to suspect that a child has suffered harm as a result of child abuse or neglect.

Persons Responsible for the Child

Citation: Alaska Stat. § 47.17.290

A ‘person responsible for the child’s welfare’ includes the following:

• The child’s parent, guardian, or foster parent
• The person responsible for the child’s care at the time of the alleged child abuse or neglect
• The person responsible for the child’s welfare in a public or private residential agency or institution

Exceptions

Citation: Alaska Stat. § 47.17.020(d)

A religious healing practitioner is not required to report as neglect of a child the failure to provide medical attention to the child if the child is provided treatment solely by spiritual means through prayer in accordance with the tenets and practices of a recognized church or religious denomination by an accredited practitioner of the church or denomination.

Current Through March 2019

Physical Abuse

Citation: Ann. Code § 45.2001(a)(1)

‘Abuse’ or ‘child abuse or neglect’ means an act or omission that can include any of the following:

• Serious bruising, bleeding, malnutrition, failure to thrive, burns, fracture of a bone, subdural hematoma, soft tissue swelling, or death
• A condition or death that is not justifiably explained, or where the history given concerning the condition or death is inconsistent with the degree or type of condition or death, or circumstances indicate that the condition or death may not be the result of an accidental occurrence

Neglect

Citation: Ann. Code §§ 45.2001(a)(1); 45.0103(19)

‘Abuse’ or ‘child abuse or neglect’ means any case in which the child’s parents, legal guardians, custodians, or any other person responsible for the child’s health and welfare fail to take action to provide adequate food, clothing, shelter, medical care, or supervision that a prudent parent would take.

‘Neglected or dependent child’ means a child to whom any of the following apply:

• Whose parent, guardian, or legal custodian has abandoned him or her or has subjected him or her to mistreatment or abuse, or whose parent, guardian, or legal custodian has allowed another to mistreat or abuse the child without taking lawful means to stop such mistreatment or abuse and to prevent it from recurring
• Who lacks proper parental care through the actions or omissions of the parent, guardian, or legal custodian
• Whose environment is injurious to his or her welfare
• Whose parent, guardian, or legal custodian fails or refuses to provide proper or necessary subsistence, education, medical care, or other care necessary for his or her health, guidance, or well-being
• Who is homeless, without proper care, or not domiciled with his or her parent, guardian, or legal custodian through no fault of his or her parent, guardian, or legal custodian

Sexual Abuse/Exploitation

Citation: Ann. Code § 45.2001(a)(1)

The terms ‘abuse’ or ‘child abuse or neglect’ include any of the following acts or omissions:

• A child is subjected to sexual offenses, including rape, sexual assault, sexual abuse, or indecent exposure.
• A child is allowed, permitted, or encouraged to engage in prostitution.
• A child is allowed, permitted, or encouraged to be the subject of obscene or pornographic photographing, filming, or depicting.

Emotional Abuse

Citation: Ann. Code § 45.2001(a)(1)

The terms ‘abuse’ or ‘child abuse or neglect’ include mental injury.

Abandonment

This issue is not addressed in the statutes reviewed.

Standards for Reporting

Citation: Ann. Code § 45.2002
A report is required when the reporter has reasonable cause to know or suspect that a child has been subjected to abuse or neglect or has observed the child being subjected to circumstances or conditions that would reasonably result in abuse or neglect.

Persons Responsible for the Child

Citation: Ann. Code § 45.2001(a)(1)

Responsible persons include the following:

• A child’s parent, legal guardian, or custodian
• Any employee of a residential facility
• Any staff person providing out-of-home care or under any other settings in which children are provided care
• Any other person responsible for the child’s health and welfare

Exceptions

Citation: Ann. Code §§ 45.2001(a)(1); 45.0103(20); 45.0104

Those investigating child abuse must take into account accepted child-rearing practices of the culture in which the child participates.

Reasonable exercise of parental discipline is not considered abuse. ‘Normal parental discipline’ means all actions by parents, such as administration of blows by hand, strap, or light switch upon the buttocks, or any firm handling, scolding, or light taps, insufficient to seriously bruise or produce medical injury or disability.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, no child who, in good faith, is under treatment solely by spiritual means through prayer in accordance with the tenets and practices of a recognized church or religious denominations by a duly accredited practitioner shall, for that reason alone, be considered to have been neglected. Notwithstanding the above, the court may intervene to further protect the child’s welfare if the child’s life is threatened.

Current Through March 2019

Physical Abuse

Citation: Rev. Stat. § 8-201

‘Abuse’ means any of the following:

• Inflicting or allowing physical injury, impairment of bodily function, or disfigurement
• Physical injury that results from permitting a child to enter or remain in any structure or vehicle in which volatile, toxic, or flammable chemicals are found or equipment is possessed by any person for the purpose of manufacturing a dangerous drug
• Unreasonable confinement of a child

‘Serious physical injury’ means an injury that is diagnosed by a medical doctor and that does any one or a combination of the following:

• Creates a reasonable risk of death
• Causes serious or permanent disfigurement
• Causes significant physical pain
• Causes serious impairment of health
• Causes the loss or protracted impairment of an organ or limb
• Is the result of sexual abuse, sexual conduct with a minor, sexual assault, molestation of a child, child sex trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation of a minor, sexual exploitation, or incest

Neglect

Citation: Rev. Stat. § 8-201

‘Neglect’ or ‘neglected’ means any of the following:

• The inability or unwillingness of a parent, guardian, or custodian of a child to provide that child with supervision, food, clothing, shelter, or medical care, if that inability or unwillingness causes unreasonable risk of harm to the child’s health or welfare
• Permitting a child to enter or remain in any structure or vehicle in which volatile, toxic, or flammable chemicals are found or equipment is possessed by any person for the purposes of manufacturing a dangerous drug
• A determination by a health professional that a newborn infant was exposed prenatally to a drug or substance listed in § 13-3401 and that this exposure was not the result of a medical treatment administered to the mother or the newborn infant by a health professional
• A diagnosis by a health professional of an infant under age 1 with clinical findings consistent with fetal alcohol syndrome or fetal alcohol effects

The determination by a health professional of prenatal exposure to a controlled substance shall be based on one or more of the following:

• Clinical indicators in the prenatal period, including maternal and newborn presentation
• History of substance use or abuse
• Medical history
• Results of a toxicology or other laboratory test on the mother or the newborn infant

Sexual Abuse/Exploitation

Citation: Rev. Stat. § 8-201

The term ‘abuse’ includes any of the following:

• Inflicting or allowing sexual abuse
• Sexual conduct with a minor
• Sexual assault
• Molestation of a child
• Commercial sexual exploitation of a minor
• Sexual exploitation of a minor
• Incest
• Child sex trafficking

The term ‘neglect’ includes the following:

• Deliberate exposure of a child by a parent, guardian, or custodian to sexual conduct, as defined in § 13-3551; sexual contact; oral sexual contact; sexual intercourse; bestiality; or explicit sexual materials
• Any of the following acts committed by the child’s parent, guardian, or custodian with reckless disregard as to whether the child is physically present:
  • Sexual contact
  • Oral sexual contact
  • Sexual intercourse
  • Bestiality

Emotional Abuse

Citation: Rev. Stat. § 8-201

The term ‘abuse’ includes inflicting or allowing another person to cause serious emotional damage to a child, as evidenced by severe anxiety, depression, withdrawal, or untoward aggressive behavior, and such emotional damage is diagnosed by a medical doctor or psychologist, and the damage has been caused by the acts or omissions of an individual having care, custody, and control of a child.

‘Serious emotional injury’ means an injury that is diagnosed by a medical doctor or a psychologist and that does any one or a combination of the following:

• Seriously impairs mental faculties
• Causes serious anxiety, depression, withdrawal, or social dysfunction behavior to the extent that the child suffers dysfunction that requires treatment
• Is the result of sexual abuse, sexual conduct with a minor, sexual assault, molestation of a child, child sex trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation of a minor, sexual exploitation of a minor, or incest

Abandonment

Citation: Rev. Stat. § 8-201
‘Abandoned’ means the following:

• The failure of the parent to provide reasonable support and to maintain regular contact with the child, including providing normal supervision
• That a parent has made only minimal efforts to support and communicate with the child

Failure to maintain a normal parental relationship with the child without just cause for a period of 6 months shall constitute prima facie evidence of abandonment.

Standards for Reporting

Citation: Rev. Stat. § 13-3620
A report is required when a mandatory reporter reasonably believes that a child is or has been the victim of physical injury, abuse or child abuse, a reportable offense (including child pornography, child sex trafficking, or incest), or neglect that appears to have been inflicted on the child by other than accidental means or that is not explained by the available medical history as being accidental in nature, or the person reasonably believes there has been a denial or deprivation of necessary medical treatment or surgical care or nourishment with the intent to cause or allow the death of an infant.

Persons Responsible for the Child

Citation: Rev. Stat. § 8-201

Responsible persons include the following:

• The parent
• A person having care, custody, and control of a child

Exceptions

Citation: Rev. Stat. § 8-201

A dependent child does not include a child who, in good faith, is being furnished Christian Science treatment by a duly accredited practitioner.

A child is not considered neglected if a parent’s inability to meet the needs of the child is due solely to the unavailability of reasonable services.

Current Through March 2019

Physical Abuse

Citation: Ann. Code § 12-18-103

‘Abuse’ means any of the following acts or omissions:

• Extreme or repeated cruelty to a child
• Engaging in conduct creating a realistic and serious threat of death, permanent or temporary disfigurement, or impairment of any bodily organ
• Any injury that is inconsistent with the history given
• Any nonaccidental physical injury
• Any of the following intentional or knowing acts:
  • Throwing, kicking, burning, biting, or cutting a child
  • Striking a child with a closed fist
  • Shaking a child
  • Striking a child on the face or head
• Any of the following acts, with or without physical injury:
  • Striking a child age 6 or younger on the face or head
  • Shaking a child age 3 or younger
  • Interfering with a child’s breathing
  • Pinching, biting, or striking a child in the genital area
  • Tying a child to a fixed or heavy object or binding or tying a child’s limbs together
  • Giving a child or permitting a child to consume or inhale a poisonous or noxious substance not prescribed by a physician that has the capacity to interfere with normal physiological functions
  • Giving a child or permitting a child to consume or inhale a substance not prescribed by a physician that has the capacity to alter the mood of the child, including, but not limited to, marijuana, alcohol, a narcotic, or an over-the-counter drug if a person purposely administers an overdose to a child
  • Exposing a child to a chemical that has the capacity to interfere with normal physiological functions, including, but not limited to, a chemical used or generated during the manufacture of methamphetamine
  • Subjecting a child to Munchausen syndrome by proxy or a factitious illness by proxy if the incident is confirmed by medical personnel
• Recruiting, harboring, transporting, or obtaining a child for labor or services, through force, fraud, or coercion, for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery

Neglect

Citation: Ann. Code § 12-18-103

‘Neglect’ means those acts or omissions that constitute the following:

• Failure or refusal to prevent the abuse of the child when the person knows or should know the child is or has been abused
• Failure or refusal to provide the food, clothing, shelter, or medical treatment necessary for the child’s well-being
• Failure to take reasonable action to protect the child from abandonment, abuse, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, neglect, or parental unfitness when the existence of the condition was known or should have been known
• Failure or inability to provide for the essential and necessary physical, mental, or emotional needs of the child, including the failure to provide a shelter that does not pose a risk to the health or safety of the child
• Failure to provide for the child’s care and maintenance, proper or necessary support, or medical, surgical, or other necessary care
• Failure, although able, to assume responsibility for the care and custody of the child or to participate in a plan to assume such responsibility
• Failure to appropriately supervise the child that results in the child’s being left alone at an inappropriate age or in inappropriate circumstances creating a dangerous situation or a situation that puts the child at risk of harm
• Failure to ensure a child between age 6 and 17 is enrolled in school or is being legally home schooled, or the child is habitually absent from school as a result of an act or omission by the child’s parent

Neglect also shall include the following:

• Causing a child to be born with an illegal substance present in the child’s bodily fluids or bodily substances as a result of the pregnant mother’s knowingly using an illegal substance before the child’s birth
• The presence of an illegal substance at the time of the birth of a child in the mother’s bodily fluids or bodily substances as a result of the pregnant mother’s knowingly using an illegal substance before the child’s birth

Sexual Abuse/Exploitation

Citation: Ann. Code §§ 12-18-103; 12-18-1201

‘Sexual abuse’ means any of the following:

• By a person age 14 or older to a person younger than age 18:
  • Sexual intercourse, deviate sexual activity, or sexual contact by forcible compulsion
  • Attempted sexual intercourse, deviate sexual activity, or sexual contact by forcible compulsion
  • Indecent exposure
  • Forcing the watching of pornography or live sexual activity
• By a person age 18 or older to a person not his or her spouse who is younger than age 15, or by a person age 20 or older to person not his or her spouse age 16 or younger:
  • Sexual intercourse, deviate sexual activity, or sexual contact
  • Attempted sexual intercourse, deviate sexual activity, or sexual contact
  • Solicitation of sexual intercourse, deviate sexual activity, or sexual contact
• By a caregiver to a person younger than age 18:
  • Sexual intercourse, deviate sexual activity, or sexual contact
  • Attempted sexual intercourse, deviate sexual activity, or sexual contact
  • Forcing or encouraging the watching of pornography
  • Forcing, permitting, or encouraging the watching of live sexual activity
  • Forcing the listening to a phone sex line
  • An act of voyeurism
  • Solicitation of sexual intercourse, deviate sexual activity, or sexual contact
• By a person age 18 or older to a person who is younger than age 18, the recruiting, harboring, transporting, obtaining, patronizing, or soliciting of a child for the purpose of a commercial sex act

‘Sexual exploitation’ means any of the following by a person age 18 or older to a child who is not his or her spouse or by a caregiver of a child:

• Allowing, permitting, or encouraging participation or depiction of the child in prostitution, obscene photography, or obscene filming
• Obscenely depicting, obscenely posing, or obscenely posturing the child for any use or purpose

‘Sexually exploited child’ means a person younger than age 18 who has been subject to sexual exploitation because the person:

• Is a victim of trafficking of persons under § 5-18-103
• Is a victim of child sex trafficking under 18 U.S.C. § 1591
• Engages in an act of prostitution or sexual solicitation

Emotional Abuse

Citation: Ann. Code § 12-18-103

The term ‘abuse’ includes acts or omissions that result in injury to a child’s intellectual, emotional, or psychological development, as evidenced by observable and substantial impairment of the child’s ability to function within the child’s normal range of performance and behavior.

Abandonment

Citation: Ann. Code § 12-18-103
‘Abandonment’ means any of the following:

• The failure of a parent to provide reasonable support
•  The failure of a parent to maintain regular contact with a child through statement or contact when the failure is accompanied by an intention on the part of the parent to permit the condition to continue for an indefinite period in the future
• The failure of a parent to support or maintain regular contact with a child without just cause
• An articulated intent to forego parental responsibility

Standards for Reporting

Citation: Ann. Code § 12-18-402
A mandatory reporter shall immediately notify the child abuse hotline if either of the following applies:

• The reporter has reasonable cause to suspect that a child has been subjected to child maltreatment, has died as a result of child maltreatment, or died suddenly and unexpectedly.
• The reporter observes a child being subjected to conditions or circumstances that would reasonably result in child maltreatment.

Persons Responsible for the Child

Citation: Ann. Code § 12-18-103

A responsible person includes the following:

• A parent, guardian, custodian, or foster parent
• A person age 18 or older living in the home with a child, whether related or unrelated to the child
• Any person who is entrusted with the child’s care by a parent, guardian, custodian, or foster parent, including, but not limited to:
  • An agent or employee of a public or private residential home, child care facility, or public or private school
  • A significant other of the child’s parent
  • Any person legally responsible for the child’s welfare

The term ‘significant other’ means a person with whom the parent shares a household or who has a relationship with the parent that results in the person acting in loco parentis with respect to the parent’s child or children, regardless of living arrangements.

Exceptions

Citation: Ann. Code § 12-18-103

Abandonment does not include acts or omissions of a parent toward a married minor.

Abuse does not include any of the following:

• Physical discipline of a child when it is reasonable and moderate and is inflicted by a parent or guardian for purposes of restraining or correcting the child
• When a child suffers transient pain or minor temporary marks as the result of an appropriate restraint if the following applies:
  • The person exercising the restraint is an employee of a licensed child welfare agency acting in his or her official capacity while on duty.
  • The agency has policy and procedures regarding restraints.
  • No other alternative exists to control the child except for a restraint.
  • The child is in danger or is hurting himself or herself or others.
  • The person exercising the restraint has been trained in properly restraining children, deescalation, and conflict resolution techniques.
  • The restraint is for a reasonable period of time.
  • The restraint is in conformity with training and agency policy and procedures.

Reasonable and moderate physical discipline inflicted by a parent or guardian does not include any act that is likely to cause and that does cause injury more serious than transient pain or minor temporary marks. The age, size, and condition of the child, the location of the injury, and the frequency or recurrence of injuries shall be considered when determining whether the physical discipline is reasonable or moderate.

It is not considered neglect when the failure to provide appropriate care is caused primarily by the financial inability of the person legally responsible, and no services for relief have been offered.

Current Through March 2019

Physical Abuse

Citation: Welf. & Inst. Code § 300

A child may be considered dependent (and subject to supervision by the Department of Social Services) under the following circumstances:

• The child has suffered, or there is a substantial risk that the child will suffer, serious physical harm inflicted nonaccidentally upon the child by the child’s parent or guardian. For the purposes of this subdivision, a court may find there is a substantial risk of serious future injury based on the manner in which a less serious injury was inflicted, a history of repeated inflictions of injuries on the child or the child’s siblings, or a combination of these and other actions by the parent or guardian that indicate the child is at risk of serious physical harm.
• The child is younger than age 5 and has suffered severe physical abuse by a parent or by any person known by the parent, if the parent knew or reasonably should have known that the person was physically abusing the child.
• The child’s parent or guardian caused the death of another child through abuse or neglect.
• The child has been subjected to an act or acts of cruelty by the parent or guardian or a member of his or her household, or the parent or guardian has failed to adequately protect the child from an act or acts of cruelty when the parent or guardian knew or reasonably should have known that the child was in danger of being subjected to an act or acts of cruelty.

For the purposes of this subdivision, ‘severe physical abuse’ means any of the following:

• Any single act of abuse that causes physical trauma of sufficient severity that, if left untreated, would cause permanent physical disfigurement, permanent physical disability, or death
• Any single act of sexual abuse that causes significant bleeding, deep bruising, or significant external or internal swelling
• More than one act of physical abuse, each of which causes bleeding, deep bruising, significant external or internal swelling, bone fracture, or unconsciousness
• The willful, prolonged failure to provide adequate food

In the Penal Code: As used in this article, the term ‘child abuse or neglect’ includes physical injury or death inflicted by other than accidental means upon a child by another person; sexual abuse, as defined in § 11165.1; neglect, as defined in § 11165.2; the willful harming or injuring of a child or the endangering of the person or health of a child, as defined in § 11165.3; and unlawful corporal punishment or injury, as defined in § 11165.4.

Neglect

Citation: Welf. & Inst. Code § 300

A child may be considered dependent under the following circumstances:

• The child has suffered, or there is a substantial risk that the child will suffer, serious physical harm or illness as a result of the following:
  • The failure or inability of the parent or guardian to adequately supervise or protect the child
  • The willful or negligent failure of the parent or guardian to adequately supervise or protect the child from the conduct of the custodian with whom the child has been left
  • The willful or negligent failure of the parent or guardian to provide the child with adequate food, clothing, shelter, or medical treatment
  • The inability of the parent or guardian to provide regular care for the child due to the parent’s or guardian’s mental illness, developmental disability, or substance abuse
• The child’s sibling has been abused or neglected, and there is a substantial risk that the child will be abused or neglected. The court shall consider the circumstances surrounding the abuse or neglect of the sibling, the age and gender of each child, the nature of the abuse or neglect of the sibling, the mental condition of the parent or guardian, and any other factors the court considers probative in determining whether there is a substantial risk to the child.

In the Penal Code: The term ‘neglect’ means the negligent treatment or the maltreatment of a child by a person responsible for the child’s welfare under circumstances indicating harm or threatened harm to the child’s health or welfare. The term includes both acts and omissions on the part of the responsible person.

‘Severe neglect’ means the negligent failure of a person having the care or custody of a child to protect the child from severe malnutrition or medically diagnosed nonorganic failure to thrive. ‘Severe neglect’ also means those situations of neglect where any person having the care or custody of a child willfully causes or permits the person or health of the child to be placed in a situation such that his or her person or health is endangered, including the intentional failure to provide adequate food, clothing, shelter, or medical care.

‘General neglect’ means the negligent failure of a person having the care or custody of a child to provide adequate food, clothing, shelter, medical care, or supervision where no physical injury to the child has occurred.

Sexual Abuse/Exploitation

Citation: Welf. & Inst. Code § 300; Penal Code § 11165.1

A child is considered dependent if he or she has been sexually abused; there is a substantial risk that the child will be sexually abused, as defined in § 11165.1 of the Penal Code, by his or her parent, guardian, or a household member; or the parent or guardian has failed to adequately protect the child from sexual abuse when the parent or guardian knew or reasonably should have known that the child was in danger of sexual abuse.

The legislature finds and declares that a child who is sexually trafficked, as described in § 236.1 of the Penal Code, or who receives food or shelter in exchange for, or who is paid to perform, sexual acts, and whose parent or guardian failed to, or was unable to, protect the child, is within the description of this subdivision, and that these children shall be known as commercially sexually exploited children.

‘Sexual abuse’ means sexual assault or sexual exploitation, as defined below:

• ‘Sexual assault’ includes rape, incest, sodomy, lewd or lascivious acts upon a child, or child molestation.
• ‘Sexual exploitation’ refers to any of the following:
  • Depicting a minor engaged in obscene acts; preparing, selling, or distributing obscene matter that depicts minors; employing a minor to perform obscene acts
  • Knowingly permitting or encouraging a child to engage in, or assisting others to engage in, prostitution or a live performance involving obscene sexual conduct, or to either pose or model alone or with others for purposes of preparing a film, photograph, negative, slide, drawing, painting, or other pictorial depiction involving obscene sexual conduct
  • Depicting a child in, or knowingly developing, duplicating, printing, or exchanging any film, photograph, videotape, negative, or slide in which a child is engaged in an act of obscene sexual conduct

Emotional Abuse

Citation: Welf. & Inst. Code § 300

A child is considered dependent if he or she is suffering serious emotional damage, or is at substantial risk of suffering serious emotional damage, as evidenced by severe anxiety, depression, withdrawal, or untoward aggressive behavior toward self or others; as a result of the conduct of the parent or guardian; or who has no parent or guardian capable of providing appropriate care. No child shall be found to be a dependent person if the willful failure of the parent or guardian to provide adequate mental health treatment is based on a sincerely held religious belief and if a less intrusive judicial intervention is available.

Abandonment

Citation: Welf. & Inst. Code § 300
A child is considered dependent when any of the following are true:

• The child has been left without any provision for support.
• Physical custody of the child has been voluntarily surrendered pursuant to § 1255.7 of the Health and Safety Code, and the child has not been reclaimed within the 14-day period specified in subdivision (e) of that section.
• The child’s parent has been incarcerated or institutionalized and cannot arrange for the care of the child.
• A relative or other adult custodian with whom the child resides or has been left is unwilling or unable to provide care or support for the child, the whereabouts of the parent are unknown, and reasonable efforts to locate the parent have been unsuccessful.
• The child has been freed for adoption by one or both parents for 12 months by either relinquishment or termination of parental rights, or an adoption petition has not been granted.

Standards for Reporting

Citation: Penal Code § 11166
A mandatory reporter shall make a report whenever he or she, in his or her professional capacity or within the scope of his or her employment, has knowledge of or observes a child whom the mandated reporter knows or reasonably suspects has been the victim of child abuse or neglect.

The term ‘reasonable suspicion’ means that it is objectively reasonable for a person to entertain a suspicion, based upon facts that could cause a reasonable person in a like position, drawing, when appropriate, on his or her training and experience, to suspect child abuse or neglect. ‘Reasonable suspicion’ does not require certainty that child abuse or neglect has occurred nor does it require a specific medical indication of child abuse or neglect; any ‘reasonable suspicion’ is sufficient.

Persons Responsible for the Child

Citation: Welf. & Inst. Code § 300

A person responsible for a child’s welfare includes the child’s parent or guardian. As used in this section, ‘guardian’ means the legal guardian of the child.

Exceptions

Citation: Welf. & Inst. Code §§ 300; 300.5

Serious physical harm does not include reasonable and age-appropriate spanking to the buttocks where there is no evidence of serious physical injury.

No child shall be found to be dependent solely due to the lack of an emergency shelter for the family.

A physical disability, such as blindness or deafness, is not considered a bar to raising happy and well-adjusted children unless a parent’s disability prevents him or her from exercising care and control.

A child whose parent has been adjudged a dependent child shall not be considered to be at risk of abuse or neglect solely because of the age, dependent status, or foster care status of the parent.

In any case in which a child is alleged to be dependent on the basis that he or she is in need of medical care, the court, in making that finding, shall give consideration to any treatment being provided to the child by spiritual means through prayer alone in accordance with the tenets and practices of a recognized church or religious denomination by an accredited practitioner thereof.

No child who in good faith is under treatment solely by spiritual means through prayer in accordance with the tenets and practices of a recognized church or religious denomination by a duly accredited practitioner thereof shall, for that reason alone, be considered to have been neglected.

In the Penal Code: For the purposes of this chapter, a child receiving treatment by spiritual means, as provided in § 16509.1 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, or not receiving specified medical treatment for religious reasons, shall not for that reason alone be considered a neglected child. An informed and appropriate medical decision made by the parent or guardian after consultation with a physician or physicians who have examined the minor does not constitute neglect.

‘Child abuse or neglect’ does not include a mutual affray between minors. ‘Child abuse or neglect’ does not include an injury caused by reasonable and necessary force used by a peace officer acting within the course and scope of his or her employment as a peace officer.

Current Through March 2019

Physical Abuse

Citation: Rev. Stat. § 19-1-103

‘Abuse’ or ‘child abuse or neglect’ means an act or omission that threatens the health or welfare of a child in one of the following categories:

• Skin bruising, bleeding, malnutrition, failure to thrive, burns, fracture of any bone, subdural hematoma, soft tissue swelling, or death, and the following applies:
  • The condition or death is not justifiably explained.
  • The history given concerning the condition is inconsistent with the degree or type of such condition or death.
  • The circumstances indicate that the condition may not be the result of an accidental occurrence.
• A controlled substance is manufactured in the presence of a child, on the premises where a child is found, or where a child resides.
• A child tests positive at birth for either a schedule I or schedule II controlled substance, unless the child tests positive for a schedule II controlled substance as a result of the mother’s lawful intake of such substance as prescribed.
• A child is subjected to human trafficking of a minor for sexual servitude, as described in § 18-3-504.

Neglect

Citation: Rev. Stat. §§ 19-1-103; 19-3-102

The term ‘child abuse or neglect’ includes any case in which a child is in need of services because the child’s parent has failed to provide adequate food, clothing, shelter, medical care, or supervision that a prudent parent would take.

A child is ‘neglected’ or ‘dependent’ if any of the following are true:

• The parent, guardian, or legal custodian has subjected the child to mistreatment or abuse or has allowed another to mistreat or abuse the child without taking lawful means to stop such mistreatment or abuse and prevent it from recurring.
• The child lacks proper parental care through the actions or omissions of the parent, guardian, or legal custodian.
• The child’s environment is injurious to his or her welfare.
• The parent, guardian, or legal custodian fails or refuses to provide the child with proper or necessary subsistence, education, medical care, or any other necessary care.
• The child is homeless, without proper care, or not domiciled with his or her parent, guardian, or legal custodian through no fault of such parent, guardian, or legal custodian.
• The child has run away from home or is otherwise beyond the control of his or her parent, guardian, or legal custodian.
• The child tests positive at birth for either a schedule I or schedule II controlled substance, unless the child tests positive for a schedule II controlled substance as a result of the mother’s lawful intake of such substance as prescribed.

Sexual Abuse/Exploitation

Citation: Rev. Stat. §§ 19-1-103; 16-22-102

‘Abuse’ or ‘child abuse or neglect’ means an act or omission in which a child is subjected to unlawful sexual behavior, as defined in § 16-22-102(9).

‘Commercial sexual exploitation of children’ involves crimes of a sexual nature committed against juvenile victims for financial or other economic reasons.

‘Unlawful sexual behavior’ means any of the following offenses or criminal attempt, conspiracy, or solicitation to commit any of the following offenses:

• Sexual assault, unlawful sexual contact, sexual assault on a child, or sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust
• Enticement of a child
• Incest or aggravated incest
• Human trafficking of a minor for sexual servitude, as described in § 18-3-504(2)
• Sexual exploitation of children
• Procurement of a child for sexual exploitation
• Indecent exposure
• Soliciting for child prostitution
• Pandering or pimping of a child
• Keeping a place of child prostitution
• Inducement of child prostitution
• Patronizing a prostituted child
• Promotion of obscenity to a minor
• Internet luring of a child
• Internet sexual exploitation of a child

Emotional Abuse

Citation: Rev. Stat. § 19-1-103

The terms ‘abuse’ or ‘child abuse or neglect’ include any case in which a child is subjected to emotional abuse. ‘Emotional abuse’ means an identifiable and substantial impairment or a substantial risk of impairment of the child’s intellectual or psychological functioning or development.

Abandonment

Citation: Rev. Stat. § 19-3-102
A child is ‘neglected’ or ‘dependent’ if a parent, guardian, or legal custodian has abandoned the child.

Standards for Reporting

Citation: Rev. Stat. § 19-3-304
A report is required when a mandatory reporter has reasonable cause to know or suspect that a child has been subjected to abuse or neglect or has observed the child being subjected to circumstances or conditions that would reasonably result in abuse or neglect.

Persons Responsible for the Child

Citation: Rev. Stat. § 19-1-103

‘Intrafamilial abuse’ means any case of abuse that occurs within a family context by a child’s parent, stepparent, guardian, legal custodian, a relative, or a spousal equivalent, or by any other person who resides in the child’s home or who is regularly in the child’s home for the purpose of exercising authority over or care for the child. ‘Intrafamilial abuse’ shall not include abuse by a person who is regularly in the child’s home for the purpose of rendering care for the child if that person is paid for rendering care and is not related to the child.

‘Responsible person’ means a child’s parent, legal guardian, custodian, or any other person responsible for the child’s health and welfare.

‘Spousal equivalent’ means a person who is in a family-type living arrangement with a parent and who would be a stepparent if married to that parent.

Exceptions

Citation: Rev. Stat. §§ 19-1-103; 19-3-103

Those investigating cases of child abuse shall take into account child-rearing practices of the culture in which the child participates, including the work-related practices of agricultural communities.

The reasonable exercise of parental discipline is not considered abuse.

No child who, in lieu of medical treatment, is under treatment solely by spiritual means through prayer in accordance with a recognized method of religious healing shall, for that reason only, be considered neglected. The religious rights of the parent shall not limit the access of a child to medical care in a life-threatening situation.

Current Through March 2019

Physical Abuse

Citation: Gen. Stat. § 46b-120

The term ‘abused’ means that a child:

• Has been inflicted with physical injury or injuries by other than accidental means
• Has injuries that are inconsistent with the history given of them
• Is in a condition that is the result of maltreatment that includes, but is not limited to, malnutrition, sexual molestation or exploitation, deprivation of necessities, emotional maltreatment, or cruel punishment

Neglect

Citation: Gen. Stat. § 46b-120

A child may be found ‘neglected’ who, for reasons other than being impoverished:

• Has been abandoned
• Is being denied proper physical, educational, emotional, or moral care and attention
• Is being permitted to live under conditions, circumstances, or associations injurious to the well-being of the child
• Has been abused

A child may be found ‘uncared for’ who is homeless; whose home cannot provide the specialized care that the physical, emotional, or mental condition of the child requires; or who has been identified as a victim of trafficking, as defined in § 46a-170.

Sexual Abuse/Exploitation

Citation: Gen. Stat. § 46b-120

The term ‘abuse’ includes sexual molestation or exploitation.

Emotional Abuse

Citation: Gen. Stat. § 46b-120

The term ‘abuse’ includes emotional maltreatment.

Abandonment

Citation: Gen. Stat. § 46b-120
A child may be found ‘neglected’ who has been abandoned.

Standards for Reporting

Citation: Gen. Stat. § 17a-101a
A report is required when a mandatory reporter, in the ordinary course of his or her employment or profession, has reasonable cause to suspect or believe that any child under age 18:

• Has been abused or neglected
• Has suffered a nonaccidental physical injury or an injury that is inconsistent with the history given of such injury
• Is placed at imminent risk of serious harm

Persons Responsible for the Child

Citation: Gen. Stat. § 46b-120

Responsible persons include the child’s parents or guardian.

Exceptions

Citation: Gen. Stat. § 46b-120

The treatment of any child by an accredited Christian Science practitioner, in lieu of treatment by a licensed practitioner of the healing arts, shall not of itself constitute neglect or maltreatment.

Current Through March 2019

Physical Abuse

Citation: Ann. Code Tit. 16, § 902; Tit. 10, § 901; Tit. 11, § 1100

‘Abuse’ or ‘abused child’ means that a person has care, custody, or control of a child and causes or inflicts any of the following:

• Physical injury through unjustified force
• Emotional abuse
• Torture
• Exploitation
• Maltreatment or mistreatment

‘Mistreatment’ or ‘maltreatment’ are behaviors that inflict unnecessary or unjustifiable pain or suffering on a child without causing physical injury. Behaviors included will consist of actions and omissions, ones that are intentional, and ones that are unintentional.

The term ‘abuse’ means causing any physical injury to a child through unjustified force, torture, negligent treatment, sexual abuse, exploitation, maltreatment, mistreatment, or any means other than accident.

‘Physical injury’ to a child means any impairment of physical condition or pain.

‘Serious physical injury’ means physical injury that creates a risk of death; causes disfigurement, impairment of health, or loss or impairment of the function of any bodily organ or limb; or causes the unlawful termination of a pregnancy without the consent of the pregnant female.

Neglect

Citation: Ann. Code Tit. 16, § 902; Tit. 10, § 901

‘Neglect’ or ‘neglected child’ means that a person who is responsible for the care, custody, and/or control of the child and has the ability and financial means to provide for the care of the child does any of the following:

• Fails to provide necessary care with regard to food, clothing, shelter, education, health, medical, or other care necessary for the child’s emotional, physical, or mental health, or safety and general well-being
• Abuses alcohol or a controlled substance chronically and severely, is not active in treatment for such abuse, and the abuse threatens the child’s ability to receive care necessary for that child’s safety and general well-being
• Fails to provide necessary supervision appropriate for a child when the child is unable to care for his or her own basic needs or safety, after considering such factors as the child’s age, mental ability, physical condition, the length of the caregiver’s absence, and the context of the child’s environment

Sexual Abuse/Exploitation

Citation: Ann. Code Tit. 16, § 902; Tit. 10, § 901

The term ‘abuse’ includes ‘human trafficking,’ as defined in title 11, § 787.

‘Abuse’ or ‘abused child’ means that a person causes or inflicts sexual abuse on a child.

‘Sexual abuse’ means any act against a child that is described as a sex offense in title 11, § 761(h), including, but not limited to, unlawful sexual contact, child pornography, promoting child prostitution, and incest.

‘Exploitation’ means taking advantage of a child for unlawful or unjustifiable personal or sexual gain.

Emotional Abuse

Citation: Ann. Code Tit. 10, § 901

The term ‘abuse’ includes emotional abuse. ‘Emotional abuse’ means threats to inflict undue physical or emotional harm, and/or chronic or recurring incidents of ridiculing, demeaning, making derogatory remarks, or cursing.

Abandonment

This issue is not addressed in the statutes reviewed.

Standards for Reporting

Citation: Ann. Code Tit. 16, § 903
A report is required when any person knows or in good faith suspects child abuse or neglect.

Persons Responsible for the Child

Citation: Ann. Code Tit. 16, § 902; Tit. 10, § 901

‘Care, custody, and control’ or ‘those responsible for care, custody, and control’ means a person or persons in a position of trust, authority, supervision, or control over a child. It may include the following:

• A parent, guardian, or custodian
• Other members of the child’s family or household, meaning persons living together permanently or temporarily without regard to whether they are related to each other and without regard to the length of time or continuity of such residence and may include persons who previously lived in the household, such as paramours of a member of the child’s household
• Any person who, regardless of whether a member of the child’s household, is defined as family or relatives
• Persons temporarily responsible for the child’s well-being or care such as a health-care provider, aide, teacher, instructor, coach, sitter, daycare or child care provider; any other person having regular direct contact with children through affiliation with a school, church, or religious institution, health-care facility, athletic or charitable organization; or any other organization whether such a person is compensated or acting as a volunteer
• Any person who has assumed control of or responsibility for the child

Exceptions

Citation: Ann. Code Tit. 16, § 913

No child who in good faith is under treatment solely by spiritual means through prayer in accordance with the practices of a recognized church or religious denomination shall for that reason alone be considered neglected.

Current Through March 2019

Physical Abuse

Citation: Ann. Code § 16-2301

‘Abused,’ when used in reference to a child, means any of the following:

• Infliction of physical or mental injury
• Sexual abuse or exploitation
• Negligent treatment or maltreatment

Neglect

Citation: Ann. Code § 16-2301

‘Neglected child’ means a child:

• Whose parent, guardian, or custodian has failed to make reasonable efforts to prevent the infliction of abuse upon the child
• Who is without proper parental care or control, subsistence, education, or other care or control necessary for his or her physical, mental, or emotional health
• Whose parent, guardian, or other custodian is unable to discharge his or her responsibilities to and for the child because of incarceration, hospitalization, or other physical or mental incapacity
• Whose parent, guardian, or custodian refuses or is unable to assume responsibility for the child’s care, control, or subsistence and the person or institution providing for the child states an intention to discontinue such care
• Who is in imminent danger of being abused and another child living in the same household has been abused
• Who has received negligent treatment or maltreatment
• Who has resided in a hospital located in the District of Columbia for at least 10 calendar days following his or her birth, despite a medical determination that the child is ready for discharge from the hospital, and the parent has not taken any action or made any effort to maintain a parental, guardianship, or custodial relationship or contact with the child
• Who is born addicted or dependent on a controlled substance or has a significant presence of a controlled substance in his or her system at birth
• In whose body there is a controlled substance as a direct and foreseeable consequence of the acts or omissions of the child’s parent
• Who is regularly exposed to illegal drug-related activity in the home

‘Negligent treatment’ or ‘maltreatment’ means failure to provide adequate food, clothing, shelter, or medical care that includes medical neglect, and the deprivation is not due to the lack of financial means of his or her parent, guardian, or other custodian.

Sexual Abuse/Exploitation

Citation: Ann. Code § 16-2301

‘Sexual abuse’ means any of the following:

• Engaging in, or attempting to engage in, a sexual act or sexual contact with a child
• Causing or attempting to cause a child to engage in sexually explicit conduct
• Exposing the child to sexually explicit conduct

The term ‘sexually explicit conduct’ means actual or simulated sexual acts; sexual contact; bestiality; masturbation; or lascivious exhibition of the genitals, anus, or pubic area.

‘Sexual exploitation’ occurs when a parent, guardian, or other custodian allows a child to engage in prostitution, or engages a child or allows a child to engage in obscene or pornographic photography, filming, or other forms of illustrating or promoting sexual conduct.

Emotional Abuse

Citation: Ann. Code § 16-2301

‘Mental injury’ means harm to a child’s psychological or intellectual functioning that may be exhibited by severe anxiety, depression, withdrawal, outwardly aggressive behavior, or a combination of those behaviors and that may be demonstrated by a change in behavior, emotional response, or cognition.

Abandonment

Citation: Ann. Code § 16-2301
The term ‘neglected child’ includes a child who has been abandoned by his or her parent, guardian, or custodian.

Standards for Reporting

Citation: Ann. Code § 4-1321.02
A report is required when a mandatory reporter knows or has reasonable cause to suspect that a child known to him or her in his or her professional or official capacity has been or is in immediate danger of being a mentally or physically abused or neglected child.

The Metropolitan Police Department shall immediately report or have a report made to the Child and Family Services Agency of any knowledge, information, or suspicion of a child engaging in or offering to engage in a sexual act or sexual contact, as defined in the Anti-Sexual Abuse Act of 1994 (§ 22-3001), in return for receiving anything of value.

Persons Responsible for the Child

Citation: Ann. Code § 16-2301

Responsible persons include a parent, guardian, or custodian.

Exceptions

Citation: Ann. Code § 16-2301

It is not neglect when the child’s deprivation of parental care and control is due to a lack of financial means.

No child who in good faith is under treatment solely by spiritual means through prayer, in accordance with the practices of a recognized church or religious denomination by a duly accredited practitioner, shall for that reason alone be considered neglected.

The term ‘abused’ does not include parental discipline, as long as the discipline is reasonable in manner and moderate in degree and otherwise does not constitute cruelty. The term ‘discipline’ does not include any of the following:

• Burning, biting, or cutting a child
• Striking a child with a closed fist
• Inflicting injury to a child by shaking, kicking, or throwing the child
• Nonaccidental injury to a child younger than 18 months
• Interfering with a child’s breathing
• Threatening a child with a dangerous weapon or using such a weapon on a child

The above list is illustrative of unacceptable discipline and is not intended to be exclusive or exhaustive.

Current Through March 2019

Physical Abuse

Citation: Ann. Stat. § 39.01

‘Abuse’ means any willful act or threatened act that results in any physical, mental, or sexual abuse, injury, or harm that causes or is likely to cause a child’s physical, mental, or emotional health to be significantly impaired. Abuse of a child includes the birth of a new child into a family during the course of an open dependency case when the parent or caregiver has been determined to lack the protective capacity to safely care for the children in the home and has not substantially complied with the case plan toward successful reunification or met the conditions for return of the children into the home. Abuse of a child includes acts or omissions.

‘Harm’ to a child’s health or welfare can occur when a person inflicts or allows to be inflicted upon the child physical, mental, or emotional injury. Such injury includes, but is not limited to, any of the following:

• Willful acts that produce specific serious injuries
• Purposely gives a child poison, alcohol, drugs, or other substances that substantially affect the child’s behavior, motor coordination, or judgment or that result in sickness or internal injury
• Leaves a child without adult supervision or arrangement appropriate for the child’s age or mental or physical condition
• Uses inappropriate or excessively harsh discipline that is likely to result in physical injury, mental injury as defined in this section, or emotional injury
• Commits or allows to be committed sexual battery against the child
• Allows, encourages, or forces the sexual exploitation of a child
• Abandons the child
• Exploits a child or allows a child to be exploited
• Neglects the child
• Exposes a child to a controlled substance or alcohol
• Uses mechanical devices, unreasonable restraints, or extended periods of isolation to control a child
• Engages in violent behavior that demonstrates a wanton disregard for the presence of a child and could reasonably result in serious injury to the child
• Negligently fails to protect a child in his or her care from inflicted physical, mental, or sexual injury caused by the acts of another
• Has allowed a child’s sibling to die as a result of abuse, abandonment, or neglect
• Makes the child unavailable for the purpose of impeding or avoiding a protective investigation unless the court determines that the parent, legal custodian, or caregiver was fleeing from a situation involving domestic violence

Neglect

Citation: Ann. Stat. § 39.01

‘Neglect’ occurs when a child is deprived of, or is allowed to be deprived of, necessary food, clothing, shelter, or medical treatment or a child is permitted to live in an environment when such deprivation or environment causes the child’s physical, mental, or emotional health to be significantly impaired or to be in danger of being significantly impaired. Neglect of a child includes acts or omissions.

Within the context of the definition of ‘harm,’ the term ‘neglects the child’ means that the parent or other person responsible for the child’s welfare fails to supply the child with adequate food, clothing, shelter, or health care, although financially able to do so or although offered financial or other means to do so.

‘Medical neglect’ means the failure to provide or allow needed care as recommended by a health-care practitioner for a physical injury, illness, medical condition, or impairment or the failure to seek timely and appropriate medical care for a serious health problem that a reasonable person would have recognized as requiring professional medical attention. Medical neglect does not occur if the parent or legal guardian of the child has made reasonable attempts to obtain necessary health-care services or the immediate health condition giving rise to the allegation of neglect is a known and expected complication of the child’s diagnosis or treatment, and either of the following is true:

• The recommended care offers limited net benefit to the child, and the morbidity or other side effects of the treatment may be considered to be greater than the anticipated benefit.
• The parent or legal guardian received conflicting medical recommendations for treatment from multiple practitioners and did not follow all recommendations.

Sexual Abuse/Exploitation

Citation: Ann. Stat. § 39.01

‘Sexual abuse of a child’ means one or more of the following acts:

• Any penetration, however slight, of the vagina or anal opening of one person by the penis of another person, whether or not there is the emission of semen
• Any sexual contact between the genitals or anal opening of one person and the mouth or tongue of another person
• Any intrusion by one person into the genitals or anal opening of another person, including the use of any object for this purpose, not including any act intended for a valid medical purpose
• The intentional touching of the genitals or intimate parts, including the breasts, genital area, groin, inner thighs, and buttocks, or the clothing covering them, of either the child or the perpetrator, not including the following:
  • An act that may reasonably be construed to be a normal caregiver responsibility or any interaction with or affection for a child
  • An act intended for a valid medical purpose
• The intentional masturbation of the perpetrator’s genitals in the presence of a child
• The intentional exposure of the perpetrator’s genitals in the presence of a child, or any other sexual act intentionally perpetrated in the presence of a child, if such exposure or sexual act is for the purpose of sexual arousal or gratification, aggression, degradation, or other similar purpose
• The sexual exploitation of a child, including the following:
  • A child offering to engage in or engaging in prostitution
  • Allowing, encouraging, or forcing a child to solicit for or engage in prostitution, engage in a sexual performance, or participate in the trade of human trafficking, as provided in § 787.06(3)(g)

‘Harm’ to a child can occur when any person:

• Commits or allows to be committed sexual battery or lewd or lascivious acts against the child
• Allows, encourages, or forces the sexual exploitation of a child, including engaging in prostitution or a sexual performance

Emotional Abuse

Citation: Ann. Stat. § 39.01

‘Mental injury’ means an injury to the intellectual or psychological capacity of a child as evidenced by a discernible and substantial impairment in the ability to function within the normal range of performance and behavior.

Abandonment

Citation: Ann. Stat. § 39.01
‘Abandoned’ or ‘abandonment’ occurs when the parent or legal custodian of a child or, in the absence of a parent or legal custodian, the caregiver, while being able, has made no significant contribution to the child’s care and maintenance or has failed to establish or maintain a substantial and positive relationship with the child.

For purposes of this subsection, ‘establish or maintain a substantial and positive relationship’ includes, but is not limited to, frequent and regular contact with the child through frequent and regular visitation or frequent and regular communication to or with the child and the exercise of parental rights and responsibilities. Marginal efforts and incidental or token visits or communications are not sufficient to establish or maintain a substantial and positive relationship with a child. A man’s acknowledgement of paternity of the child does not limit the period of time considered in determining whether the child was abandoned.

The term does not include a surrendered newborn infant, as described in § 383.50; a ‘child in need of services’; or a ‘family in need of services,’ as defined in chapter 984. The incarceration of a parent, legal custodian, or caregiver responsible for a child’s welfare may support a finding of abandonment.

Standards for Reporting

Citation: Ann. Stat. § 39.201
A report is required when any person knows, or has reasonable cause to suspect, that a child is abused, abandoned, or neglected by a parent, legal custodian, caregiver, or other person responsible for the child’s welfare, or that a child is in need of supervision and care and has no parent, legal custodian, or responsible adult relative immediately known and available to provide supervision and care.

Persons Responsible for the Child

Citation: Ann. Stat. § 39.01

Responsible persons include the child’s parent or legal custodian or, in the absence of the parent or legal custodian, the child’s caregiver. The term ‘caregiver’ includes the parent, legal custodian, permanent guardian, adult household member, or other person responsible for a child’s welfare.

‘Other person responsible for a child’s welfare’ includes the following:

• The child’s legal guardian or foster parent
• An employee of a private school, public or private child daycare center, residential home, institution, facility, or agency
• A law enforcement officer employed in any facility, service, or program for children that is operated or contracted by the Department of Juvenile Justice
• Any other person legally responsible for the child’s welfare in a residential setting
• An adult sitter or relative entrusted with a child’s care

Exceptions

Citation: Ann. Stat. § 39.01

Corporal discipline of a child by a parent or legal custodian for disciplinary purposes does not in itself constitute abuse when it does not result in harm to the child.

It shall not be considered neglect if failure to provide for the child is caused primarily by financial inability, unless actual services for relief have been offered to and rejected by the parent.

A parent or legal custodian who, by reason of the legitimate practice of religious beliefs, does not provide specified medical treatment for a child may not be considered abusive or neglectful for that reason alone, but such an exception does not do the following:

• Eliminate the requirement that the case be reported to the Department of Children and Family Services
• Prevent the department from investigating the case
• Preclude a court from ordering, when the health of the child requires it, the provision of medical services by a physician or treatment by a duly accredited practitioner who relies solely on spiritual means for healing in accordance with the tenets and practices of a well-recognized church or religious organization

A parent or legal custodian legitimately practicing religious beliefs in accordance with a recognized church or religious organization who thereby does not provide specific medical treatment for a child may not, for that reason alone, be considered a negligent parent or legal custodian; however, such an exception does not preclude a court from ordering the following services to be provided, when the health of the child so requires:

• Medical services from a licensed physician, dentist, optometrist, podiatric physician, or other qualified health-care provider
• Treatment by a duly accredited practitioner who relies solely on spiritual means for healing in accordance with the tenets and practices of a well-recognized church or religious organization

Current Through March 2019

Physical Abuse

Citation: Ann. Code § 19-7-5(b)

‘Child abuse’ means physical injury or death inflicted upon a child by a parent or caregiver by other than accidental means.

Neglect

Citation: Ann. Code § 19-7-5(b)

The term ‘child abuse’ includes neglect or exploitation of a child by a parent or caregiver.

Sexual Abuse/Exploitation

Citation: Ann. Code § 19-7-5(b)

‘Sexual abuse’ occurs when a person employs, uses, persuades, induces, entices, or coerces a minor who is not that person’s spouse to engage in any act that involves the following:

• Sexual intercourse, including genital-genital, oral-genital, anal-genital, or oral-anal, whether between persons of the same or opposite sex
• Bestiality or masturbation
•  Lewd exhibition of the genitals or pubic area of any person
• Flagellation or torture by or upon a person who is nude
• Condition of being fettered, bound, or otherwise physically restrained on the part of a person who is nude
• Physical contact in an act of apparent sexual stimulation or gratification with any person’s clothed or unclothed genitals, pubic area, or buttocks or with a female’s clothed or unclothed breasts
• Defecation or urination for the purpose of sexual stimulation
• Penetration of the vagina or rectum by any object except when done as part of a recognized medical procedure
• Trafficking an individual for sexual servitude, as described by § 16-5-46(c)

‘Sexual exploitation’ means conduct by any person who allows, permits, encourages, or requires a child to engage in prostitution or sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual or print medium depicting such conduct.

A person commits the offense of trafficking an individual for sexual servitude when that person knowingly does any of the following:

• Subjects an individual to or maintains an individual in sexual servitude
• Recruits, entices, harbors, transports, provides, or obtains by any means an individual for the purpose of sexual servitude
• Solicits or patronizes by any means an individual to perform sexually explicit conduct on behalf of such person when such individual is the subject of sexual servitude

Emotional Abuse

This issue is not addressed in the statutes reviewed.

Abandonment

This issue is not addressed in the statutes reviewed.

Standards for Reporting

Citation: Ann. Code § 19-7-5(b)
A report is required when a mandatory reporter has reasonable cause to believe that suspected child abuse has occurred.

Persons Responsible for the Child

Citation: Ann. Code § 19-7-5(b)

The term ‘responsible person’ includes the parent or caregiver.

Exceptions

Citation: Ann. Code § 19-7-5(b)

Physical forms of discipline may be used as long as there is no physical injury to the child.

No child who, in good faith, is being treated solely by spiritual means through prayer in accordance with the tenets and practices of a recognized church or religious denomination by a duly accredited practitioner thereof shall, for that reason alone, be considered to be an abused child.

Sexual abuse does not include consensual sex acts between persons of the opposite sex who are minors or a minor and adult who is no more than 5 years older than the minor.

Current Through March 2019

Physical Abuse

Citation: Ann. Code Tit. 19, § 13101

‘Abused or neglected child’ means a child whose physical or mental health or welfare is harmed or threatened with harm by the acts or omissions of the person or persons responsible for the child’s welfare.

‘Harm to a child’s physical health or welfare’ occurs in cases in which there exists evidence of injury, including but not limited to, any of the following:

• A case in which the child exhibits evidence of skin bruising or other internal bleeding, an injury to skin causing bleeding, burns, poisoning, fracture of any bone, subdural hematoma, soft tissue swelling, extreme pain, or death
• Disfigurement or impairment of a bodily organ, and such injury is inflicted by other than accidental means, by excessive corporal punishment, or where the history given concerning such condition or death is inconsistent with the degree or type of such condition or death
• A case in which the child is provided with a controlled substance, except for drugs prescribed by a medical practitioner

Neglect

Citation: Ann. Code Tit. 19, § 13101

The term ‘abused or neglected child’ includes a child whose physical or mental health or welfare is harmed or threatened with harm by the acts or omissions of the person or persons responsible for the child’s welfare.

‘Harm to a child’s physical health or welfare’ includes a case in which the physical health of the child is adversely affected because the person responsible for the child’s welfare has not regularly, and in a timely manner, provided the child with adequate food, clothing, shelter, psychological care, physical care, health care, or supervision when able to financially or if offered financial assistance, health care, or other reasonable means to do so.

Sexual Abuse/Exploitation

Citation: Ann. Code Tit. 19, § 13101

‘Harm to a child’s physical health or welfare’ occurs in a case in which there exists evidence of injury, including, but not limited to, a case in which the child has been the victim of a sexual offense, as defined in the Criminal and Correctional Code.

Emotional Abuse

Citation: Ann. Code Tit. 19, § 13101

The term ‘abused or neglected child’ includes a child whose mental health or welfare is harmed or threatened with harm by the acts or omissions of the person or persons responsible for the child’s welfare.

‘Harm’ occurs when there exists injury to the psychological capacity of a child such as failure to thrive, extreme mental distress, or gross emotional or verbal degradation, as is evidenced by an observable and substantial impairment in the child’s ability to function within a normal range of performance with due regard to the child’s culture.

Abandonment

Citation: Ann. Code Tit. 19, § 13101
‘Abandonment’ means the desertion or willful forsaking of a minor by the person responsible for the child’s welfare under circumstances in which a reasonable person would continue to provide care or custody.

The term ‘harm’ includes a case in which the child has been abandoned.

Standards for Reporting

Citation: Ann. Code Tit. 19, § 13201
A report is required when a mandatory reporter who comes into contact with children in the course of his or her employment, occupation, or practice of his or her profession has reason to suspect on the basis of his or her medical, professional, or other training and experience that a child is an abused or neglected child.

Persons Responsible for the Child

Citation: Ann. Code Tit. 19, § 13101

A ‘person responsible for the child’s welfare’ includes the following:

• The child’s parent, guardian, or foster parent
• An employee of a public or private residential home or an institution or authorized agency responsible for the child’s welfare

The term ‘family’ includes each legal parent, the grandparents, each parent’s spouse, each sibling or person related by consanguinity up to the second degree or by marriage, each person residing in the same dwelling unit, and any other person or legal entity that is a child’s legal or physical custodian or guardian or who is otherwise responsible for the child’s care.

Exceptions

Citation: Ann. Code Tit. 19, § 13101

A person responsible for the child’s welfare who, while legitimately practicing his or her religious beliefs, does not specify medical treatment for the child should not, for that reason alone, be considered as harming or threatening harm to the child.

Current Through March 2019

Physical Abuse

Citation: Rev. Stat. § 350-1

‘Child abuse or neglect’ means acts or omissions that have resulted in the physical health or welfare of the child who is under age 18 to be harmed or to be subject to a reasonably foreseeable, substantial risk of being harmed. The acts or omissions are indicated for the purposes of reports by circumstances that include, but are not limited to, the following:

• When the child exhibits evidence of any of the following injuries, and such injury is not justifiably explained, or when the history given concerning such condition or death is inconsistent with the degree or type of such condition or death, or circumstances indicate that such condition or death may not be the product of an accidental occurrence:
  • Substantial or multiple skin bruising or other internal bleeding
  • An injury to skin causing substantial bleeding
  • Malnutrition or failure to thrive
  • Burns or poisoning
  • Fracture of any bone
  • Subdural hematoma or soft tissue swelling
  • Extreme pain or mental distress
  • Gross degradation
  • Death
• When the child is provided with dangerous, harmful, or detrimental drugs, provided that this paragraph shall not apply when such drugs are provided to the child pursuant to the direction or prescription of a practitioner
• When the child has been the victim of labor trafficking under chapter 707

Neglect

Citation: Rev. Stat. § 350-1

‘Child neglect’ occurs when a child is not provided in a timely manner with adequate food, clothing, shelter, psychological care, physical care, medical care, or supervision.

Sexual Abuse/Exploitation

Citation: Rev. Stat. § 350-1

The term ‘child abuse or neglect’ includes instances when the child has been the victim of sexual contact or conduct, including, but not limited to, any of the following:

•  Sexual assault, molestation, sexual fondling, incest, or prostitution
• Obscene or pornographic photographing, filming, or depiction
• Other similar forms of sexual exploitation, including, but not limited to, acts that constitute an offense of promoting prostitution of a person younger than age 18

The term ‘child abuse or neglect’ also includes the acts or omissions of any person that have resulted in sex trafficking or severe forms of trafficking in persons.

‘Severe forms of trafficking in persons’ has the same meaning as provided in 22 U.S.C. § 7102(9). ‘Sex trafficking’ has the same meaning as provided in 22 U.S.C. § 7102(10).

Emotional Abuse

Citation: Rev. Stat. § 350-1

The term ‘child abuse or neglect’ includes acts or omissions that have resulted in injury to the psychological capacity of a child as is evidenced by an observable and substantial impairment in the child’s ability to function.

Abandonment

This issue is not addressed in the statutes reviewed.

Standards for Reporting

Citation: Rev. Stat. § 350-1.1
A report is required when a mandatory reporter, in his or her professional or official capacity, has reason to believe that child abuse or neglect has occurred or that there exists a substantial risk that child abuse or neglect may occur in the reasonably foreseeable future.

Persons Responsible for the Child

Citation: Rev. Stat. § 350-1

A ‘responsible person’ is any person who, or legal entity that, is:

• In any manner or degree related to the child
• Residing with the child
• Otherwise responsible for the child’s care

Exceptions

No exceptions are specified in statute.

Current Through March 2019

Physical Abuse

Citation: Idaho Code § 16-1602

‘Abused’ means any case in which a child has been the victim of conduct or omission resulting in skin bruising, bleeding, malnutrition, burns, fracture of any bone, subdural hematoma, soft tissue swelling, failure to thrive, or death, and such condition or death is not justifiably explained; the history given concerning such condition or death is inconsistent with the degree or type of such condition or death; or the circumstances indicate that such condition or death may not be the product of an accidental occurrence.

Neglect

Citation: Idaho Code § 16-1602

‘Neglected’ means a child to whom any of the following applies:

• Who is without proper parental care and control, subsistence, medical care, or other care necessary for his or her well-being because of the conduct or omission of his or her parents, guardian, or other custodian or their neglect or refusal to provide them
• Whose parents, guardian, or other custodian is unable to discharge his or her responsibilities to and for the child, and, as a result of such inability, the child lacks the parental care necessary for his or her health, safety, or well-being
• Who has been placed for care or adoption in violation of the law
• Who is without proper education because of the failure to comply with § 33-202

Sexual Abuse/Exploitation

Citation: Idaho Code § 16-1602

The term ‘abused’ applies to any case in which a child has been the victim of any of the following conduct:

• Sexual conduct, including rape, molestation, incest, or prostitution
• Obscene or pornographic photographing, filming, or depiction for commercial purposes
• Human trafficking, as defined in § 18-8602
• Other similar forms of sexual exploitation that harms or threatens the child’s health or welfare or mental injury to the child

Emotional Abuse

Citation: Idaho Code § 16-1602

‘Mental injury’ means a substantial impairment in the intellectual or psychological ability of a child to function within a normal range of performance and/or behavior, for short or long terms.

Abandonment

Citation: Idaho Code § 16-1602
‘Abandoned’ means the failure of the parent to maintain a normal parental relationship with his or her child, including, but not limited to, reasonable support or regular personal contact. Failure to maintain this relationship without just cause for a period of 1 year shall constitute prima facie evidence of abandonment.

Standards for Reporting

Citation: Idaho Code § 16-1605
A report is required when any person has reason to believe that a child younger than age 18 has been abused, abandoned, or neglected or observes the child being subjected to conditions or circumstances that would reasonably result in abuse, abandonment, or neglect.

Persons Responsible for the Child

Citation: Idaho Code § 16-1602

‘Responsible persons’ include the parent, guardian, or other custodian.

Exceptions

Citation: Idaho Code § 16-1602

No child whose parent chooses for the child treatment by prayers through spiritual means in lieu of medical treatment shall be deemed, for that reason alone, to be neglected. This exception shall not prevent the court from ordering emergency medical treatment when the child’s life is endangered.

Current Through March 2019

Physical Abuse

Citation: Comp. Stat. Ch. 325, § 5/3

‘Abused child’ means a child whose parent, immediate family member, any person responsible for the child’s welfare, any individual residing in the same home as the child, or a paramour of the child’s parent does any of the following:

• Inflicts, causes or allows to be inflicted, or creates a substantial risk of physical injury by other than accidental means that causes death, disfigurement, impairment of physical or emotional health, or loss or impairment of any bodily function
• Commits or allows to be committed an act or acts of torture upon the child
• Inflicts excessive corporal punishment
• Commits or allows to be committed the offense of female genital mutilation
• Causes a controlled substance to be sold, transferred, distributed, or given to the child under age 18, in violation of the Illinois Controlled Substances Act or Methamphetamine Control and Community Protection Act
• Commits or allows to be committed the offense of involuntary servitude, involuntary sexual servitude of a minor, or trafficking in persons, as defined in chapter 720, § 5/10-9, against the child

Neglect

Citation: Comp. Stat. Ch. 325, § 5/3

‘Neglected child’ means any child to whom any of the following applies:

• Is not receiving proper or necessary nourishment or medically indicated treatment, including food or care, that is not provided solely on the basis of the present or anticipated mental or physical impairment as determined by a physician, or otherwise is not receiving the proper or necessary support or medical or other remedial care as necessary for a child’s well-being
• Is not receiving other care necessary for his or her well-being, including adequate food, clothing, and shelter
• Is subjected to an environment that is injurious insofar as the following:
  • The child’s environment creates a likelihood of harm to the child’s health, physical well-being, or welfare.
  • The likely harm to the child is the result of a blatant disregard of parent or caregiver responsibilities.
• Has been provided with interim crisis intervention services under chapter 705, § 405/3-5, and whose parent, guardian, or custodian refuses to permit the child to return home and no other living arrangement agreeable to the parent, guardian, or custodian can be made, and the parent, guardian, or custodian has not made any other appropriate living arrangement for the child
• Is a newborn infant whose blood, urine, or meconium contains any amount of a controlled substance or a metabolite thereof

Sexual Abuse/Exploitation

Citation: Comp. Stat. Ch. 325, § 5/3

The term ‘abused child’ includes a child whose parent, immediate family member, person responsible for the child’s welfare, individual residing in the same home as the child, or paramour of the child’s parent commits or allows to be committed any sex offense against the child, as such sex offenses are defined in the Criminal Code of 2012 (chapter 720, § 5/1-1, et seq.) or in the Wrongs to Children Act (chapter 720, § 150/0.01, et seq.), and extending those definitions of sex offenses to include children younger than age 18.

Emotional Abuse

Citation: Comp. Stat. Ch. 325, § 5/3

The term ‘abused child’ includes impairment or substantial risk of impairment to the child’s emotional health.

Abandonment

Citation: Comp. Stat. Ch. 325, § 5/3
The term ‘neglected child’ includes a child who is abandoned by his or her parents or other person responsible for the child’s welfare without a proper plan of care.

Standards for Reporting

Citation: Comp. Stat. Ch. 325, § 5/4
A report is required when a mandatory reporter has reasonable cause to believe a child known to them in their professional or official capacity may be an abused child or a neglected child.

Persons Responsible for the Child

Citation: Comp. Stat. Ch. 325, § 5/3

A ‘person responsible for the child’s welfare’ includes the following:

• The child’s parent, guardian, foster parent, or relative caregiver
• Any person responsible for the child’s welfare in a public or private residential agency or institution
• Any person responsible for the child’s welfare within a public or private profit or not-for-profit child care facility
• Any other person responsible for the child’s welfare at the time of the alleged abuse or neglect, including any person that is the custodian of a child under age 18 who commits or allows to be committed against the child the offense of involuntary servitude, involuntary sexual servitude of a minor, or trafficking in persons for forced labor or services, as provided in chapter 720, § 5/10-9
• A person who came to know the child through an official capacity or position of trust, including, but not limited to, health-care professionals, educational personnel, recreational supervisors, members of the clergy, and volunteers or support personnel in any setting where children may be subject to abuse or neglect

Exceptions

Citation: Comp. Stat. Ch. 325, § 5/3

A child shall not be considered abused or neglected if any of the following apply:

• The child is a newborn who has been relinquished in accordance with the Abandoned Newborn Infant Protection Act.
• The presence of a controlled substance in a child or a newborn is the result of medical treatment.
• The child has been left in the care of an adult relative.
• The child’s parent relies on spiritual means through prayer for the treatment of disease.
• The child is not attending school as required by the School Act.

Current Through March 2019

Physical Abuse

Citation: Ann. Code § 31-34-1-2

A child is a ‘child in need of services’ if, before the child becomes age 18, the child’s physical or mental health is seriously endangered due to injury by the act or omission of the child’s parent, guardian, or custodian.

Evidence that the illegal manufacture of a drug or controlled substance is occurring on the property where a child resides creates a rebuttable presumption that the child’s physical or mental health is seriously endangered.

Neglect

Citation: Ann. Code §§ 31-34-1-1; 31-34-1-9; 31-34-1-10; 31-34-1-11

A child is a ‘child in need of services’ if, before the child becomes age 18:

• The child’s physical or mental condition is seriously impaired or seriously endangered as a result of the inability, refusal, or neglect of the child’s parent, guardian, or custodian to supply the child with necessary food, clothing, shelter, medical care, education, or supervision.
• The child is born with fetal alcohol syndrome; neonatal abstinence syndrome; or any amount, including a trace amount, of a controlled substance or a legend drug in the child’s body.
• The child has an injury, abnormal physical or psychological development, symptoms of neonatal intoxication or withdrawal, or is at a substantial risk of a life-threatening condition that arises or is substantially aggravated because the child’s mother used alcohol, a controlled substance, or a legend drug during pregnancy.

The term ‘child in need of services’ includes a child with a disability who is deprived of nutrition that is necessary to sustain life or is deprived of medical or surgical intervention that is necessary to remedy or ameliorate a life-threatening medical condition if the nutritional, medical, or surgical intervention is generally provided to similarly situated children with or without disabilities.

Sexual Abuse/Exploitation

Citation: Ann. Code §§ 31-34-1-3; 31-34-1-4; 31-34-1-3.5; 31-9-2-133.1

A child is a ‘child in need of services’ if, before the child becomes age 18, the child is the victim of an offense, as defined in the criminal statutes, pertaining to any of the following:

• Rape
• Child molesting
• Child exploitation or possession of child pornography
• Child solicitation or seduction
• Sexual battery
• Sexual misconduct with a minor
• Indecent exposure
• Prostitution
• Promoting prostitution or juvenile prostitution
• Incest

A child is a ‘child in need of services’ if, before the child becomes age 18, the child lives in the same household as an adult who committed or has been charged with a human or sexual trafficking offense.

A child is a ‘child in need of services’ if, before the child becomes age 18, the child’s parent, guardian, or custodian allows the child to do the following:

• To participate in an obscene performance
• To commit a sex offense prohibited by criminal statute

A child is a ‘child in need of services’ if, before the child becomes age 18, the child is the victim of the following:

• Human or sexual trafficking (as defined in § 31-9-2-133.1)
• A human or sexual trafficking offense under the law of another jurisdiction, including Federal law, that is substantially equivalent

A child is considered a victim of human or sexual trafficking regardless of whether the child consented to the conduct described above.

The term ‘victim of human or sexual trafficking’ refers to a child who is recruited, harbored, transported, or engaged in any of the following:

• Forced labor
• Involuntary servitude
• Prostitution
• Juvenile prostitution, as defined in § 35-31.5-2-178.5
• Child exploitation, as defined in § 35-42-4-4(b)
• Marriage, unless authorized by a court under § 31-11-1-6
• Trafficking for the purpose of prostitution or participation in sexual conduct, as defined in § 35-42-4-4(a)(4)
• Human trafficking, as defined in § 35-42-3.5-0.5

Emotional Abuse

Citation: Ann. Code § 31-34-1-2

A child is a ‘child in need of services’ if the child’s mental health is seriously endangered by an act or omission of the child’s parent, guardian, or custodian.

Abandonment

Citation: Ann. Code § 31-9-2-0.5
The term ‘abandoned infant’ means the following:

• A child who is younger than 12 months old and whose parent, guardian, or custodian has knowingly or intentionally left the child in an environment that endangers the child’s life or health or in a hospital or medical facility and has no reasonable plan to assume the care, custody, and control of the child
• A child who is or appears to be no more than 30 days old and whose parent has knowingly and intentionally left the child with an emergency medical services provider and did not express an intent to return for the child

Standards for Reporting

Citation: Ann. Code § 31-33-5-1
A report is required when an individual has reason to believe that a child is a victim of child abuse or neglect.

Persons Responsible for the Child

Citation: Ann. Code §§ 31-9-2-0.5; 31-34-1-1 through 31-34-1-5

Responsible persons include the child’s parent, guardian, or custodian.

Exceptions

Citation: Ann. Code §§ 31-34-1-12; 31-34-1-13; 31-34-1-14; 31-34-1-15

A child is not a ‘child in need of services’ if any of the following apply:

• The presence of a legend drug or controlled substance was a result of a valid medical prescription.
• A parent fails to provide specific medical treatment for a child because of legitimate and genuine religious beliefs. This presumption does not do any of the following:
  • Prevent a court from ordering medical services when the health of the child requires it
  • Apply to situations in which the child’s life or health is in serious danger

This chapter does not limit either of the following:

• The right of the parent to use reasonable corporal punishment to discipline the child
• The lawful practice or teaching of religious beliefs

Current Through March 2019

Physical Abuse

Citation: Ann. Stat. § 232.68

‘Child abuse’ or ‘abuse’ means any nonaccidental physical injury, or injury that is inconsistent with the history given of it, suffered by a child as the result of acts or omissions of a person responsible for the care of the child.

Neglect

Citation: Ann. Stat. § 232.68

The terms ‘child abuse’ or ‘abuse’ include the following:

• The failure on the part of a person responsible for the care of a child to provide adequate food, shelter, clothing, medical or mental health treatment, supervision, or other care necessary for the child’s health and welfare when financially able to do so or when offered financial or other reasonable means to do so
• Failure to provide for the adequate supervision of a child that a reasonable and prudent person would exercise under similar facts and circumstances and the failure resulted in direct harm or created a risk of harm to the child
• The presence of an illegal drug in a child’s body as a direct and foreseeable consequence of the acts or omissions of the person responsible for the care of the child
• That the person responsible for the care of a child, in the presence of a child unlawfully uses, possesses, manufactures, cultivates, or distributes a dangerous substance; knowingly allows such use, possession, manufacture, cultivation, or distribution by another person in the presence of a child; possesses a product with the intent to use the product as a precursor or an intermediary to a dangerous substance in the presence of a child; or unlawfully uses, possesses, manufactures, cultivates, or distributes a dangerous substance in a child’s home, on the premises, or in a motor vehicle located on the premises
• Knowingly allowing a person to have custody of, control of, or unsupervised access to a child after knowing the person is required to register or is on the sex offender registry

Sexual Abuse/Exploitation

Citation: Ann. Stat. § 232.68

The terms ‘child abuse’ or ‘abuse’ include the following:

• Committing a sexual offense with or to a child
• Allowing, permitting, or encouraging the child to engage in prostitution
• Committing acts of bestiality in the presence of a minor by a person who resides in a home with a child, as a result of the acts or omissions of a person responsible for the care of the child
• Knowingly allowing a person to have custody of, control of, or unsupervised access to a child after knowing the person is required to register or is on the sex offender registry
• Knowingly allowing the child access to obscene material, as defined in § 728.1, or knowingly disseminating or exhibiting such material to the child
•  The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing, or soliciting of a child for the purpose of commercial sexual activity, as defined in § 710A.1

‘Sex trafficking’ means the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing, or soliciting of a person for the purpose of commercial sexual activity. ‘Sex trafficking victim’ means a victim of sex trafficking.

Emotional Abuse

Citation: Ann. Stat. § 232.68

The terms ‘child abuse’ or ‘abuse’ include any mental injury to a child’s intellectual or psychological capacity as evidenced by an observable and substantial impairment in the child’s ability to function within the child’s normal range of performance and behavior as the result of the acts or omissions of a person responsible for the care of the child, if the impairment is diagnosed and confirmed by a licensed physician or qualified mental health professional.

Abandonment

This issue is not addressed in the statutes reviewed.

Standards for Reporting

Citation: Ann. Stat. § 232.69
A report is required when a mandatory reporter reasonably believes that a child has suffered abuse.

Persons Responsible for the Child

Citation: Ann. Stat. § 232.68

‘Person responsible for the care of a child’ includes the following:

•  A parent, guardian, or foster parent
• A relative or any other person with whom the child resides who assumes care or supervision of the child, without reference to the length of time or continuity of such residence
• An employee or agent of a public or private facility providing care for a child, including an institution, hospital, health-care facility, group home, mental health center, residential treatment center, shelter care facility, detention center, or child care facility
• Any person providing care for a child but with whom the child does not reside, without reference to the duration of care

Exceptions

Citation: Ann. Stat. § 232.68

A parent or guardian legitimately practicing religious beliefs who does not provide specified medical treatment for a child, for that reason alone, shall not be considered to be abusing the child. This provision shall not preclude a court from ordering that medical service be provided to the child when the child’s health requires it.

‘Child abuse’ or ‘abuse’ shall not be construed to hold a victim responsible for failing to prevent a crime against the victim.

Current Through March 2019

Physical Abuse

Citation: Ann. Stat. § 38-2202

‘Physical, mental, or emotional abuse’ means the infliction of physical, mental, or emotional harm, or the causing of a deterioration of a child, and may include, but shall not be limited to, maltreatment or exploiting a child to the extent that the child’s health or emotional well-being is endangered.

‘Harm’ means physical or psychological injury or damage.

Neglect

Citation: Ann. Stat. § 38-2202

‘Neglect’ means acts or omissions by a parent, guardian, or person responsible for the care of a child that results in harm to a child or presents a likelihood of harm, and the acts or omissions are not due solely to the lack of financial means of the child’s parents or other custodian. ‘Neglect’ may include, but shall not be limited to, the following:

• Failure to provide the child with food, clothing, or shelter necessary to sustain life or health
• Failure to provide adequate supervision of a child or to remove a child from a situation that requires judgment or actions beyond the child’s level of maturity, physical condition, or mental abilities and that results in bodily injury or a likelihood of harm to the child
• Failure to use resources available to treat a diagnosed medical condition if such treatment will make a child substantially more comfortable, reduce pain and suffering, or correct or substantially diminish a crippling condition from worsening

Sexual Abuse/Exploitation

Citation: Ann. Stat. § 38-2202

‘Sexual abuse’ means any contact or interaction with a child in which the child is being used for the sexual stimulation of the perpetrator, the child, or another person. ‘Sexual abuse’ includes allowing, permitting, or encouraging a child to engage in the sale of sexual relations or commercial sexual exploitation of a child or to be photographed, filmed, or depicted in pornographic material. ‘Sexual abuse’ also shall include allowing, permitting, or encouraging a child to engage in aggravated human trafficking, as defined § 21-5426(b), if committed in whole or in part for the purpose of the sexual gratification of the offender or another.

Emotional Abuse

Citation: Ann. Stat. § 38-2202

The term ‘physical, mental, or emotional abuse’ includes the infliction of physical, mental, or emotional harm or the causing of a deterioration of a child and may include, but is not limited to, maltreatment or exploiting a child to the extent that the child’s health or emotional well-being is endangered.

‘Harm’ means physical or psychological injury or damage.

Abandonment

Citation: Ann. Stat. § 38-2202
‘Abandon’ or ‘abandonment’ means to forsake, desert, or cease providing care for the child without making appropriate provisions for substitute care.

Standards for Reporting

Citation: Ann. Stat. § 38-2223
A report is required when a mandatory reporter has reason to suspect that a child has been harmed as a result of physical, mental, or emotional abuse or neglect, or sexual abuse.

Persons Responsible for the Child

Citation: Ann. Stat. § 38-2202

A responsible person includes a parent, guardian, or person responsible for the care of a child.

The term ‘parent,’ when used in relation to a child or children, includes a guardian and every person who is by law liable to maintain, care for, or support the child.

Exceptions

Citation: Ann. Stat. § 38-2202

A parent legitimately practicing religious beliefs who does not provide specified medical treatment for a child because of religious beliefs shall not, for that reason, be considered a negligent parent. This exception shall not preclude a court from ordering medical treatment for the child.

Current Through March 2019

Physical Abuse

Citation: Rev. Stat. § 600.020

‘Abused or neglected child’ means a child whose health or welfare is harmed or threatened with harm when his or her parent, guardian, or other person exercising custodial control or supervision does either of the following:

• Inflicts or allows to be inflicted upon the child physical or emotional injury by other than accidental means
• Creates or allows to be created a risk of physical or emotional injury to the child by other than accidental means

‘Physical injury’ means substantial physical pain or any impairment of physical condition.

‘Serious physical injury’ means physical injury that creates a substantial risk of death or causes serious and prolonged disfigurement, prolonged impairment of health, or prolonged loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ.

Neglect

Citation: Rev. Stat. § 600.020

The term ‘abused or neglected child’ includes a child whose health or welfare is harmed or threatened with harm when his or her parent, guardian, or other person exercising custodial control or supervision does any of the following:

• Engages in a pattern of conduct that renders the parent incapable of caring for the immediate and ongoing needs of the child, including, but not limited to, parental incapacity due to alcohol and other drug abuse
• Continuously or repeatedly fails or refuses to provide essential parental care and protection for the child, considering the age of the child
• Does not provide the child with adequate care, supervision, food, clothing, shelter, education, or medical care necessary for the child’s well-being
•  Fails to make sufficient progress toward identified goals as set forth in the court-approved case plan to allow for the safe return of the child to the parent that results in the child remaining committed to the cabinet and remaining in foster care for 15 cumulative months out 48 months

Sexual Abuse/Exploitation

Citation: Rev. Stat. § 600.020

The term ‘abused or neglected child’ includes a child whose health or welfare is harmed or threatened with harm when either of the following is true:

• His or her parent, guardian, or other person exercising custodial control or supervision:
  • Commits or allows to be committed an act of sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, or prostitution upon the child
  • Creates or allows to be created a risk that an act of sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, or prostitution will be committed upon the child
• A person age 21 or older commits or allows to be committed an act of sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, or prostitution upon a child younger than age 16.

‘Sexual abuse’ includes, but is not necessarily limited to, any contacts or interactions in which the parent, guardian, person in a position of authority or special trust, or other person having custodial control or supervision of the child or responsibility for his or her welfare, uses or allows, permits, or encourages the use of the child for the purposes of sexual stimulation of the perpetrator or another person.

‘Sexual exploitation’ includes, but is not limited to, allowing, permitting, or encouraging the child to engage in prostitution or an act of obscene or pornographic photographing, filming, or depicting of a child.

Emotional Abuse

Citation: Rev. Stat. § 600.020

‘Emotional injury’ means an injury to the mental or psychological capacity or emotional stability of a child as evidenced by a substantial and observable impairment in the child’s ability to function within a normal range of performance and behavior with due regard to his or her age, development, culture, and environment, as testified to by a qualified mental health professional.

Abandonment

Citation: Rev. Stat. § 600.020
The term ‘abused or neglected child’ includes a child whose health or welfare is harmed or threatened with harm when his or her parent, guardian, or other person exercising custodial control or supervision abandons the child.

Standards for Reporting

Citation: Rev. Stat. § 620.030
A report is required when any person knows or has reasonable cause to believe that a child is dependent, neglected, or abused. In addition, a report must be made when any person knows or has reasonable cause to believe that a child is a victim of human trafficking, as defined in § 529.010.

Persons Responsible for the Child

Citation: Rev. Stat. § 600.020

Persons responsible for the child include the following:

• A parent who is the biological or adoptive mother or father of a child
• A person exercising custodial control and supervision or an agency that has assumed the role and responsibility of a parent or guardian for the child but does not necessarily have legal custody of the child

Exceptions

Citation: Rev. Stat. § 600.020

A parent or other person exercising custodial control or supervision of the child who is legitimately practicing his or her religious beliefs shall not be considered a negligent parent solely because of failure to provide specified medical treatment for a child for that reason alone. This exception shall not preclude a court from ordering necessary medical services for a child.

Current Through March 2019

Physical Abuse

Citation: Ch. Code Art. 603

‘Abuse’ means any one of the following acts that seriously endanger the physical, mental, or emotional health and safety of the child:

• The infliction; attempted infliction; or, as a result of inadequate supervision, the allowance of the infliction or attempted infliction of physical or mental injury upon the child by a parent or any other person
• Exploitation or overwork of a child by a parent or any other person, including, but not limited to, commercial sexual exploitation of the child
• A coerced abortion conducted upon a child

The term ‘crime against the child’ shall include the commission of or the attempted commission of any of the following crimes against the child as provided by Federal or State statutes:

• Homicide
• Assault or battery
• Kidnapping
• Criminal neglect
• Cruelty to juveniles
• Contributing to the delinquency or dependency of children
• Sale of minor children
• Human trafficking

Neglect

Citation: Ch. Code Art. 603

‘Neglect’ means the refusal or unreasonable failure of a parent or caregiver to supply the child with necessary food, clothing, shelter, care, treatment, or counseling for any injury, illness, or condition of the child, and as a result of which the child’s physical, mental, or emotional health and safety is substantially threatened or impaired. Neglect includes prenatal neglect.

‘Prenatal neglect’ means exposure to chronic or severe use of alcohol, the unlawful use of any controlled dangerous substance, or the use of a controlled dangerous substance in a manner not lawfully prescribed that results in symptoms of withdrawal in the newborn or the presence of a controlled substance or a metabolic thereof in the child’s body, blood, urine, or meconium that is not the result of medical treatment or observable and harmful effects in the child’s physical appearance or functioning.

Sexual Abuse/Exploitation

Citation: Ch. Code Art. 603

The term ‘abuse’ means any one of the following acts that seriously endanger the physical, mental, or emotional health and safety of the child:

• The involvement of the child in any sexual act with a parent or any other person or the aiding or toleration by the parent, caregiver, or any other person of the child’s involvement in any of the following:
  • Any sexual act with any other person
  • Pornographic displays
  • Any sexual activity constituting a crime under the laws of this State
• Female genital mutilation, as defined by Rev. Stat. § 14:43.4

‘Commercial sexual exploitation’ means involvement of the child in human trafficking or trafficking of children for sexual purposes, as prohibited by Rev. Stat. §§ 14:46.2 and 46.3, or any prostitution-related offense, as prohibited by Rev. Stat. §§ 81.1, 81.3, 82, 82.1, 82.2, 83, 83.1, 83.2, 83.3, 83.4, 84, 85, 86, 89.2, 104, 105, and 282.

‘Child pornography’ means visual depiction of a child engaged in actual or simulated sexual intercourse, deviate sexual intercourse, sexual bestiality, masturbation, sadomasochistic abuse, or lewd exhibition of the genitals.

The term ‘crime against the child’ shall include the commission of or the attempted commission of any of the following crimes against the child, as provided by Federal or State statutes:

• Rape or sexual battery
• Carnal knowledge of a juvenile
• Indecent behavior with juveniles
• Pornography involving juveniles
• Molestation of a juvenile
• Trafficking of children for sexual purposes
• Female genital mutilation

Emotional Abuse

Citation: Ch. Code Art. 603

The term ‘abuse’ includes any act that seriously endangers the mental or emotional health of the child or inflicts mental injury.

Abandonment

Citation: Ch. Code Art. 603
A ‘crime against the child’ includes criminal abandonment of a child.

Standards for Reporting

Citation: Ch. Code Art. 609
A report is required when any mandatory reporter has cause to believe that a child’s physical or mental health or welfare is endangered as a result of abuse or neglect.

Persons Responsible for the Child

Citation: Ch. Code Art. 603

The term ‘caretaker’ (caregiver) means any person legally obligated to provide or secure adequate care for a child, including a parent, tutor, guardian, legal custodian, foster home parent, an employee of a public or private daycare center, operator or employee of a registered family daycare home, or other person providing a residence for the child.

Exceptions

Citation: Ch. Code Art. 603

The inability of a parent or caregiver to provide for a child due to inadequate financial resources shall not, for that reason alone, be considered neglect.

Whenever, in lieu of medical care, a child is being provided treatment in accordance with the tenets of a well-recognized religious method of healing that has a reasonable, proven record of success, the child shall not, for that reason alone, be considered to be neglected or maltreated. Nothing in this section shall prohibit the court from ordering medical services for the child when there is substantial risk of harm to the child’s health or welfare.

Current Through March 2019

Physical Abuse

Citation: Ann. Stat. Tit. 22, § 4002

‘Abuse or neglect’ means a threat to a child’s health or welfare by physical, mental, or emotional injury or impairment; sexual abuse or exploitation; deprivation of essential needs; lack of protection; or failure to ensure compliance with school attendance requirements under title 20-A, § 3272(2)(B), or § 5051-A(1)(C), by a person responsible for the child.

‘Jeopardy to health or welfare’ or ‘jeopardy’ means serious abuse or neglect, as evidenced by serious harm or threat of serious harm.

‘Serious harm’ means serious injury. ‘Serious injury’ means serious physical injury or impairment.

Neglect

Citation: Ann. Stat. Tit. 22, § 4002

‘Abuse or neglect’ means a threat to a child’s health or welfare by deprivation of essential needs or lack of protection by a person responsible for the child.

‘Jeopardy to health or welfare’ or ‘jeopardy’ means serious abuse or neglect as evidenced by the following:

• Deprivation of adequate food, clothing, shelter, supervision, care, or education when the child is at least age 7 and has not completed grade 6
• Deprivation of necessary health care when the deprivation places the child in danger of serious harm
• Abandonment of the child or absence of any person responsible for the child that creates a threat of serious harm
• The end of voluntary placement, when the imminent return of the child to his or her custodian causes a threat of serious harm

Sexual Abuse/Exploitation

Citation: Ann. Stat. Tit. 22, § 4002

‘Abuse or neglect’ means a threat to a child’s health or welfare by sexual abuse or exploitation, including under title 17-A, §§ 282 (sexual exploitation of minor), 852 (aggravated sex trafficking), 853 (sex trafficking), and 855 (patronizing prostitution of a minor), by a person responsible for the child.

‘Serious harm’ includes sexual abuse or exploitation.

Emotional Abuse

Citation: Ann. Stat. Tit. 22, § 4002

The term ‘abuse or neglect’ includes a threat to a child’s health or welfare by mental or emotional injury or impairment by a person responsible for the child.

‘Serious harm’ includes serious mental or emotional injury or impairment that now or in the future is likely to be evidenced by serious mental, behavioral, or personality disorder, including severe anxiety, depression, withdrawal, untoward aggressive behavior, seriously delayed development, or similar serious dysfunctional behavior.

Abandonment

Citation: Ann. Stat. Tit. 22, § 4002
‘Abandonment’ means any conduct on the part of the parent that shows an intent to forgo parental duties or relinquish parental claims. The intent may be evidenced by:

• Failure to communicate meaningfully or to maintain regular visitation with the child for a period of at least 6 months
• Failure to participate in any plan or program designed to reunite the parent with the child
• Deserting the child without affording means of identifying the child and his or her parent or custodian
• Failure to respond to notice of child protective proceedings
• Any other conduct indicating an intent to forgo parental duties or relinquish parental claims

‘Jeopardy to health or welfare’ or ‘jeopardy’ includes abandonment of the child or absence of any person responsible for the child that creates a threat of serious harm.

Standards for Reporting

Citation: Ann. Stat. Tit. 22, § 4011-A
A report is required when a mandatory reporter knows or has reasonable cause to suspect that a child has been or is likely to be abused or neglected.

Persons Responsible for the Child

Citation: Ann. Stat. Tit. 22, § 4002

The term ‘parent’ means a natural or adoptive parent, unless parental rights have been terminated.

A ‘person responsible for the child’ means a person with responsibility for a child’s health or welfare, whether in the child’s home or another home or facility that, as part of its function, provides for the care of the child. This includes the child’s custodian.

Exceptions

Citation: Ann. Stat. Tit. 22, § 4010

A child shall not be considered to be abused or neglected, in jeopardy of health or welfare, or in danger of serious harm solely because treatment is by spiritual means by an accredited practitioner of a recognized religious organization.