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WHAT'S INSIDE
Denitions of Child Abuse
and Neglect
STATE STATUTES
CURRENT THROUGH MAY 2022
Exceptions
Dening child abuse or neglect in State law
Child abuse and neglect are dened by Federal
and State laws. At the State level, child abuse
and neglect may be dened in both civil and
criminal statutes. This publication presents
civil denitions that determine the grounds for
intervention by State child protective agencies.
1
At the Federal level, the Child Abuse Prevention
and Treatment Act (CAPTA) has dened child
abuse and neglect as "any recent act or failure
to act on the part of a parent or caregiver that
results in death, serious physical or emotional
harm, sexual abuse, or exploitation, or an act or
failure to act that presents an imminent risk of
serious harm."
2
1
States also may dene child abuse and neglect in criminal
statutes. These denitions provide the grounds for the arrest
and prosecution of the offenders.
2
CAPTA Reauthorization Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-320), 42 U.S.C. §
5101, Note (§ 3).
Standards for reporting
Persons responsible for the child
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To access the statutes for a specic State or territory, visit the State Statutes Search.
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CAPTA denes sexual abuse as follows:
The employment, use, persuasion,
inducement, enticement, or coercion of
any child to engage in, or assist any other
person to engage in, any sexually explicit
conduct or simulation of such conduct for
the purpose of producing a visual depiction
of such conduct; or
The rape, and in cases of caretaker or
interfamilial relationships, statutory rape,
molestation, prostitution, or other form of
sexual exploitation of children, or incest
with children.
3
In response to increased awareness of the sex
trafcking of minors in the United States, the
Justice for Victims of Trafcking Act of 2015
further dened child abuse through amending
CAPTA with the following special rule:
A child shall be considered a victim of
"child abuse and neglect" and of "sexual
abuse" if the child is identied, by a State
or local agency employee of the State or
locality involved, as being a victim of sex
trafcking (as dened in § 103(10) of the
Trafcking Victims Protection Act of 2000
(22 U.S.C. 7102)) or a victim of severe forms
of trafcking in persons described in §
103(9)(A).
4
3
42 U.S.C.A. § 5106g(a)(4) (202219)
4
42 U.S.C. § 5106g(b) (2022)
5
The word "approximately" is used to stress the fact that the States frequently amend their laws. This information is current
through May 2022. The States that include "risk of harm" or "threatened harm" in their denitions of abuse or neglect include
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana,
DEFINING CHILD ABUSE OR
NEGLECT IN STATE LAW
State civil laws dene the conduct, acts,
and omissions that constitute child abuse
or neglect that must be reported to child
protective agencies. For this publication,
statutes dening child abuse were collected
from all 50 States, the District of Columbia,
American Samoa, Guam, the Northern
Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S.
Virgin Islands. An analysis of the information
collected indicates that all States, the District
of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the
Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and
the Virgin Islands provide civil denitions
of child abuse and neglect in statute. States
recognize the different types of abuse in
their denitions, including physical abuse,
neglect, sexual abuse, and emotional abuse.
Some States also provide denitions in
statute for parental substance use and/or for
abandonment as child abuse or neglect.
PHYSICAL ABUSE
Physical abuse is generally dened as "any
nonaccidental physical injury to the child"
and can include striking, kicking, burning,
or biting the child, or any action that results
in a physical impairment of the child. In
approximately 44 States and American Samoa,
Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto
Rico, and the Virgin Islands, the denition
of abuse also includes acts or circumstances
that threaten the child with harm or create
a substantial risk of harm to the child's
health or welfare.
5
In 18 States, the crime of
Children’s Bureau/ACYF/ACF/HHS | 800.394.3366 | Email: [email protected] | https://www.childwelfare.gov
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human trafcking, including labor trafcking,
involuntary servitude, or trafcking of minors,
is included in the denition of child abuse.
6
Nine States include female genital mutilation
in the denitions of physical abuse.
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NEGLECT
Neglect is frequently dened as the failure of
a parent or other person with responsibility
for the child to provide needed food, clothing,
shelter, medical care, or supervision to
the degree that the child's health, safety,
and well-being are threatened with harm.
8
Approximately 27 States, the District of
Columbia, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, and
the Virgin Islands include failure to educate
the child as required by law in their denition
of neglect.
9
Twelve States specically dene
medical neglect as failing to provide any
special medical treatment or mental health
care needed by the child.
10
In addition,
eight States dene medical neglect as the
withholding of medical treatment or nutrition
from disabled children with life-threatening
conditions.
11
In 38 States, the District of Columbia,
American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana
Islands, and Puerto Rico, a child can be
Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska,
Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South
Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
6
Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, North
Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia
7
Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Wyoming
8
For a further discussion about what constitutes child neglect, see Child Welfare Information Gateway's Acts of Omission: An
Overview of Child Neglect.
9
The States that dene "failure to educate" as neglect include Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia,
Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New
Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
10
Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Mississippi, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and West
Virginia
11
Alabama, Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, and Rhode Island
12
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas,
Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New
York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah,
Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming
13
Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah
considered neglected when their parent
or caregiver fails to provide adequate
supervision that is appropriate for a child
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.
12
In four
States, neglect does not include allowing the
child to engage in independent activities that
are appropriate and typical for the child's level
of maturity, physical condition, developmental
abilities, or culture.
13
Those activities can
include any of the following:
Traveling to and from school, including
walking, running, bicycling, or other similar
mode of travel
Traveling to and from nearby commercial or
recreational facilities
Engaging in outdoor play
Remaining at home unattended for a
reasonable amount of time
Remaining in a vehicle if the temperature
inside the vehicle is not or will not become
dangerously hot or cold
Engaging in a similar independent activity
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SEXUAL ABUSE/EXPLOITATION
All States include sexual abuse in their
denitions of child abuse. Some States refer
in general terms to sexual abuse, while others
specify various acts as sexual abuse. Sexual
exploitation is an element of the denition
of sexual abuse in most jurisdictions. Sexual
exploitation includes allowing the child to
engage in prostitution or in the production of
child pornography. In 36 States, the denition
of sexual abuse includes human trafcking,
including sex trafcking or trafcking of
children for sexual purposes.
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EMOTIONAL ABUSE
Almost all States, the District of Columbia,
American Samoa, Guam, the Northern
Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin
Islands include emotional maltreatment
as part of their denitions of abuse or
neglect.
15
Approximately 33 States, the
District of Columbia, Guam, the Northern
Mariana Islands, and Puerto Rico provide
specic denitions of emotional abuse or
mental injury to a child.
16
Typical language
used in these denitions is "injury to the
psychological capacity or emotional stability
of the child as evidenced by an observable
14
Commercial sexual exploitation, including the production of child pornography, can be regarded as types of sex trafcking.
The States that specically include the term "sex trafcking" in their civil denitions of child abuse include Alaska, Arizona,
Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas,
Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina,
North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
15
All States except Washington
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Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland,
Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon,
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Wyoming
17
For a more complete discussion of this issue, see Information Gateway's Parental Substance Use as Child Abuse.
18
As of May 2022, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North
Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, and Wisconsin include prenatal exposure to controlled substances in their
denitions of child abuse or neglect. As of August 2019, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, North Dakota,
Oklahoma, Oregon, and Wisconsin have provisions in law or policy requiring plans of safe care for infants suffering from the
effects of prenatal substance exposure.
19
Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Montana, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, and
Washington
20
Arizona, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Washington
21
Arkansas, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio, Tennessee, and Texas
22
Alaska, California, Delaware, Kentucky, Minnesota, New York, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, and Texas
or substantial change in behavior, emotional
response, or cognition" and injury as
evidenced by "anxiety, depression, withdrawal,
or aggressive behavior."
PARENTAL SUBSTANCE USE
Parental substance use is an element of the
denition of child abuse or neglect in some
States.
17
Circumstances that are considered
abuse or neglect in some States include the
following:
Prenatal exposure of a child to harm due to
the mother's use of an illegal drug or other
substance (15 States and the District of
Columbia)
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Manufacture of a controlled substance in
the presence of a child or on the premises
occupied by a child (12 States)
19
Allowing a child to be present where
the chemicals or equipment for the
manufacture of controlled substances are
used or stored (4 States)
20
Selling, distributing, or giving drugs or
alcohol to a child (9 States and Guam)
21
Use of a controlled substance by a caregiver
that impairs the caregiver's ability to
adequately care for the child (9 States)
22
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When a child protective services agency
receives a notication regarding an infant who
has been prenatally exposed to drugs, alcohol,
or other controlled substances, the agency
will determine whether the infant meets the
State's denition of an abused or neglected
child. If the evidence of maltreatment or
risk of harm to the infant does not meet the
State's denition, Federal legislation
23
requires
States to have provisions for the development
of a plan of safe care to address the health and
substance use disorder treatment needs for
the infant as well as the treatment needs of
the affected parent or caregiver.
24
ABANDONMENT
Approximately 19 States and the District
of Columbia include abandonment in their
denitions of abuse or neglect, generally as
a type of neglect.
25
Approximately 24 States,
Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands
provide denitions for abandonment that
are separate from the denition of neglect.
26
In general, it is considered abandonment
of the child when the parent's identity or
whereabouts are unknown, the child has
been left by the parent in circumstances in
which the child suffers serious harm, or the
parent has failed to maintain contact with the
child or to provide reasonable support for a
specied period of time.
23
42 U.S.C. 5106a(b)(2)(B)iii (2019)
24
For more information on this topic, see Information Gateway's Plans of Safe Care for Infants With Prenatal Substance
Exposure and Their Families.
25
California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina,
Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming
26
Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska,
New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Washington, and
West Virginia
27
Approximately 18 States and Puerto Rico designate all persons as mandatory reporters. In all States, any person is permitted
to report. These voluntary reporters of maltreatment are often referred to as "permissive reporters." For more information on
professionals' responsibility to report suspected child abuse and neglect, see Information Gateway's Mandatory Reporters of
Child Abuse and Neglect.
28
Arkansas, Hawaii, Idaho, Missouri, Nebraska, Utah, and Wyoming
STANDARDS FOR REPORTING
Generally speaking, a report must be made
when an individual designated as a mandatory
reporter, while working in their professional
capacity, knows or has reasonable cause
to believe or suspect that a child has been
subjected to abuse or neglect. Individuals
designated as mandatory reporters typically
have frequent contact with children as part
of their professional duties. The professionals
most commonly mandated to report across
the States include teachers, health-care
workers, mental health professionals, and
child care providers.
27
In seven States,
American Samoa, the Northern Mariana
Islands, and the Virgin Islands, a report is
required when the reporter knows that the
child is being subjected to conditions or
circumstances that would lead a reasonable
person to believe could result in the child
being abused or neglected.
28
These standards
guide mandatory reporters in deciding
whether to make a report to child protective
services.
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PERSONS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE
CHILD
In addition to dening acts or omissions that
constitute child abuse or neglect, several
States' statutes provide specic denitions
of persons who can be reported to child
protective services as perpetrators of
abuse or neglect. These persons have some
relationship or regular responsibility for
the child. This generally includes parents,
guardians, foster parents, relatives, or other
caregivers responsible for the child's welfare.
In 19 States, child protection agencies will
accept reports concerning any person,
regardless of that person's relationship to the
child, when the report alleges that the child is
the victim of human or sex trafcking.
29
EXCEPTIONS
Several States provide exceptions in their
reporting laws that exempt certain acts or
omissions from their statutory denitions of
child abuse and neglect. For instance, in 27
States, the District of Columbia, Guam, and
Puerto Rico, nancial inability to provide
for a child is exempted from the denition
of neglect.
30
In 17 States, the District of
Columbia, American Samoa, and the Northern
Mariana Islands, physical discipline of a child,
29
Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska,
New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Washington
30
Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan,
Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Rhode
Island, South Carolina, Texas, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin
31
Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon,
Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Washington
32
Alabama, Alaska, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana,
Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio,
Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, and Wyoming
33
Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Ohio,
Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania
34
Arizona, Connecticut, and Washington
35
Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania
as long as it is reasonable and causes no
bodily injury to the child, is an exception to
the denition of abuse.
31
CAPTA species that nothing in the act
should be construed as establishing a Federal
requirement that a parent or legal guardian
provide any medical service or treatment
that is against the religious beliefs of the
parent or legal guardian (42 U.S.C. § 5106i).
At the State level, 31 States, the District
of Columbia, American Samoa, and Guam
provide in their civil child abuse reporting
laws an exception to the denition of child
abuse and neglect for parents who choose not
to seek medical care for their children due to
religious beliefs.
32
However, 16 of the 31 States
and American Samoa authorize the court to
order medical treatment for the child when
the child's condition warrants intervention.
33
Three States specically provide an exception
for Christian Science treatment.
34
Seven
States require mandated reporters to report
instances when a child is not receiving
medical care so that an investigation can be
made.
35
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SUGGESTED CITATION
Child Welfare Information Gateway. (2022).
Definitions of child abuse and neglect. U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services,
Administration for Children and Families,
Children's Bureau. https://www.childwelfare. gov/
topics/systemwide/laws-policies/statutes/define/
This material may be freely reproduced and distributed. However, when doing so, please credit Child Welfare Information
Gateway. This publication is available online at https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/systemwide/laws-policies/statutes/
dene/.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Administration for Children and Families
Administration on Children, Youth and Families
Children’s Bureau
This publication is a product of the State
Statutes Series prepared by Child Welfare
Information Gateway. While every attempt
has been made to be complete, additional
information on these topics may be in
other sections of a State's code as well as
agency regulations, case law, and informal
practices and procedures.