Current Through February 2016

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:

• 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. § 600.020The 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:

• 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 of the most recent 22 months

Sexual Abuse/Exploitation

Citation: Rev. Stat. § 600.020The 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:
  • 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. § 600.020Persons responsible for the child include:

• 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. § 600.020A 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 August 2017

Defined in Domestic Violence Civil Laws

Citation: Ann. Stat. § 403.720‘Domestic violence and abuse’ means physical injury, serious physical injury, stalking, sexual abuse, assault, or the infliction of fear of imminent physical injury, serious physical injury, sexual abuse, or assault between family members or members of an unmarried couple.

Defined in Child Abuse Reporting and Child Protection Laws

Citation:This issue is not addressed in the statutes reviewed.

Defined in Criminal Laws

Citation: Ann. Stat. § 508.032If a person commits a third or subsequent offense of assault in the fourth degree under § 508.030 within 5 years, and the relationship between the perpetrator and the victim in each of the offenses meets the definition of family member or member of an unmarried couple, as defined in § 403.720, then the person may be convicted of a Class D felony.

Persons Included in the Definition

Citation: Ann. Stat. § 403.720‘Family member’ means a spouse, including a former spouse, a grandparent, a grandchild, a parent, a child, a stepchild, or any other person living in the same household as a child if the child is the alleged victim.

‘Member of an unmarried couple’ means each member of an unmarried couple that allegedly has a child in common, any children of that couple, or members of an unmarried couple who are living together or have formerly lived together.

Child Witnesses to Domestic Violence