How To Get Your Children Back In Juvenile or Family Court
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The legal definition of ‘Harm’:
Harm means any injury, loss or damage. It can also be any material or tangible detriment. There are different types of harm like accidental harm-where the injury or damage is not caused by a tortious act; bodily harm-where there is some physical pain, illness, or impairment to the body.
FEDERAL DEFINITION OF CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT
Federal legislation provides guidance to States by identifying a minimum set of acts or behaviors that define child abuse and neglect. The Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) (42 U.S.C.A. § 5106g), as amended by the CAPTA Reauthorization Act of 2010, defines child abuse and neglect as, at minimum:
- “Any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation”; or
- “An act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm.”
This definition of child abuse and neglect refers specifically to parents and other caregivers. A “child” under this definition generally means a person who is younger than age 18 or who is not an emancipated minor.
While CAPTA provides definitions for sexual abuse and the special cases of neglect related to withholding or failing to provide medically indicated treatment, it does not provide specific definitions for other types of maltreatment such as physical abuse, neglect, or emotional abuse. While Federal legislation sets minimum standards for States that accept CAPTA funding, each State provides its own definitions of maltreatment within civil and criminal statutes.
Did you notice that Federal law states that in order for the state to take your child/ren…..the harm must have been SERIOUS or the harm coming soon must be SERIOUS. The minimum harm done, or will be done to your child/ren MUST be SERIOUS.
Minnesota State Definitions of Child Abuse and Neglect
Current Through February 2016
Physical Abuse
‘Physical abuse’ means any physical injury, mental injury, or threatened injury inflicted by a person responsible for the child’s care on a child by other than accidental means; physical or mental injury that cannot reasonably be explained by the child’s history of injuries; or any aversive and deprivation procedures or regulated interventions that have not been authorized by law. Physical abuse includes, but is not limited to, any of the following acts:
- Throwing, kicking, burning, biting, or cutting a child
- Striking a child with a closed fist
- Shaking a child under age 3
- Striking or other actions that result in any nonaccidental injury to a child under 18 months
- Unreasonable interference with a child’s breathing
- Threatening a child with a weapon
- Striking a child under age 1 on the face or head
- Striking a child who is at least age 1 but under age 4 on the face or head, which results in an injury
- Purposely giving a child poison, alcohol, or dangerous, harmful, or controlled substances that were not prescribed for the child by a practitioner, in order to control or punish the child; giving the child substances that substantially affect the child’s behavior, motor coordination, or judgment or that result in sickness or internal injury; or subjecting the child to medical procedures that would be unnecessary if the child were not exposed to the substances
- Unreasonable physical confinement or restraint not permitted by law including, but not limited to, tying, caging, or chaining
- In a school facility or school zone, an act by a person responsible for the child’s care that is a violation under § 121A.58 [prohibiting corporal punishment]
Neglect
‘Neglect’ means the commission or omission of any of the acts specified below by other than accidental means:
- Failure by a person responsible for a child’s care to supply a child with necessary food, clothing, shelter, health, medical, or other care required for the child’s physical or mental health when reasonably able to do so
- Failure to protect a child from conditions or actions that seriously endanger the child’s physical or mental health when reasonably able to do so, including a growth delay (also known as failure to thrive) that has been diagnosed by a physician and is due to parental neglect
- Failure to provide necessary supervision or child care arrangements appropriate for a child after considering such factors as the child’s age, mental ability, physical condition, length of absence, or environment, when the child is unable to care for his or her own basic needs or safety or the basic needs or safety of another child in his or her care
- Failure to ensure that the child is educated as required by State law, which does not include a parent’s refusal to provide his or her child with sympathomimetic medications
- Prenatal exposure to a controlled substance used by the mother for a nonmedical purpose, as evidenced by withdrawal symptoms in the child at birth, results of a toxicology test performed on the mother at delivery or the child at birth, or medical effects or developmental delays during the child’s first year of life that medically indicate prenatal exposure to a controlled substance, or the presence of a fetal alcohol spectrum disorder
- ‘Medical neglect’ that includes, but is not limited to, withholding medically indicated treatment from a disabled infant with a life-threatening condition
- Chronic and severe use of alcohol or a controlled substance by a parent or person responsible for the care of the child that adversely affects the child’s basic needs and safety
Sexual Abuse/Exploitation
‘Sexual abuse’ means the subjection of a child to any act that constitutes criminal sexual conduct by a person responsible for the child’s care, a person who has a significant relationship to the child, or a person in a position of authority. Sexual abuse includes any act that involves a minor that constitutes a violation of prostitution offenses. Sexual abuse also includes threatened sexual abuse, including the status of a parent or household member who has committed a violation that requires registration as a predatory offender.
‘Sexually exploited youth’ means an individual who:
- Is alleged to have engaged in conduct that would, if committed by an adult, violate any Federal, State, or local law relating to being hired, offering to be hired, or agreeing to be hired by another individual to engage in sexual penetration or sexual conduct
- Is a victim of the crime of criminal sexual conduct, criminal sexual predatory conduct, use of minors in sexual performances, or possession of child pornography
- Is a victim of the Federal offenses of child pornography or child sex trafficking
- Is a sex trafficking victim
Emotional Abuse
‘Emotional maltreatment’ means the consistent, deliberate infliction of mental harm on a child by a person responsible for the child’s care that has an observable, sustained, and adverse effect on the child’s physical, mental, or emotional development.
‘Mental injury’ means an injury to the psychological capacity or emotional stability of a child as evidenced by an observable or substantial impairment in the child’s ability to function within a normal range of performance and behavior with due regard to the child’s culture.
‘Neglect’ includes emotional harm from a pattern of behavior that contributes to impaired emotional functioning of the child that may be demonstrated by a substantial and observable effect in the child’s behavior, emotional response, or cognition that is not within the normal range for the child’s age and stage of development, with due regard to the child’s culture.
Abandonment
Citation: Ann. Stat. § 260C.007, Subd. 6
The term ‘child in need of protection or services’ means a child who is in need of protection or services because he or she is abandoned or without a parent, guardian, or custodian.
Standards for Reporting
Citation: Ann. Stat. § 626.556, Subd. 3
A report is required when a mandatory reporter knows or has reason to believe a child is being neglected or physically or sexually abused or has been neglected or physically or sexually abused within the preceding 3 years.
Persons Responsible for the Child
‘Person responsible for the child’s care’ means:
- An individual functioning within the family unit and having responsibilities for the care of the child such as a parent, guardian, or other person having similar care responsibilities
- An individual functioning outside the family unit and having responsibilities for the care of the child such as a teacher, school administrator, other school employees or agents, or other lawful custodian of a child having either full-time or short-term care responsibilities including, but not limited to, daycare, babysitting (paid or unpaid), counseling, teaching, and coaching
‘Family or household members’ means spouses, former spouses, parents and children, persons related by blood, and persons who are presently residing together or who have resided together in the past, and persons who have a child in common regardless of whether they have been married or have lived together at any time.
Exceptions
A child is not considered neglected solely because the child’s parent, guardian, or other person responsible for the child’s care in good faith selects and depends upon spiritual means or prayer for treatment or care of disease or remedial care of the child in lieu of medical care. A parent, guardian, caregiver, or a person mandated to report [child abuse or neglect] has a duty to report if a lack of medical care may cause serious danger to the child’s health.
Persons who are not otherwise legally responsible for providing a child with necessary food, clothing, shelter, education, or medical care do not have a duty to provide that care.
Abuse does not include reasonable and moderate physical discipline of a child administered by a parent or legal guardian that does not result in an injury.
Abuse does not include the use of reasonable force by a teacher, principal, or school employee as allowed by § 121A.582.
Emotional maltreatment does not include reasonable training or discipline administered by the person responsible for the child’s care or the reasonable exercise of authority by that person.
Definitions of Domestic Violence
Current Through August 2017
Defined in Domestic Violence Civil Laws
‘Domestic abuse’ means the following if committed against a family or household member by a family or household member:
- Physical harm, bodily injury, or assault
- The infliction of fear of imminent physical harm, bodily injury, or assault
- Terroristic threats, as defined by § 609.713, subdivision 1
- Criminal sexual conduct, as defined by §§ 609.342, 609.343, 609.344, 609.345, or 609.3451
- Interference with an emergency call, as defined by § 609.78, subdivision 2
Defined in Child Abuse Reporting and Child Protection Laws
This issue is not addressed in the statutes reviewed.
Defined in Criminal Laws
‘Domestic assault’ occurs when a person commits an assault, defined as any of the acts listed below, against a family or household member, as defined in § 518B.01, subdivision 2. A domestic assault occurs when the person:
- Commits an act with intent to cause fear in another of immediate bodily harm or death
- Intentionally inflicts or attempts to inflict bodily harm upon another
Persons Included in the Definition
‘Family or household members’ includes the following:
- Spouses and former spouses
- Parents and children
- Persons related by blood
- Persons who are presently residing together or who have resided together in the past
- Persons who have a child in common regardless of whether they have been married or have lived together at any time
- A man and woman if the woman is pregnant and the man is alleged to be the father regardless of whether they have been married or have lived together at any time
- Persons involved in a significant romantic or sexual relationship
In determining whether persons are or have been involved in a significant romantic or sexual relationship, the court shall consider the length of time of the relationship; type of relationship; frequency of interaction between the parties; and, if the relationship has terminated, length of time since the termination.
Child Witnesses to Domestic Violence
Current Through April 2016
Circumstances That Constitute Witnessing
This issue is not addressed in the statutes reviewed.
Consequences
This issue is not addressed in the statutes reviewed.