Alabama Administrative Code
Title 660 - ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES
Chapter 660-5-34 - PROTECTIVE SERVICES FOR CHILDREN
Section 660-5-34-.02 - Protective Services As Specialized Social Services
Universal Citation: AL Admin Code R 660-5-34-.02
Current through Register Vol. 43, No. 02, November 27, 2024
(1) When complaints or reports are received, the County Department has the duty and responsibility to assess the complaint or report, and:
(a) evaluate the extent to
which children are being harmed or are at risk of serious harm;
(b) evaluate the parents' capacity to improve
the situation;
(c) provide the
supportive services needed to better the family's situation for children;
and
(d) when parents are unable to
use this help, invoke legal authority of the court by petition and secure
adequate protection, care, and treatment for children whenever necessary to
meet their needs and rights.
(2) For the purpose of reporting cases of suspected child abuse and/or neglect, Alabama statutes give the following specific definitions:
(a) A "child" is
defined as a person under the age of eighteen.
(b) "Abuse" means harm or threatened harm to
a child's health or welfare, which occurs through non-accidental physical or
mental injury, sexual abuse, or attempted sexual abuse, or sexual exploitation
or attempted sexual exploitation.
(c) "Sexual abuse" includes the employment,
use, persuasion, inducement, enticement, or coercion of any child to engage in,
or having a child assist any other person to engage in any sexually explicit
conduct or any simulation of the conduct for the purpose of producing any
visual depiction of the conduct, or the rape, molestation, prostitution, or
other form of sexual exploitation of children, or incest with children as those
acts are defined by Alabama law.
(d) "Sexual exploitation" includes allowing,
permitting, or encouraging a child to engage in prostitution and allowing,
permitting, encouraging or engaging in the obscene or pornographic
photographing, filming, or depicting of a child for sexual purposes.
(e) "Neglect" means negligent treatment or
maltreatment of a child. Such negligent treatment or maltreatment includes the
failure to provide adequate food, medical treatment, supervision, clothing, or
shelter. The failure to provide medical treatment is neglect, provided that the
parents or guardians legitimately practicing their religious beliefs who
thereby do not provide specified medical treatment for a child is not, for that
reason alone, considered a negligent parent or guardian. Such an exception,
however, does not preclude a court from ordering that medical services be
provided to the child where his health requires it.
(3) For the purpose of screening and accepting reports of child abuse/neglect that are received by the Department, the following Departmental definitions of abuse and neglect are used:
(a) The definitions of physical abuse
indicate non-accidental injury or threatened injury to a child and that serious
harm is present or threatened. Physical abuse, which is directly attributable
to a physical act by the person allegedly responsible, includes:
1. Death;
2. Internal injuries;
3. Burns and/or scalding;
4. Bone fractures;
5. Cuts and/or bruises, including those
received in corporal punishment, with consideration given to the following
factors:
(i) The child's age;
(ii) The child's physical, mental, and
emotional condition; and any developmental, physical, or mental
disability;
(iii) Severity of the
cuts/bruises (size, number, depth, extent of discoloration);
(iv) Location of the cuts/bruises;
(v) Whether an instrument was used on the
child; and
(vi) Previous history of
indicated abuse or neglect.
6. Human bites;
7. Sprains and/or dislocations;
8. Tying, close confinement is unreasonable
restriction of a child's mobility, actions; or physical functioning by tying
the child to a fixed (or heavy) object, tying limbs together; or forcing the
child to remain in a closely confined area which restricts physical
movement.
9. Bizarre Discipline is
extreme or aberrant disciplinary actions, events, and/or devices, used in an
attempt to set behavioral standards or to modify behavior, which are manifestly
over-reactive to the child's behavior and the disciplinary situation;
and which place the child at risk of serious
harm.
10. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome or
drug withdrawal at birth due to the mother's substance use or misuse;
and
11. Factitious Disorder by
Proxy which is defined as a form of child abuse where the parents or primary
caregivers, in order to gain attention for themselves, exaggerate, fabricate,
and/or induce illness or symptoms in a child, placing the child at risk of
serious harm; and including Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, which is a narrower
type of Factitious Disorder, where the main gain for the parents or primary
caregivers is attention from the medical or mental health community and the
child is used to obtain and maintain the attention.
12. Chemical endangerment occurs when
children are in a situation/environment where, through direct or indirect
exposure, they ingest or inhale a controlled substance (e.g., methamphetamine)
or chemical substance (e.g., pseudoephedrine, freon, sulfuric acid, etc.) used
in the production of methamphetamine and parents'/primary caregivers' purpose
for being in possession of the chemicals is to produce or manufacture crystal
meth for personal use or distribution.
(b) The definitions of neglect indicate a
failure by the parent or primary caregiver to protect children from a risk of
serious harm. Serious harm is defined as significant physical injury; sexual
abuse; severe impairment in a child's functioning; permanent disability or
disfigurement; or death. "Severe impairment in a child's functioning" is a
serious deficit in a child's behavior or cognition. These definitions include:
1. Neglect due to blatant disregard of parent
or primary caregiver responsibilities; i.e., incidents where the risk of
serious harm to the child is so imminent and apparent that it is unlikely a
parent or primary caregiver would have exposed the child to such danger without
exercising precautionary measures to protect the child from harm. The following
results of blatant disregard are considered neglect:
(i) Death;
(ii) Internal injuries;
(iii) Burns and/or scalding;
(iv) Bone fractures;
(v) Cuts and/or bruises, including those
received in corporal punishment, with consideration given to the following
factors:
(I) The child's age;
(II) The child's physical, mental, and
emotional condition; and any developmental, physical, or mental
disability;
(III) Severity of the
cuts/bruises (size, number, depth, extent of discoloration);
(IV) Location of the cuts/bruises;
(V) Whether an instrument was used on the
child; and
(VI) Previous history of
indicated abuse or neglect.
(vi) Human bites; and
(vii) Sprains and/or dislocations.
2. Failure to provide supervision,
care, and/or guidance, that protects children from serious physical harm or
sexual abuse;
3. Abandonment; i.e.,
the legal caregiver's relinquishment of caregiving responsibility
and there is no current caregiver or the current
caregiver can no longer provide care which results in a current risk of harm to
the child;
4. Failure to provide
food sufficient to sustain normal functioning and prevent serious
harm;
5. Failure to provide shelter
that protects the child against risk of serious harm including protection from
weather elements and other hazards in the dwelling and on the
property;
6. Failure to provide
adequate clothing or personal hygiene to the extent that it poses a risk of
serious harm to the child; this allegation applies to children under age 12 and
to those children, regardless of age, who have a disability that prevents
self-care;
7. Failure to provide
medical or dental treatment for a health problem which, if untreated, could
cause serious harm. However, any child who in good faith is under treatment by
spiritual means alone, through prayer in accordance with the tenets and
practices of a recognized church or religious denomination by a duly accredited
practitioner thereof, shall not, for that reason alone, be considered as
neglected under any provision of these definitions, unless the judge in a court
of law finds that it is in the child's best interest for the court to take
jurisdiction. Failure of parent(s) to obtain immunizations for their child or
failure of parent(s) to sign permission slips for school physicals is not
considered neglect in and of itself; there must be some other allegation or
home situation which might cause serious harm to the child (refer to Rule
660-5-34-.05(3)
for medical neglect of handicapped infants under one year of age);
8. Failure to thrive; i.e., a serious medical
condition most often seen in a child under one year of age whose weight,
height, and motor development fall significantly below the average growth rates
of normal children and it is determined to be non-organic in nature. The person
allegedly responsible for the neglect must be directly
involved/responsible.
9. Positive
test for alcohol and/or drugs at birth -Infants who test positive for alcohol
and/or drugs at birth due to the mother's substance misuse, as determined by a
medical professional, is considered abuse/neglect.
(c) Mental Abuse/Neglect is extreme or
aberrant behavior that directly results in severe impairment to a child's
functioning. This allegation is based on a mental health professionals' written
evaluation after the mental health professional is informed in writing of the
Department's definition of mental abuse/neglect. The written evaluation must
specify that the cited behavior fits within the department's definition in
order for the allegation definition to be "indicated."
(d) Sexual abuse includes:
1. Sexual exploitation - the sexual use of a
child for sexual arousal, gratification, advantage, or profit;
2. Sexual molestation - sexual conduct with a
child when such contact, touching, or interaction over or under the child's
clothes is used for arousal or gratification of sexual needs or
desires;
3. Sexual penetration -
any intrusion or entrance, however slight, through the use of digits (i.e.,
fingers or toes), through the use of an inanimate object, or between the sex
organ, mouth or anus of one person and the sex organ, mouth or anus of another
person. Sexual emission or release is not required; and
4. Sexually transmitted diseases - diagnosis
of any sexually transmitted infection that was originally acquired as a result
of sexual penetration or sexual contact with an afflicted individual.
(e) Other risk of serious harm, an
allegation that applies when the total circumstances lead a reasonable person
to believe that a child is at other risk of serious harm, includes situations
where serious harm has not yet occurred, but a child has been placed in a
situation that can result in significant physical injury; sexual abuse; severe
impairment in the child's behavioral and/or cognitive functioning; permanent
disability or disfigurement; or death.
Author: Margaret Livingston
Statutory Authority: Code of Ala. 1975, Title 13, Chapter 6 and Chapter 12, Title 26, Chapter 14.
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