Definitions of Child Abuse and Neglect Iowa

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Abandonment

DEFINITIONS

Iowa Code Ann. § 232.68(1), (2), (4), (5), (7) (West, WESTLAW through End of 2001 2nd Ex. Sess.)

'Child' means any person under the age of 18 years.

'Child abuse' or 'abuse' means:

Any nonaccidental physical injury, or injury which is at variance 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;

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;

The commission of a sexual offense with or to a child, pursuant to law relating to sexual offenses on children, as a result of the acts or omissions of the person responsible for the care of the child, the commission of which includes any sexual offense with or to a person under the age of 18, unless law states otherwise;
The failure on the part of a person responsible for the care of a child to provide for the adequate food, shelter, clothing 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;
The acts or omissions of a person responsible for the care of a child which allow, permit or encourage the child to engage in prostitution, the act or omissions of which include any act or omission with or to a person under the age of 18, unless law states otherwise;

An illegal drug is present 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;

The person responsible for the care of a child has, in the presence of the child, manufactured a dangerous substance, or in the presence of the child possesses a product containing ephedrine, its salts, optical isomers, salts of optical isomers, or pseudoephedrine, its salts, optical isomers, salts of optical isomers, with the intent to use the product as a precursor or an intermediary to a dangerous substance; or
The commission 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.
'Person responsible for the care of a child' means:

A parent, guardian or foster parent;

A relative or any other person with whom the child resides and 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 any 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; or

Any person providing care for a child, but with whom the child does not reside, without reference to the duration of care.

EXCEPTION

Iowa Code Ann. § 232.68(2)(d) (West, WESTLAW through End of 2001 2nd Ex. Sess.)

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 abusing the child, however, this provision shall not preclude a court from ordering that medical service be provided to the child where the child's health requires it.