Definitions of Child Abuse and Neglect - New Jersey

Physical Abuse
Citation: Ann. Stat. §§ 9:6-1; 9:6-8.21; 9:6-8.84

'Abuse of a child' shall consist in any of the following acts: 

• Disposing of the custody of a child contrary to law
• Employing or permitting a child to be employed in any vocation or employment injurious to their health, dangerous to their life or limb, or contrary to State law
• Employing or permitting a child to be employed in any occupation or vocation dangerous to the child's morals
• The habitual use in the hearing of the child of profane, indecent, or obscene language by the parent or by a person having custody and control of the child
• The performing of any indecent, immoral, or unlawful act in the presence of the child that may tend to endanger or degrade the child's morals
• Permitting or allowing any other person to perform any indecent, immoral, or unlawful act in the presence of the child that may tend to endanger the child's morals
• Using excessive physical restraint on the child under circumstances that do not indicate that the child's behavior is harmful to themself, others, or property 

'Cruelty to a child' shall consist in any of the following acts:

• Inflicting unnecessarily severe corporal punishment upon a child
• Inflicting upon a child unnecessary suffering or pain, either mental or physical
• Habitually tormenting, vexing, or afflicting a child
• Any willful act of omission or commission whereby unnecessary pain and suffering, whether mental or physical, is caused or permitted to be inflicted on a child
• Exposing a child to unnecessary hardship, fatigue, or mental or physical strains that may tend to injure the child's health or physical or moral well-being

'Abused child' or 'abused or neglected child' means a child under age 18 whose parent, guardian, or other person having custody and control does any of the following:

• Inflicts or allows to be inflicted upon such child physical injury, by other than accidental means, that causes or creates a substantial risk of death, serious or protracted disfigurement, protracted impairment of physical or emotional health, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily organ
• Creates or allows to be created a substantial or ongoing risk of physical injury to such child, by other than accidental means, that would be likely to cause death or serious or protracted disfigurement or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily organ
• Inflicts unreasonably or allows to be inflicted harm or substantial risk thereof, including the infliction of excessive corporal punishment or by any other acts of a similarly serious nature, requiring the aid of the court
• Uses excessive physical restraint upon the child under circumstances that do not indicate that the child's behavior is harmful to himself or herself, others, or property

'Near fatality' means a case in which a child is in serious or critical condition, as certified by a physician.

'Significant bodily injury' means a temporary loss of the functioning of any bodily member or organ or temporary loss of any one of the five senses.

Neglect
Citation: Ann. Stat. §§ 9:9-1; 9:6-8.21; 9:6-8.84

'Neglect of a child' shall consist in any of the following acts by anyone having the custody or control of the child: 

• Willfully failing to provide proper and sufficient food; clothing; maintenance; regular school education, as required by law; medical or surgical treatment; and a clean and proper home
• Failure to do or permit to be done any act necessary for the child's physical or moral well-being

Neglect also means the continued inappropriate placement of a child in an institution, as defined in § 9:6-8.21, with the knowledge that the placement has resulted and may continue to result in harm to the child's mental or physical well-being.

'Abused child' or 'abused or neglected child' means a child younger than age 18 whose physical, mental, or emotional condition has been impaired or is in imminent danger of becoming impaired as the result of the failure of his parent, guardian, or other person having custody and control to exercise a minimum degree of care, including the failure to do the following:

• To supply the child with adequate food, clothing, shelter, education, medical, or surgical care, although financially able to do so or although offered financial or other reasonable means to do so
• To provide the child with proper supervision or guardianship

'Withholding of medically indicated treatment' means the failure to respond to a child’s life-threatening conditions by providing treatment, including appropriate nutrition, hydration, and medication, which, in the treating physician’s reasonable judgment, will most likely be effective in ameliorating or correcting all such conditions. 

Sexual Abuse/Exploitation
Citation: Ann. Stat. §§ 9:6-8.21; 9:6-8.84

The terms 'abused child' or 'abused or neglected child' include a child under age 18 whose parent, guardian, or other person having custody and control commits or allows to be committed an act of sexual abuse against the child. 

'Sexual abuse’ means contacts or actions between a child and a parent or caregiver for the purpose of sexual stimulation of either that person or another person. Sexual abuse includes the following:

• 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
• Sexual conduct, including molestation, prostitution, other forms of sexual exploitation of children, or incest
• Sexual penetration and sexual contact, as defined in § 2C:14-1, and a prohibited sexual act as defined in § 2C:24-4 

Emotional Abuse
Citation: Ann. Stat. § 9:6-8.21

The terms 'abused child' or 'abused or neglected child' include a child under age 18 who is in an institution and either of the following applies:

• Has been placed there inappropriately for a continued period of time with the knowledge that the placement has resulted or may continue to result in harm to the child's mental or physical well-being
• Who has been willfully isolated from ordinary social contact under circumstances that indicate emotional or social deprivation

Abandonment
Citation: Ann. Stat. §§ 9:6-1; 9:6-8.21

'Abandonment of a child' shall consist in any of the following acts by anyone having the custody or control of the child: 

• Willfully forsaking a child
• Failing to care for and keep the control and custody of a child so that the child shall be exposed to physical or moral risk without proper and sufficient protection
• Failing to care for and keep the control and custody of a child so that the child shall be liable to be supported and maintained at the expense of the public or by child-caring societies or private persons not legally chargeable with the child's care, custody, and control

The terms 'abused child' or 'abused or neglected child' include a child under age 18 who has been willfully abandoned by their parent, guardian, or other person having custody and control. 

Standards for Reporting
Citation: Ann. Stat. § 9:6-8.10

A report is required when any person has reasonable cause to believe that a child has been subjected to child abuse. 

Persons Responsible for the Child
Citation: Ann. Stat. § 9:6-8.21

'Parent or guardian' means any natural parent, adoptive parent, resource family parent, stepparent, paramour of a parent, or any person who has assumed responsibility for the care, custody, or control of a child or upon whom there is a legal duty for such care. 

Parent or guardian includes a teacher, employee, or volunteer, whether compensated or uncompensated, of an institution who is responsible for the child's welfare and any other staff person of an institution, regardless of whether the person is responsible for the care or supervision of the child. Parent or guardian also includes a teaching staff member or other employee, whether compensated or uncompensated, of a day school. 

Exceptions
Citation: Ann. Stat. §§ 9:6-8.21; 9:6-8.84

No 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, for this reason alone, be considered abused or neglected. 

The term 'withholding of medically indicated treatment' does not include the failure to provide treatment, other than appropriate nutrition, hydration, or medication to a child when, in the treating physician's reasonable medical judgment, the following are true:

• The child is chronically and irreversibly comatose.
• The provision of such treatment would merely prolong dying, not be effective in ameliorating or correcting all the child's life-threatening conditions or otherwise be futile in terms of the survival of the child.
• The provision of such treatment would be virtually futile in terms of the survival of the child, and the treatment itself under such circumstances would be inhumane.