Definitions of Child Abuse and Neglect

This publication presents State civil laws that define the conduct, acts, and omissions that constitute child abuse or neglect that must be reported to child protective agencies. The types of maltreatment defined include physical abuse, neglect, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, and abandonment. This publication presents a general overview of this aspect of child welfare law. Summaries of laws on this topic for all individual States and U.S. territories are available from this page on the Child Welfare Information Gateway website.

This publication is a product of the State Statutes Series prepared by Child Welfare Information Gateway. While every attempt has been made to be as complete as possible, additional information on these topics may be in other sections of statutes, codes, regulations, agency policies, case law, and informal practices and procedures.

This material may be freely reproduced and distributed. However, when doing so, please credit Child Welfare Information Gateway.