Neglect can be physical, educational, or emotional. Educational neglect includes permission of chronic truancy, failure to enroll a child of mandatory school age, and inattention to a special educational need. Emotional neglect includes such actions as chronic or extreme spouse abuse in the child's presence, permission of drug or alcohol use by the child, and refusal of or failure to provide needed psychological care. It is very important to distinguish between willful neglect and a parent's or caretaker's failure to provide necessities of life because of poverty or cultural norms. A parent who is unable to provide the necessities of life due to poverty financial assistance, health services, housing , or other basic services.
Sexual assault is handled solely by the police and criminal courts.
These sexual acts may include fondling a child's genitals, intercourse, incest, rape, sodomy, exhibitionism, and sexual exploitation. For less severe acts, such as habitual scapegoating, belittling, or rejecting treatment, demonstrable harm to the child is often required for CPS to intervene. Although any of the forms of child maltreatment may be found alone, we often find them occurring in combination.