Virginia Administrative Code › Title 22 - SOCIAL SERVICES › Agency 40 - DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES › Chapter 705 - CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES › Section 22VAC40-705-30 - Types of abuse and neglect

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
A. Physical abuse
				occurs when a caretaker creates or inflicts, threatens to create or inflict, or
				allows to be created or inflicted upon a child a physical injury by other than
				accidental means or creates a substantial risk of death, disfigurement, or
				impairment of bodily functions, including a child who is with his parent or
				other person responsible for his care either (i) during the manufacture or
				attempted manufacture of a Schedule I or II controlled substance or (ii) during
				the unlawful sale of such substance by that child's parents or other person
				responsible for his care, where such manufacture, or attempted manufacture or
				unlawful sale would constitute a felony violation of §
									18.2-248 of the Code of
				Virginia.
B. Physical neglect
				occurs when there is the failure to provide food, clothing, shelter, necessary
				medical treatment, or supervision for a child to the extent that the child's
				health or safety is endangered. This also includes abandonment and situations
				where the parent's or caretaker's own incapacitating behavior or absence
				prevents or severely limits the performing of child caring tasks pursuant to
				§
									63.2-100 of the Code of
				Virginia. This also includes a child under the age of 18 years whose parent or
				other person responsible for his care knowingly leaves the child alone in the
				same dwelling as a person, not related by blood or marriage, who has been
				convicted of an offense against a minor for which registration is required as a
				violent sexual offender pursuant to §
									9.1-902 of the Code of Virginia.
				In situations where the neglect is the result of family poverty and there are
				no outside resources available to the family, the parent or caretaker shall not
				be determined to have neglected the child; however, the local department may
				provide appropriate services to the family.
No child whose parent or other person responsible for the
				  child's care allows the child to engage in independent activities without adult
				  supervision shall for that reason alone be considered to be an abused or
				  neglected child, provided that (i) such independent activities are appropriate
				  based on the child's age, maturity, and physical and mental abilities and (ii)
				  such lack of supervision does not constitute conduct that is so grossly
				  negligent as to endanger the health or safety of the child. Such independent
				  activities include traveling to or from school or nearby locations by bicycle
				  or on foot, playing outdoors, or remaining at home for a reasonable period of
				  time. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to limit the provisions of
				  §
										16.1-278.4 of the Code of
				  Virginia.
1. Physical neglect may
				include multiple occurrences or a one-time critical or severe event that
				results in a threat to health or safety.
2. Physical neglect may include failure to
				thrive.
a. Failure to thrive occurs as a
				syndrome of infancy and early childhood that is characterized by growth
				failure, signs of severe malnutrition, and variable degrees of developmental
				retardation.
b. Failure to thrive
				can only be diagnosed by a physician and is caused by nonorganic
				factors.
3. Physical
				neglect may include medical neglect.
a.
				Medical neglect occurs when there is the failure by the caretaker to obtain or
				follow through with a complete regimen of medical, mental, or dental care for a
				condition that if untreated could result in illness or developmental delays.
				However, a decision by parents or other persons legally responsible for the
				child to refuse a particular medical treatment for a child with a
				life-threatening condition shall not be deemed a refusal to provide necessary
				care if (i) such decision is made jointly by the parents or other person
				legally responsible for the child and the child; (ii) the child has reached 14
				years of age and sufficiently mature to have an informed opinion on the subject
				of his medical treatment; (iii) the parents or other person legally responsible
				for the child and the child have considered alternative treatment options; and
				(iv) the parents or other person legally responsible for the child and the
				child believe in good faith that such decision is in the child's best
				interest.
b. Medical neglect also
				includes withholding of medically indicated treatment.
(1) A child who, in good faith, is under
				treatment solely by spiritual means through prayer in accordance with the
				tenets and practices of a recognized church or religious denomination shall not
				for that reason alone be considered a neglected child in accordance with §
												63.2-100 of the Code of
				Virginia.
(2) For the purposes of
				this chapter, "withholding of medically indicated treatment" does not include
				the failure to provide treatment (other than appropriate nutrition, hydration,
				or medication) to an infant when in the treating physician's or physicians'
				reasonable medical judgment:
(a) The infant
				is chronically and irreversibly comatose;
(b) The infant has a terminal condition and
				the provision of such treatment would (i) merely prolong dying; (ii) not be
				effective in ameliorating or correcting all of the infant's life-threatening
				conditions; (iii) otherwise be futile in terms of the survival of the infant;
				or (iv) be virtually futile in terms of the survival of the infant and the
				treatment itself under such circumstances would be inhumane.