Laws concerning child neglect

The Department’s Community Service Administration of the Social Rehabilitation Service funded a research grant to develop a survey on child neglect, in November 1973.  Although the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare had already started taking action against child abuse the same year, this is the first survey that devoted its attention solely to the child neglect case. Many laws have been passed concerning child welfare and maltreatment, since 1974, and although some changed a bit with time, more states passed specific laws against this issue. Approximately 24 States, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands include failure to educate the child as required by law in their definition of neglect including Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming (2009).  Seven States specifically define medical neglect as failing to provide any special medical treatment or mental health care needed by the child this includes Mississippi, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia (2009). you can click here if you want to check out the State Statutes for yourself. In addition, four States define as medical neglect the withholding of medical treatment or nutrition from disabled infants with life-threatening conditions and this includes Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, and Montana. In Texas, leaving a child under the age of 7 not attended by an individual of at least 14 years of age in a vehicle is punishable under the Texas Penal Code, Title 5, Chapter 22, Section 10.  Delgado patrols various High Schools within his assigned district, he says “This is considered a class C misdemeanor and the person responsible for the child is charged with a fine of $500” . If the child is found injured then the charge is elevated to a felony known as child endangerment and the fine is also raised to $10,000 or 6 months to 2 years in jail. Leaving a child unattended in a vehicle is a form of neglectful supervision, for the child is being left in a situation where there is a risk the child could be harmed and the parent failed to remove them from that situation.