Salt Lake

Child Abuse and Neglect Guidelines

The following guidelines have been prepared to assist Family Promise – Salt Lake (FPSL) staff,
volunteers, and guests to recognize child abuse or neglect as is it defined by the State of Utah and other
agencies. (Last updated, February 2009)

1. Suggestions to Staff and Volunteers

a. It is important for volunteers to take into account a wide variety of variables when dealing with
our guests. Some of the issues which need to be considered are: definitions and examples above,
cultural and economic differences, and situational issues. While a particular event may be
unacceptable to volunteers or FPSL staff, all questions regarding abuse or neglect must be based
on the facts of the law and guidelines and not on individual opinion regarding the effectiveness
or correctness of the type of discipline involved. However, it must be remembered that our guests
are frequently under a great deal of stress, are dealing with the consequences of life changing
situations (i.e. loss of housing, no employment, etc), typically do not possess effective parenting
skills, and have a plethora of dysfunctional behaviors which impact their ability to cope with life
during the best of times.
b. In the event of a serious situation, please refer parent to the Child Abuse Prevention Helpline at
1-800-4-A-Child
2. Summary of Utah State Law, United States Code, and definitions
a. Physical Abuse (Utah Code Section 62A-4a-402)
i. Child abuse or neglect means causing harm or threatened harm to a child’s health or welfare
ii. Harm or threatened harm means damage or threatened damage to the physical or emotional
health and welfare of a child through neglect or abuse, and includes but is not limited to
causing nonaccidental physical or mental injury.
b. Neglect (Utah Code Section 62A-4a-401)
i. Harm or threatened harm means damage or threatened damage to the physical or emotional
health and welfare of a child through neglect or abuse and includes but is not limited to
repeated negligent treatment or maltreatment.
c. Sexual Abuse (Utah Code Section 62A-4a-402)
i. Harm or threatened harm means damage or threatened damage to the physical or emotional
health and welfare of a child through neglect or abuse and includes but is not limited to
incest, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation or molestation.
ii. Sexual abuse means acts or attempted acts of sexual intercourse, sodomy or molestation
directed towards a child.
iii. Sexual exploitation of minors means knowingly employing, using, persuading, inducing,
enticing, or coercing any minor to pose in the nude…
d. Emotional Abuse
i. Harm or threatened harm means damage or threatened damage to the emotional health and
welfare of a child through neglect or abuse.
3. What is Child Abuse and Neglect (The Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (42
U.S.C.A section 5106g)

1
 a. Neglect—failure to provide for a child’s basic needs.
i. Physical (failure to provide necessary food or shelter or lack of appropriate supervision)
ii. Medical (failure to provide necessary medical or mental health treatment)
iii. Educational (failure to educate a child or attend to special educational needs)
iv. Emotional (inattention to a child’s emotional needs, failure to provide psychological care, or
permitting the child to use alcohol or other drugs)
v. IMPORTANT—These situations do not always mean a child is neglected. Sometimes
cultural values, the standards of care in the community, and poverty may be contributing
factors, indicating the family is in need of information or assistance.
b. Physical Abuse is physical injury (ranging from minor bruises to severe fractures or death) as a
result of punching, beating, kicking, biting, shaking, throwing, stabbing, choking, hitting (with a
hand, stick, strap or other object), burning, or otherwise harming a child. Such injury is
considered abuse regardless of whether the caretaker intended to hurt the child.
c. Sexual Abuse includes activities by a parent or caretaker such as fondling a child’s genitals,
penetration, incest, rape, sodomy, indecent exposure, and exploitation through prostitution or
production of pornographic materials.
d. Emotional Abuse is a pattern of behavior that impairs a child’s emotional development or sense
of self-worth. This may include constant criticism, threats, or rejection, as well as withholding
love, support or guidance. Emotional abuse is often difficult to prove and, therefore, CPS
(DCFS) may not be able to intervene without evidence of harm to the child. Emotional abuse is
almost always present when other forms are identified.
e. Verbal abuse means the use of words, sounds, or other communication including, but not limited
to, gestures, actions or behaviors, by a caretaker or other person providing services to a
vulnerable adult that are likely to cause a reasonable person to experience humiliation,
intimidation, fear, shame or degradation.(http://www.policy.okdhs.org/ch2/340_2/340-2-
3/CHP_2340232_Definitions.htm)
4. Child Abuse Definitions(Utah Code Section 76-5-109)
a. Physical Injury
i. Bruise or other contusion of the skin
ii. A minor laceration or abrasion
iii. Failure to thrive
iv. Any other condition which imperils the child’s health or welfare and which is not a serious
physical injury (see below)
b. Serious Physical Injury—any physical injury or set of injuries which,
i. Seriously impairs the child’s health
ii. Involves physical torture
iii. Causes serious emotional harm to the child
iv. Involved a substantial risk of death to the child
v. Serious Physical Injury includes
1. fracture of any bone or bones
2. intracranial bleeding, swelling or contusion of the brain, whether caused by blows,
shaking for causing the child’s head to impact with an object or surface
3. any burn
4. any injury caused by use of a dangerous weapon
5. any combination or 2 or more physical injuries inflicted by the same person, either at the
same time or on different occasions.

2
 6. any damage to internal organs
7. Any conduct toward a child that results in severe emotional harm, severe developmental
delay or retardation, or severe impairment of the child’s ability to function.
8. et cetera
c. Neglect
i. "A condition in which a caretaker responsible for the child, either deliberately or by
extraordinary inattentiveness, permits the child to experience avoidable present suffering
and/or fails to provide one or more of the ingredients generally deemed essential for
developing a person's physical, intellectual, and emotional capacities."
(http://nccanch.acf.hhs.gov/pubs/usermanuals/neglect/neglectb.cfm)
ii. Definitions of what is minimally adequate care or, conversely, inadequate care for children,
must also take into account cultural variations in standards for adequate care of children.7
Significant differences in ratings of the severity of specific indicators of abuse and neglect
among social workers, police, attorneys, and judges and among African-American, Hispanic,
and white subjects were discovered in one study.8 African-American subjects rated indicators
of physical neglect as significantly more severe instances of inadequate care than did whites
or Hispanics. On the other hand, another study concluded that when presented with critical
incidents descriptive of child neglect, there was substantial agreement among white,
Hispanic, and African-American subjects on basic standards of care for children.9 Clearly,
cultural variations require further consideration in practice and in research.
(http://nccanch.acf.hhs.gov/pubs/usermanuals/neglect/neglectb.cfm)
5. Reasonable Discipline (DCFS Practice Guidelines page 33)
a. Reasonable discipline may be a defense to abuse where a parent (or the person acting as the
parent) uses reasonable discipline as defined and the child did not suffer serious injury or death.
The determination of what conduct is “reasonable” discipline depends on the facts in each case
and turns on various factors such as the following, none of which is necessarily dispositive: the
existence or extent of physical injuries, the necessity for the physical intervention under the
circumstances, the relationship between the need for intervention and the amount and extent of
the force used, whether the actor behaved maliciously, whether the actor engaged in verbal
threats or abuse, whether the incident was isolated or was a step in an apparent progression of
mistreatment, whether the intervention interfered with the child’s need for suitable food clothing,
and other necessities. (DCFS Practice Guidelines page 33)
6. Suggestions to Guests
a. While participating in our program, it is important to respect the facilities and the people
working hard to make your stay as pleasant as possible. Often the volunteers do not fully
understand the pressures you are under, the lives you have led, or the issues that you face. Please
remember to speak to your children as you would speak to anyone else. In the event that you find
yourself stressed to the breaking point, please speak with the staff or volunteer on duty.