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Neglect 
Leaving children in situations where they could be exposed to a substantial risk of physical or mental harm.
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Abandonment
Leaving a child in a situation where the child would be exposed to substantial risk or harm without arranging for necessary care for the child and a demonstration of intent not to return by a parent, guardian or managing or possessory conservator of the child. |
Emotional Neglect
Inattention to a child's emotional needs, failure to provide psychological care or permitting the child to use alcohol or other drugs and failure to provide supervision, setting limits and absence of love and affection. Domestic violence in the child's presence, such as spousal or partner abuse, is also emotional neglect. |
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Neglectful Supervision
Placing the child in, or failure to remove the child from, a situation that a reasonable person would realize requires judgment or actions beyond the child's level of maturity, physical condition or mental abilities and that results in bodily injury or a substantial risk of immediate harm to the child. |
Medical Neglect
The failure to seek, obtain or follow through with medical care for the child with the failure resulting in or presenting a substantial risk of death, disfigurement or bodily injury or with the failure resulting in an observable and material impairment to the growth, development or functioning of the child. |
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Educational Neglect
Failure to educate a child or attend to special educational needs. This includes allowing excessive truancies from school. |
Physical Neglect
The failure to provide the child with food, clothing appropriate for the season, proper hygiene or to provide shelter necessary to sustain the life of the child, excluding failure caused by financial inability, unless relief services have been offered and refused. |
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 some assistance. When a family fails to use information and resources, and the child's health or safety is at risk, then child welfare intervention may be required. Several states distinguish between failure to provide based on financial inability to do so and the failure to provide for no apparent financial reason. The latter constitutes neglect.
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