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The most commonly
recognized types of abuse and neglect are physical abuse, physical
neglect, emotional abuse, emotional neglect and sexual abuse
or exploitation. Signs of abuse and neglect include:
- A child
with repeated injuries such as bruises, welts, or burns
- A child
who is withdrawn, angry, depressed, aggressive
- A child
who exhibits extremes in behavior, such as being excessively
aggressive or being overly compliant; being afraid to go with
a caretaker or clinging and not wanting to separate
- A child
who is inadequately dressed for the weather, is malnourished,
physically dirty, tired, or unsupervised; or is not receiving
needed medical treatment
- A child
who shows signs of or reports sexual abuse or has a sexually
transmitted disease.
If you are a victim of child abuse/neglect,
if you are an alleged perpetrator of child abuse/neglect or
if your children have been removed from you, your case will
be heard in the Juvenile Court. Possible court actions include:
a charge filed by a police officer, a Preliminary Protective
Order filed by Child Protective Services or an Emergency Removal
filed by Child Protective Services. If a Preliminary Protective
Order or an Emergency Removal has been filed against you, you
will have a court hearing within five days. The next hearing,
one that determines preponderance of guilt, is held within thirty
days. The final merits hearing is held within seventy five days.
That is the first hearing at which a final disposition in the
case is made.
See the Department of Family services website
at: www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dfs
According to
Section 16.1-228 of the Code of Virginia, abused or neglected
child means any child:
- Whose parents or other person responsible for his care
creates or inflicts, threatens to create or inflict, or
allows to be created or inflicted upon such child a physical
or mental injury by other than accidental means, or creates
a substantial risk of death, disfigurement or impairment
of bodily or mental functions, including, but not limited
to, 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;
- Whose parents or other person responsible for his care
neglects or refuses to provide care necessary for his health;
however, no 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 for that reason alone be considered to
be an abused or neglected child;
- Whose parents or other person responsible for his care
abandons such child;
- Whose parents or other person responsible for his care
commits or allows to be committed any sexual act upon a
child in violation of the law; or
- Who is without parental care or guardianship caused by
the unreasonable absence or the mental or physical incapacity
of the child's parent, guardian, legal custodian or other
person standing in loco parentis.
If a civil proceeding under this chapter
is based solely on the parent having left the child at a hospital
or rescue squad, it shall be an affirmative defense that such
parent safely delivered the child to a hospital that provides
24-hour emergency services or to an attended rescue squad that
employs emergency medical technicians, within 14 days of the
child's birth. For purposes of terminating parental rights pursuant
to § 16.1-283
and placement for adoption, the court may find such a child
is a neglected child upon the ground of abandonment.
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