Take steps to prevent child abuse

To the editor:
In honor of Child Abuse Prevention Month, the Indiana Department of Child Services in Jay County is proud to present information on recognizing and reporting child abuse and neglect.
In Indiana, a child is considered to be a child in need of services (CHINS) if:
•The child’s physical or mental health condition is seriously impaired or seriously endangered as a result of the inability, refusal or neglect of the child’s parent/guardian/custodian to supply the child with necessary food, clothing, shelter, medical care, education or supervision.
•The child’s physical or mental health is seriously endangered due to injury by the act or omission of the child’s parent/guardian/custodian. An omission is an occurrence in which the parent/guardian/custodian allowed that person’s child to receive an injury the parent/guardian/custodian had a reasonable opportunity to prevent or mitigate.
•The child is the victim of a sex offense under the criminal citations incorporated into the CHINS definition.
The child’s parent/guardian/custodian allows the child to participate in an obscene performance.
•The child’s parent/guardian/custodian allows the child to commit a sex offense.
And if the child needs care, treatment or rehabilitation that he or she is not currently receiving and that is unlikely to be provided or accepted without the coercive intervention of the court.
This definition includes a child with a disability that is deprived of:
•nutrition necessary to sustain life.
•medical or surgical intervention necessary to remedy or ameliorate a life threatening medical condition of the nutrition or medical or surgical intervention is generally provided to similarly situated children with or without disabilities.
Any individual who has reason to believe that a child is a victim of child abuse or neglect must make a report. In agencies in which there are established reporting protocols, the report may be made to the individual in charge or another designated agent, who also becomes responsible to report or cause a report to be made. This does not relieve the individuals who make a report to another staff person of their own obligation to report directly to child protection services or law enforcement unless a report has already been made by the agency liaison. Anonymous reports are accepted. Failure to make a report can be a Class B misdemeanor. Reports should be made to the Indiana Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline at (800) 800-5556.
Any person, other than the accused, who reports child abuse or neglect or is involved in the investigation or disposition of child abuse or neglect reports is immune from criminal or civil liability, unless the person acted maliciously or in bad faith.
Amanda Hartman and Selena Gibbs
Jay County Department of Child Services