Iowa's Child Abuse Hotline: 1-800-362-2178

Please be ready to provide identifying information and the whereabouts of the child. You may remain anonymous. If you believe the child is in imminent danger, CALL 911 immediately

Definitions of Child Abuse and Neglect - Iowa

Physical Abuse

Citation: Ann. Stat. § 232.68

Child abuse or abuse means any nonaccidental physical injury, or injury that is at variance with the history given of it, suffered by a child as the result of acts or omissions of a person responsible for the care of the child.

Neglect

Citation: Ann. Stat. § 232.68

Child abuse or abuse means:

• The failure on the part of a person responsible for the care of a child to provide for the adequate food, shelter, clothing, or other care necessary for the child's health and welfare when financially able to do so or when offered financial or other reasonable means to do so
• The presence of an illegal drug in a child's body as a direct and foreseeable consequence of the acts or omissions of the person responsible for the care of the child
•  That the person responsible for the care of a child has, in the presence of the child, manufactured a dangerous substance or possesses a product containing ephedrine, its salts, optical isomers, salts of optical isomers, or pseudoephedrine, its salts, optical isomers, or salts of optical isomers, with the intent to use the product as a precursor or an intermediary to a dangerous substance
• Cohabitation with a person listed on the sex offender registry

Sexual Abuse

Citation: Ann. Stat. § 232.68

Child abuse or abuse means:

• The commission of a sexual offense with or to a child
• Allowing, permitting, or encouraging the child to engage in prostitution
• The commission of bestiality in the presence of a minor by a person who resides in a home with a child, as a result of the acts or omissions of a person responsible for the care of the child

Emotional Abuse

Citation: Ann. Stat. § 232.68

Child abuse or abuse means any mental injury to a child's intellectual or psychological capacity as evidenced by an observable and substantial impairment in the child's ability to function within the child's normal range of performance and behavior as the result of the acts or omissions of a person responsible for the care of the child, if the impairment is diagnosed and confirmed by a licensed physician or qualified mental health professional.

Abandonment

This issue is not addressed in the statutes reviewed.

Standards for Reporting

Citation: Ann. Stat. § 232.68

A report is required when the acts or omissions of the parent or responsible person results in harm to the child.

Persons Responsible for the Child

Citation: Ann. Stat. § 232.68

Person responsible for the care of a child means:

• A parent, guardian, or foster parent
•  A relative or any other person with whom the child resides and who assumes care or supervision of the child, without reference to the length of time or continuity of such residence
• An employee or agent of any public or private facility providing care for a child
• Any person providing care for a child, but with whom the child does not reside, without reference to the duration of care
  

Exceptions

Citation: Ann. Stat. § 232.68

A parent or guardian legitimately practicing religious beliefs who does not provide specified medical treatment for a child for that reason alone shall not be considered abusing the child. This provision shall not preclude a court from ordering that medical service be provided to the child where the child's health requires it.