§ 1012 — Definitions

New York § 1012

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law FCT: Family Court Act
• Part 1: Jurisdiction
• Art. 10: Child Protective Proceedings

Text

§ 1012. Definitions. When used in this article and unless the specific\ncontext indicates otherwise:\n (a) "Respondent" includes any parent or other person legally\nresponsible for a child's care who is alleged to have abused or\nneglected such child;\n (b) "Child" means any person or persons alleged to have been abused or\nneglected, whichever the case may be;\n (c) "A case involving abuse" means any proceeding under this article\nin which there are allegations that one or more of the children of, or\nthe legal responsibility of, the respondent are abused children;\n (d) "Drug" means any substance defined as a controlled substance in\nsection thirty-three hundred six of the public health law;\n (e) "Abused child" means a child less than eighteen years of age whose\nparent or other person legally responsible for his care\n (i) inflicts or allows to be inflicted upon such child physical injury\nby other than accidental means which causes or creates a substantial\nrisk of death, or serious or protracted disfigurement, or protracted\nimpairment of physical or emotional health or protracted loss or\nimpairment of the function of any bodily organ, or\n (ii) creates or allows to be created a substantial risk of physical\ninjury to such child by other than accidental means which would be\nlikely to cause death or serious or protracted disfigurement, or\nprotracted impairment of physical or emotional health or protracted loss\nor impairment of the function of any bodily organ, or\n (iii) (A) commits, or allows to be committed an offense against such\nchild defined in article one hundred thirty of the penal law; (B)\nallows, permits or encourages such child to engage in any act described\nin sections 230.25, 230.30, 230.32 and 230.34-a of the penal law; (C)\ncommits any of the acts described in sections 255.25, 255.26 and 255.27\nof the penal law; (D) allows such child to engage in acts or conduct\ndescribed in article two hundred sixty-three of the penal law; or (E)\npermits or encourages such child to engage in any act or commits or\nallows to be committed against such child any offense that would render\nsuch child either a victim of sex trafficking or a victim of severe\nforms of trafficking in persons pursuant to 22 U.S.C. 7102 as enacted by\npublic law 106-386 or any successor federal statute; (F) provided,\nhowever, that (1) the corroboration requirements contained in the penal\nlaw and (2) the age requirement for the application of article two\nhundred sixty-three of such law shall not apply to proceedings under\nthis article.\n (f) "Neglected child" means a child less than eighteen years of age\n (i) whose physical, mental or emotional condition has been impaired or\nis in imminent danger of becoming impaired as a result of the failure of\nhis parent or other person legally responsible for his care to exercise\na minimum degree of care\n (A) in supplying the child with adequate food, clothing, shelter or\neducation in accordance with the provisions of part one of article\nsixty-five of the education law, or medical, dental, optometrical or\nsurgical care, though financially able to do so or offered financial or\nother reasonable means to do so, or, in the case of an alleged failure\nof the respondent to provide education to the child, notwithstanding the\nefforts of the school district or local educational agency and child\nprotective agency to ameliorate such alleged failure prior to the filing\nof the petition; or\n (B) in providing the child with proper supervision or guardianship, by\nunreasonably inflicting or allowing to be inflicted harm, or a\nsubstantial risk thereof, including the infliction of excessive corporal\npunishment; or by misusing a drug or drugs; or by misusing alcoholic\nbeverages to the extent that he loses self-control of his actions; or by\nany other acts of a similarly serious nature requiring the aid of the\ncourt; provided, however, that where the respondent is voluntarily and\nregularly participating in a rehabilitative program, evidence that the\nrespondent has repeatedly misused a drug or drugs or alcoholic beverages\nto the extent that he loses self-control of his actions shall not\nestablish that the child is a neglected child in the absence of evidence\nestablishing that the child's physical, mental or emotional condition\nhas been impaired or is in imminent danger of becoming impaired as set\nforth in paragraph (i) of this subdivision; or\n (ii) who has been abandoned, in accordance with the definition and\nother criteria set forth in subdivision five of section three hundred\neighty-four-b of the social services law, by his parents or other person\nlegally responsible for his care.\n (g) "Person legally responsible" includes the child's custodian,\nguardian, any other person responsible for the child's care at the\nrelevant time. Custodian may include any person continually or at\nregular intervals found in the same household as the child when the\nconduct of such person causes or contributes to the abuse or neglect of\nthe child.\n (h) "Impairment of emotional health" and "impairment of mental or\nemotional condition" includes a state of substantially diminished\npsychological or intellectual functioning in relation to, but not\nlimited to, such factors as failure to thrive, control of aggressive or\nself-destructive impulses, ability to think and reason, or acting out or\nmisbehavior, including ungovernability or habitual truancy; provided,\nhowever, that such impairment must be clearly attributable to the\nunwillingness or inability of the respondent to exercise a minimum\ndegree of care toward the child.\n (i) "Child protective agency" means the child protective service of\nthe appropriate local department of social services or such other\nagencies with whom the local department has arranged for the provision\nof child protective services under the local plan for child protective\nservices or an Indian tribe that has entered into an agreement with the\nstate department of social services pursuant to section thirty-nine of\nthe social services law to provide child protective services.\n (j) "Aggravated circumstances" means where a child has been either\nseverely or repeatedly abused, as defined in subdivision eight of\nsection three hundred eighty-four-b of the social services law; or where\na child has subsequently been found to be an abused child, as defined in\nparagraph (i) or (iii) of subdivision (e) of this section, within five\nyears after return home following placement in foster care as a result\nof being found to be a neglected child, as defined in subdivision (f) of\nthis section, provided that the respondent or respondents in each of the\nforegoing proceedings was the same; or where the court finds by clear\nand convincing evidence that the parent of a child in foster care has\nrefused and has failed completely, over a period of at least six months\nfrom the date of removal, to engage in services necessary to eliminate\nthe risk of abuse or neglect if returned to the parent, and has failed\nto secure services on his or her own or otherwise adequately prepare for\nthe return home and, after being informed by the court that such an\nadmission could eliminate the requirement that the local department of\nsocial services provide reunification services to the parent, the parent\nhas stated in court under oath that he or she intends to continue to\nrefuse such necessary services and is unwilling to secure such services\nindependently or otherwise prepare for the child's return home;\nprovided, however, that if the court finds that adequate justification\nexists for the failure to engage in or secure such services, including\nbut not limited to a lack of child care, a lack of transportation, and\nan inability to attend services that conflict with the parent's work\nschedule, such failure shall not constitute an aggravated circumstance;\nor where a court has determined a child five days old or younger was\nabandoned by a parent with an intent to wholly abandon such child and\nwith the intent that the child be safe from physical injury and cared\nfor in an appropriate manner.\n (k) "Permanency hearing" means a hearing held in accordance with\nsection one thousand eighty-nine of this act for the purpose of\nreviewing the foster care status of the child and the appropriateness of\nthe permanency plan developed by the social services district or agency.\n (l) "Parent" means a person who is recognized under the laws of the\nstate of New York to be the child's legal parent.\n (m) "Relative" means any person who is related to the child by blood,\nmarriage or adoption and who is not a parent, putative parent or\nrelative of a putative parent of the child.\n (n) "Suitable person" means any person who plays or has played a\nsignificant positive role in the child's life or in the life of the\nchild's family.\n