Or. Admin. R. 413-015-1015 : — DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES, CHILD WELFARE PROGRAMSINTRODUCTION TO CPS RULES —015-1015 - Making the CPS Assessment Disposition Determination

(1) Except as provide section (3) of this rule, abuse of a child, for the purpose of determining the CPS assessment disposition, includes, among others, the behavior, conditions, and circumstances described in this section.
(a) Abandonment, including parental behavior showing an intent to permanently give up all rights and claims to the child.
(b) Child selling, including the selling of a child that consists of buying, selling, bartering, trading, or offering to buy or sell the legal or physical custody of a child.
(c) Mental injury (psychological maltreatment), including cruel or unconscionable acts or statements made, threatened to be made, or permitted to be made by the parent or caregiver that has a direct effect on the child. The parent or caregiver's behavior, intentional or unintentional, must be related to the observable and substantial impairment of the child's psychological, cognitive, emotional, or social well-being and functioning.
(d) Neglect, including failure, through action or omission, to provide and maintain adequate food, clothing, shelter, medical care, supervision, protection, or nurturing. Chronic neglect is a persistent pattern of family functioning in which the parent or caregiver does not sustain or meet the basic needs of a child resulting in an accumulation of harm that can have long term effect on the child's overall physical, mental, or emotional development. Neglect includes each of the following:
(A) Physical neglect, which includes each of the following:
(i) Failing to provide for the child's basic physical needs including adequate shelter, food, and clothing.
(ii) Permitting a child to enter or remain in or upon premises where methamphetamines are being manufactured.
(iii) Unlawful exposure of a child to a substance that subjects a child to severe harm to the child's health or safety. When the CPS worker is making a determination of physical neglect based on severe harm to the child's health due to unlawful exposure to a substance, this determination must be consistent with medical findings.
(B) Medical neglect is a refusal or failure to seek, obtain, or maintain necessary medical, dental, or mental health care. Medical neglect includes withholding medically indicated treatment from infants who have disabilities and life-threatening conditions. However, failure to provide the child with immunizations or routine well-child care alone does not constitute medical neglect. When the CPS worker is making a determination of medical neglect, this determination must be consistent with medical findings.
(C) Lack of supervision and protection, including failure to provide supervision and protection appropriate to the child's age, mental ability, and physical condition.
(D) Desertion, which includes the parent or caregiver leaving the child with another person and failing to reclaim the child, or parent or caregiver failure to provide information about their whereabouts, providing false information about their whereabouts, or failing to establish a legal guardian or custodian for the child.
(E) Psychological neglect, which includes serious inattention to the child's need for affection, support, nurturing, or emotional development. The parent or caregiver behavior must be related to the observable and severe harm of the child's psychological, cognitive, emotional, or social well-being and functioning.
(e) Physical abuse, including an injury to a child that is inflicted or allowed to be inflicted by non-accidental means that results in harm. Physical abuse may include injury that could not reasonably be the result of the explanation given. Physical abuse may also include injury that is a result of discipline or punishment. Examples of injuries that may result from physical abuse include:
(A) Head injuries;
(B) Bruises, cuts, lacerations;
(C) Internal injuries;
(D) Burns or scalds;
(E) Injuries to bone, muscle, cartilage, and ligaments;
(F) Poisoning;
(G) Electrical shock; and
(H) Death.
(f) Sexual abuse, which includes:
(A) A person's use or attempted use of a child for the person's own sexual gratification, the sexual gratification of another person, or the sexual gratification of the child. Sexual abuse includes incest, rape, sodomy, sexual penetration, fondling, and voyeurism.
(B) Sexual exploitation, including the use of a child in a sexually explicit way for personal gain, for example, to make money or in exchange for goods or services such as food, drugs, status or housing. Sexual exploitation also includes using children in the act of prostitution or using children to create pornography.
(C) Sex trafficking.
(g) Threat of harm, including all activities, conditions, and circumstances that place the child at threat of severe harm of physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, mental injury, or other child abuse.
(2) Except as provided in section (3) of this rule or when the abuse is familial or third party abuse, abuse of a child or young adult when the child or young adult lives in a home certified by Child Welfare includes, among others, the behavior, conditions, and circumstances described in this section.
(a) Abandonment, including desertion or willful forsaking of a child or young adult, or the withdrawal or neglect of duties and obligations owed a child or young adult by a home certified by Child Welfare, a caregiver, or other person.
(b) Financial exploitation.
(A) Financial exploitation includes:
(i) Wrongfully taking the assets, funds, or property belonging to or intended for the use of a child or young adult.
(ii) Alarming a child or young adult by conveying a threat to wrongfully take or appropriate moneys or property of the child or young adult if the child or young adult would reasonably believe that the threat conveyed would be carried out.
(iii) Misappropriating, misusing, or transferring without authorization any moneys from any account held jointly or singly by a child or young adult.
(iv) Failing to use the income or assets of a child or young adult effectively for the support and maintenance of the child or young adult.
(B) Financial exploitation does not include age-appropriate discipline that may involve the threat to withhold, or the withholding of, privileges.
(c) Involuntary seclusion. Involuntary seclusion means confinement of a child or young adult alone in a room from which the child or young adult is physically prevented from leaving by any means. Involuntary seclusion is abuse when used as a form of discipline, punishment, retaliation, or for the convenience of the resource parent.
(d) Neglect, which includes:
(A) Failure to provide the care, supervision, or services necessary to maintain the physical and mental health of a child or young adult; or
(B) The failure of a home certified by Child Welfare, a caregiver, or other person to make a reasonable effort to protect a child or young adult from abuse.
(e) Physical abuse, which includes:
(A) Any physical injury to a child or young adult caused by other than accidental means, or that appears to conflict with the explanation given of the injury; or
(B) Willful infliction of physical pain or injury upon a child or young adult.
(f) Sexual abuse, which includes:
(A) A person's use or attempted use of a child or young adult for the person's own sexual gratification, the sexual gratification of another person, or the sexual gratification of the child or young adult. Sexual abuse includes incest, rape, sodomy, sexual penetration, fondling, and voyeurism.
(B) Sexual exploitation, including the use of a child or young adult in a sexually explicit way for personal gain, for example, to make money or in exchange for goods or services, such as food, drugs, status, or housing. Sexual exploitation also includes using children or young adults in the act of prostitution or using children or young adults to create pornography.
(C) Sex trafficking.
(g) Verbal abuse.
(A) Verbal abuse includes threatening severe harm, either physical or emotional, to a child or young adult through the use of:
(i) Derogatory or inappropriate names, insults, verbal assaults, profanity, or ridicule; or
(ii) Harassment, coercion, threats, compelling or deterring conduct by threats, humiliation, mental cruelty, or inappropriate sexual comments.
(B) Verbal abuse does not include age-appropriate discipline that may involve the threat to withhold privileges.
(h) Wrongful use of restraint as described in ORS 418.519 - 418.521.
(3) Abuse does not include reasonable discipline unless the discipline results in one of the conditions described in sections (1) or (2) of this rule.

Or. Admin. R. 413-015-1015

CWP 24-2017, temporary adopt filed 12/29/2017, effective 01/01/2018 through 06/29/2018; CWP 51-2018, adopt filed 06/29/2018, effective 6/29/2018; CWP 98-2018, minor correction filed 07/09/2018, effective 7/9/2018; CWP 108-2020, minor correction filed 02/18/2020, effective 2/18/2020; CWP 7-2021, amend filed 03/01/2021, effective 3/1/2021; CWP 20-2021, temporary amend filed 09/30/2021, effective 9/30/2021 through 3/28/2022; CWP 5-2022, amend filed 03/28/2022, effective 3/28/2022; CWP 10-2022, amend filed 06/23/2022, effective 7/1/2022

Statutory/Other Authority: ORS 409.050 & ORS 418.005

Statutes/Other Implemented: ORS 409.185, ORS 419B.005 - 419B.050, ORS 418.205 - 418.327 & ORS 418.519 - 418.523