On these pages you will find the Indiana CHiNS laws as well as additional information about Children in Need of Services. Read the latest research findings about the abuse and neglect of children and juvenile delinquency. Find quick links to Indiana CHiNS and foster care laws and the legislative proposals affecting the custody of children who have been determined by a court to be Children in Need of Services.
What is a CHINS case?
In Indiana, abused and neglected children are legally referred to as Children In Need ofServices (CHINS). The Indiana Juvenile Code contains ten categories of CHINS. These categories go beyond the traditional concept of child abuse and neglect. The following is a brief overview of the CHINS categories:
Child Neglect. The child’s physical or mental condition is seriously impaired or seriously endangered as a result of the inability, refusal, or neglect of the child’s parent, guardian, or custodian to supply the child with necessary food, clothing, shelter, medical care, education, or supervision.
Child Abuse. The child’s physical or mental health is seriously endangered due to injury by the act of omission of the child’s parent, guardian, or custodian.
Child Sex Abuse. The child is the victim of a sex offense (rape, criminal deviate conduct, child molestation, exploitation, seduction, sexual misconduct with a minor, public indecency, prostitution, and incest).
Parental allowance of child’s participation in sex offenses. The child’s parent, guardian, or custodian allows the child to commit a sex offense prohibited by statute (public indecency, prostitution, or voyeurism).
Child endangerment of self or others. The child substantially endangers the child’s own health or the health of another.
Parental failure to participate in school disciplinary proceedings. The child’s parent, guardian, or custodian fails to participate in a school disciplinary proceeding in connection with the student’s improper behavior, where the behavior of the student has been repeatedly disruptive in the school.
Missing child. The child is a missing child.
Child born with fetal alcohol syndrome or trace amount of substance in system. The child is born with fetal alcohol syndrome, or any amount (including a trace amount) of a controlled substance or a legend drug in the child’s body.
Child has injury or abnormal development or endangering condition caused by mother’s use of substances during pregnancy. The child has an injury, an abnormal physical or psychological development, or is at a substantial risk of a life threatening condition, any of which arises or is substantially aggravated because the child’s mother used alcohol, a controlled substance, or a legend drug during pregnancy.
For additional information about CHiNS read the FAQ Fact Sheet [PDF] by The Children’s Law Center of Indiana.
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