Frequently Asked Questions

Child Protective Services Law Definition

According to the Child Protective Services Law, "child abuse" means intentionally, knowingly or recklessly:

• Causing bodily injury to a child through any recent act or failure to act.
• Fabricating, feigning or intentionally exaggerating or inducing a medical symptom or disease which results in a potentially harmful medical evaluation or treatment to the child through any recent act.
• Causing or substantially contributing to serious mental injury to a child through any act or failure to act or a series of such acts or failures to act.
• Causing sexual abuse or exploitation of a child through any act or failure to act.
• Creating a reasonable likelihood of bodily injury to a child through any recent act or failure to act.
• Creating a likelihood of sexual abuse or exploitation of a child through any recent act or failure to act.
• Causing serious physical neglect of a child.
• Causing the death of the child through any act or failure to act.

Additional Acts

Child abuse also includes certain acts in which the act itself constitutes abuse without any resulting injury or condition. These recent acts include any of:

• Endangering a child through:
  • Biting
  • Burning
  • Cutting
  • Kicking
  • Stabbing
  • Throwing
• Unreasonably restraining or confining a child, based on consideration of the method, location or the duration of the restraint or confinement.
• Forcefully shaking a child under one year of age.
• Forcefully slapping or otherwise striking a child under one year of age.
• Interfering with the breathing of a child.
• Causing a child to be present during the operation of a methamphetamine laboratory, provided that the violation is being investigated by law enforcement.
• Leaving a child unsupervised with an individual, other than the child's parent, who the parent knows or reasonably should have known was required to register as a Tier 2 or 3 sexual offender or has been determined to be a sexually violent predator or sexually violent delinquent.

Factors to Consider

There are many factors to consider when it comes to child neglect. For example, the Agency considers things like:

• Adequate housing
• Educational needs
• Food
• Medical care
• Mental health needs
• Utilities, etc.

More Serious Neglect

More serious neglect can:

• Cause bodily injury
• Endanger a child's life or health
• Impair a child's health, development, or functioning
• Threaten a child's well-being

In Pennsylvania, this serious physical neglect is considered a form of child abuse (for more information review the frequently asked question "What is child abuse?"). 

Serious physical neglect includes a repeated, prolonged or egregious failure to supervise a child in a manner that is appropriate considering the child's age, development, or functioning, and the failure to provide the essentials of life, including food, shelter, or medical care.

By Telephone

Anyone can report suspected child abuse or neglect by calling:

• The State Child Abuse Hotline (Childline) at 800-932-0313
• The Butler County Children and Youth Agency at 724-284-5156

Report Online

You can also make an electronic report to Childline by visiting the Pennsylvania Child Welfare Portal page.

For More Information

You can read more about child abuse laws and access the full Child Protective Services Law at the Keep Kids Safe website.

No. Butler County Children and Youth Services (CYS) does not conduct private custody proceedings, nor does the Agency conduct investigations for the purpose of helping one parent gain an advantage over the other parent in custody court.

The primary goal of CYS, per the Child Protective Services Laws (CPSL), is to help keep children safe in their home of origin whenever possible.

No. Not all referrals rise to the level of potential child abuse or neglect. Every referral is evaluated on its own merit.  

Information to Provide

If you do make a referral, please provide as much detail as possible. Most importantly, please provide:

• Addresses
• Names
• Phone numbers
• School information
• Where the suspected maltreatment is occurring

We need to know where to send a caseworker and how to make contact with a child/family.

No. Once a person attains the age of 18, they are considered an adult, regardless of functioning level.

There are a few rare circumstances where Children and Youth Services (CYS) continues to provide services for a person over 18, but those only apply to youth who turn 18 while in CYS custody and agree to remain in custody and under the supervision of the court, or for young adults who were previously in CYS custody, and are in need of services.

Ideally, families are not in need of our services. Oftentimes, people just need to be pointed in the right direction to get help. We can provide contact information to a number of resources that do not require a Children and Youth Services (CYS) investigation or an open CYS case.

In the event that a family does need CYS services, we try to work voluntarily with a family, and can offer:

• In-home crisis/family preservation services
• Crisis/Rapid Response Family Meetings
• Referrals for Family Group Decision Making
• Parenting education services

There are times we need to seek court intervention before providing services, which may include out of home placement.

We do not provide:

• Legal services.
• Medical services. We have no medical professionals on staff.
• Mental Health Services. We have no mental health professionals on staff.
• Welfare checks. We do not send workers to check on children "just to make sure they're OK". Our investigations must be based on legitimate allegations/suspicions of genuine maltreatment.