(a) Abandonment means the desertion or willful forsaking of a minor by the person responsible for the child’s welfare under circumstances in which a reasonable person would continue to provide care or custody;

(b) Abused or neglected child means a child whose physical or mental health or welfare is harmed or threatened with harm by the acts or omissions of the person(s) responsible for the child’s welfare;

(c) Authorized agency means a department or other public or private agency, or a person, organization, corpora- tion, or benevolent society or association which is licensed or approved by such department or agency or the court to receive children for control, care, maintenance or placement;

(d) Child means a person under the age of 18 years;

(e) Child protective agency means the Guam Police Department, the Office of Special Investigation, Naval Investigative Service, the Attorney General’s Office, or the Department of Public Health and Social Services and its

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authorized representatives, including but not limited to Child
Protective Services;

(f) Child protective proceeding means any action, hearing or other civil proceeding before the court under this Chapter;

(g) Child Protective Services means the agency established by § 13301 of this Chapter under the Department of Public Health and Social Services;

(h) Clear and convincing evidence means that measure of degree of proof which will produce in the mind of the trier of fact a firm belief or conviction as to the truth of the allega- tions sought to be established;

(i) Criminal history record check means an examination of an individual’s criminal history record through fingerprint analysis or name inquiry into territorial, state and national criminal history record files, including but not limited to the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Guam Police Department, the Prosecution Division of the Attorney General’s Office, and the Child Protective Services; provided, that the information obtained shall be used exclusively for purposes under this Chapter and shall be subject to applicable federal and local laws and regulations;

(j) Department means the Department of Public Health and Social Services and its authorized representatives, including but not limited to the Child Protective Services;

(k) Disposition hearing means a hearing held pursuant to § 13320 of this Chapter;

(l) Expunge means to strike out or obliterate entirely so that the expunged information may not be stored, identified or later recovered by any means: mechanical, electronic or otherwise;

(m) Fact-finding hearing means an adjudicatory hearing held pursuant to § 13318 of this Chapter to determine the truth of the allegations contained in the petition filed under this Chapter;

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(n) Family means each legal parent, the grandparents, each parent’s spouse, each sibling or person related by consanguinity up to the second degree or by marriage, each person residing in the same dwelling unit, and any other person or legal entity which is a child’s legal or physical custodian or guardian, or who is otherwise responsible for the child’s care;

(o) Family Court means the court established pursuant to § 5101, Title 19, Guam Code Annotated;

(p) Family home means the home of the child’s parents or legal custodian where there is the provision of care for the child’s physical and psychological health and welfare;

(q) Foster care means when a child is placed, pursuant to an order of the court, in a residence which has been designated as suitable by an authorized agency or the court for the appropriate care of a child;

(r) Foster custody means the legal status created by an order of the court after the court has determined that the child’s family is not presently willing and able to provide the child with a safe family home;

(s) Guardian ad litem means a person appointed by the court pursuant to § 13308 of this Chapter whose role is to protect and promote the needs and interests of the child or ward;

(t) Harm to a child’s physical health or welfare occurs in a case where there exists evidence of injury, including but not limited to:
(1) Any case where the child exhibits evidence of: (A) skin bruising or any other internal bleed-
ing,

(B) any injury to skin causing bleeding, (C) burn or burns,
(D) poisoning,

(E) fracture of any bone,

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(F) subdural hematoma (G) soft tissue swelling, (H) extreme pain,
(I) death or

(J) disfigurement or impairment of any bodily organ, and such injury is inflicted by other than accidental means, by excessive corporal punishment or where the history given concerning such condition or death is at variance with the degree or type of such condition or death; or

(2) Any case where the child has been the victim of a sexual offense as defined in the Criminal and Correctional Code; or

(3) Any case where there exists injury to the psychological capacity of a child such as failure to thrive, extreme mental distress, or gross emotional or verbal degradation as is evidenced by an observable and substantial impairment in the child’s ability to function within a normal range of performance with due regard to the child’s culture; or

(4) Any case where the physical health of the child is adversely affected because the person responsible for the child’s welfare has not regularly provided the child, in a timely manner, with adequate food, clothing, shel- ter, psychological care, physical care, health care or supervision, when financially able to do so or if offered financial assistance or health care or other reasonable means to do so. “”Adequate health care”” includes any medical or non-medical health care permitted or authorized under territorial laws; provided, however, that a person responsible for the child’s welfare who, while legitimately practicing his or her religious beliefs, does not specify medical treatment for a child should not for that reason alone be considered as harming or threatening harm to the child; or

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(5) Any case where the child is provided with a controlled substance as defined by the Criminal and Correctional Code. However, this paragraph shall not apply to a child’s family who provides such drugs to the child pursuant to the direction or prescription of a practitioner as defined in § 67.12(t) of the Criminal and Correctional Code of Guam; or

(6) Any case where the child is abandoned.

(u) Indicated report means a report made pursuant to this Article if an investigation by a child protective agency results in a determination by Child Protective Services that substantial evidence of the alleged abuse exists based on available medical evidence and the investigation or an admission of the acts of harm or threatened harm by the person responsible for the child’s welfare;

(v) Licensing agency means any department or agency that licenses child care facilities;

(w) Long-term foster custody means the legal status created by order of the court after the court has determined by clear and convincing evidence that it is in the best interests of the child to order an appropriate long-term plan concerning the child;

(x) Party means an authorized agency, the child, the child’s family member or members who are required to be summoned pursuant to § 13306 of this Chapter, any other member of the child’s family, or any other person who is alleged in the petition filed under this Chapter or who is subsequently determined at any child protective proceeding to be encouraging, causing or contributing to the acts or condition which bring the child within this Chapter;

(y) Permanency plan is a specific written plan prepared by Child Protective Services which sets forth the goal of the child’s permanent placement as being either adoption, permanent foster custody with subsequent adoption or guardianship, or permanent foster custody until majority.

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(z) Permanency plan hearing means a hearing held pursuant to § 13324 of this Chapter.

(aa) Person responsible for the child’s welfare in- cludes the child’s parent, guardian, foster parent, an employee of a public or private residential home or an institution or authorized agency responsible for the child’s welfare;

(bb) PINS means a person in need of services who has been harmed as defined in this § 13101.

(cc) Police officer means a person employed by the government of Guam to enforce the laws and ordinances for preserving the peace, safety, and good order of the community;

(dd) Preliminary hearing means a hearing held pursuant to § 13317 of this Chapter;

(ee) Preponderance of evidence means evidence which as a whole shows that the fact sought to be proved is more probable than not;

(ff) Progress hearing means any hearing held pursuant to § 13322 of this Chapter;

(gg) Protective custody means the legal status of a child whose physical custody is retained by a police officer, Child Protective Services social worker or physician pursuant to § 13302 of this Chapter in order to protect such child from harm or threatened imminent harm;

(hh) Reasonable cause to believe means evidence which would cause a reasonable person to believe;

(ii) Service plan means a specific written plan pre- pared by Child Protective Services and presented to members of the child’s family which indicates the specific services or treatment with which the parties will be provided, the specific actions the parties must take, the specific responsibilities that the parties must assume, and the specific consequences that may be reasonably

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anticipated to result from the parties’ success or failure in complying with the plan;

(jj) Subject of the report means any child reported to the central register of child abuse and the person(s) responsible for the child’s welfare named in the report;

(kk) Substantiated report means a report made pursuant to this Chapter if there has been any judicial adjudication based on a finding that a child who is a subject of the report is an abused or neglected child;

(ll) Suspected report means any report that is not indicated, substantiated or unsubstantiated;

(mm) Temporary foster custody means a legal status created under this Chapter pursuant to an order of the court whereby the Department assumes the duties and rights of a foster custodian over a child;

(nn) Threatened harm means any reasonably foreseeable, substantial risk of harm to a child with due consideration being given to the age of the child;

(oo) Unsubstantiated report means any report made pursuant to this Chapter if an investigation by a child protective agency results in a determination by Child Protective Services that substantial evidence of the alleged abuse does not exist.

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ARTICLE 2
CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT REPORTING ACT