Child Neglect
Severity of neglect is categorized as being mild, moderate, or severe. A case of mild neglect does not usually warrant a call to DCFS but may indicate that a family is in need of social service intervention, education, or other forms of help. Moderate neglect occurs when corrective measures in a mild case have failed to end problems or moderate harm has been done to an involved child. Moderate cases usually require DCFS involvement with additional assistance from social service providers. Severe cases of neglect involve long-term harm being done to a child. For instance, a child who has not received appropriate asthma medications for a long period of time and who must be repeatedly hospitalized would be considered severely neglected. Such cases frequently require intervention from the DCFS and the legal system.
