For purposes of Special Immigrant Juvenile Status Cases when immigrant children are seeking state court findings for SIJS predicate orders, states are to apply state court definitions of abuse and neglect to the facts of the child’s case without regard to the location where the abuse or neglect occurred in the U.S. or abroad.

The Child Welfare Information Gateway developed by the Children’s Bureau a the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has tracked state statutes defining “abuse” and “neglect.”  See Definitions of Child Abuse and Neglect