Juvenile Services

Dependent Children

A dependent child includes any child:

1. Who is homeless or destitute, or without adequate parental care or support through no fault of his parents, guardian or custodian;
    
2. Who lacks adequate parental care or support by reason of the mental or physical condition of his parents, guardian or custodian;
    
3. Whose condition or environment is such as to warrant the State, in the interests of the child, in assuming his guardianship;

If the child is residing in a household in which a parent, or other member of the household, committed an act that was the basis for an adjudication that a sibling, or any other child who resides in the household, is an abused, neglected or dependent child, and because of the circumstances surrounding the abuse, neglect or dependency of the sibling or other child, and the other conditions in the household, the child is in danger of being abused or neglected by that parent, or other member of the household, the child may be found to be dependent.