05- 071 C.M.R. ch. 18, § 2
Advisory Board. An association of persons which makes recommendations regarding the policies and procedures of a residential facility to the governing body of that facility but having no proprietary interest in the facility or actual managerial or administrative authority.
Approval. (See definition of License.)
Bedroom. A distinct space used as a sleeping area for children. A dormitory-style bedroom may be broken into several bedroom spaces using partitions. Closets, alcoves and corridors or any other room which is normally used for other than sleeping is not considered to be a bedroom.
Blood Relatives. Natural or adoptive mother, father., brother, sister, grandparent, uncle, aunt, niece, nephew, first cousin.
Board of Directors. An association of persons which has ultimate administrative and managerial control and is empowered to serve as the governing body of a residential facility. This board normally discharges its responsibilities by employing a chief executive officer and formulating policies for the facility's operations.
Chemical Restraint. The use of psychotropic agents as a form of restraint.
Child. Any person who has not attained the age of eighteen (18).
Children's Home. Any residence maintained exclusively or in part for the board and care of one or more children under the age of eighteen (18) by anyone other than a relative by blood, marriage or adoption and as further defined in 22 MRSA §8101(1). Children's home shall not include a facility established primarily to provide medical care, a children's camp established solely for recreational and educational purposes, or a school established solely for educational purposes except as defined in "residential child care facility."
Department, The Department of Human Services, the Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation and/or the Department of Education jointly or separately, as appropriate.
Discipline. A system of rules governing conduct which usually prescribe consequences for the violation of those particular rules.
Emergency Shelter. A children's home which operates to receive children twenty-four hours a day and which limits placement to thirty (30) consecutive days or less and as further defined in 22 MRSA58101(2). Emergency shelter shall not mean family foster home or specialized children's home and, if a service of a residential child care facility shall be restricted to a designated physical area of the facility.
Facility. Residential child care facility; any body licensed to provide residential child care; a body applying for licensure to provide residential child care.
Family Foster Home. A children's home that is a private dwelling where substitute parental care is provided within a family on a regular, twenty-four hours a day, residential basis. The total number of children in care may not exceed six (6) including the family's legal children under 16 years of age, with no more than two (2) of these children under the age of two.
Governing Body. A person or persons ultimately responsible for the operation of a facility. The governing body has authority over the policies and activities of a facility.
Guardian. A person or persons with an ongoing legal responsibility for caring for a child, including the biological or adoptive mother and/or father or a court-appointed guardian.
Immediate Family. Natural or adoptive mother and father, brother and sister. If extended family member(s) (e.g.* grandparent, aunt, uncle, cousin, nephew, niece) live in the same household, they may be considered as part of the immediate family.
Isolation. The removing of a child from a stimulus by use of involuntary separation and restricted activity. Isolation may mean restriction in an unlocked room with adequate supervision but shall not mean confinement in a locked room.
License. Written permission, whether provisional, conditional or full, issued by the department which authorizes the licensee to operate a residential child care facility.
Licensing Authority. The unit(s) or person(s) authorized by the department to issue licenses or approvals under these rules.
Living Unit. Any specific grouping of children who are assigned to a distinct and common physical space within the total residential facility and who share that space.
Mechanical Restraint. The restriction by mechanical means of a child's mobility and/or ability to use his/her hands, arms or legs except when such restriction is primarily for the treatment of physical injury.
Parent(s). The biological or adoptive mother and father.
Passive Physical Restraint. The least amount of direct physical contact required on the part of a staff member to prevent a child from hurting himself/herself or others; approved methods of making such physical contact.
Person. Any individual, partnership, corporation, association, organization or trust.
Placing Agency. Any individual, agency or organization, either publicly or privately operated, legally authorized to place a child into the care of a children's home.
Principal Owner, Any person holding a greater than 7% financial interest in the facility.
Relatives by Marriage. A step-brother, step-sister, step-father, step-mother, or step-grandparent, a spouse of a natural aunt or uncle.
Residential Child Care Facility. Any children's home which provides board and care for one or more children on a regular, twenty-four hour a day residential basis and as further defined in 22 MRSA {8101 (4). A residential child care facility shall not mean family foster home, specialized children's home or an emergency shelter facility.
Rules. The Rules for the Licensure of Residential Child Care Facilities, in whole or in part.
Service Plan. A comprehensive time-limited, goal-oriented, individualized plan for the care, treatment and education of a child in care of a residential facility. The service plan is based on a current comprehensive evaluation of the child's needs.
Specialized Children's Home. A children's home where care is provided to no more than four (4) moderately to severely handicapped children by a caretaker who is specifically educated and trained to provide for the particular needs of each child placed. The total number of children in a specialized children's home may not exceed four (4), including the caretaker's legal children under sixteen years of age, with no more than two (2) children under the age of two.
05- 071 C.M.R. ch. 18, § 2