Okla. Admin. Code § 310:678-1-2
The following words and terms when used in this Subchapter have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Abuse" means, with regard to:
"Administrative information" means information reported to or obtained by Oklahoma Human Services (OKDHS) regarding the community services provider during the investigative process that may be appropriate for internal administrative action but does not have the potential to impact the immediate health, safety, or welfare of recipients of community services, has not been verified as true and is for informational purposes only, per 56 O.S. § 1025.1.
"Administrator" or "administrator's designee" means, with regard to:
"Advocate" means an OCA employee who provides assistance to OCA clients in exercising their rights, listening to their concerns, encouraging them to speak for themselves, seeking to resolve their problems, helping protect their rights, and seeking to improve the quality of their lives and care.
"Age-appropriate" or "developmentally-appropriate" means:
"Agency companion" means a person who provides agency companion services, per OAC 317:40-5-3, to:
"Area manager" means an administrator of one of the three service delivery areas designated by OKDHS DDS.
"Areas of Concern" or "(AOC)" means:
"Behavioral health" means mental health, substance abuse, or co-occurring mental health and substance abuse diagnoses, and the continuum of mental health, substance use or abuse, or co-occurring mental health and substance abuse treatment, per 10A O.S. § 1-1-105.
"Caretaker" means, per 43A O.S. §10-103, a person who has:
"Caretaker misconduct" means, per 10A O.S. § 1-9-112, an act or omission by a PRFC that does not rise to the level of abuse, neglect, sexual abuse, or sexual exploitation with regard to any child or resident:
"Child" means any unmarried person younger than 18 years of age.
"Child-placing agency" means an agency that arranges for, or places a child in, a foster family home, family-style living program, group home, adoptive home, or a successful adulthood program per 10A O.S. § 1-1-105.
"Child with a disability" means any child who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of the child or who is regarded as having such impairment by a competent medical professional, per 10A O.S. § 1-1-105.
"Client" means, with regard to OCA:
"Community services provider" means a community-based program, corporation, or individual who contracts with, or is licensed or funded by, OKDHS to provide residential or vocational services to persons who are elderly or persons with intellectual or developmental disabilities, or contracts with the Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OHCA) to provide services to individuals with intellectual disabilities through a Home and Community-Based Waiver, except a private Intermediate Care Facility for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities, per 56 O.S. § 1025.1.
"Community services worker" or "(CSW)" means any person employed by or under contract with a community services provider who provides, for compensation or as a volunteer, health-related services, training, or supportive assistance to persons who are elderly or persons with developmental disabilities and who is not a licensed health professional or any person who contracts with the OHCA to provide specialized foster care, habilitation training specialist services, or homemaker services to persons with developmental disabilities, per 56 O.S. § 1025.1.
"Community Services Worker Registry" or "(CSW Registry)" means the Registry established by OKDHS per 56 O.S. § 1025.3.
"Complaint" means a report communicating a grievance, concern, or perceived harm, submitted by phone, email, or in writing by a foster parent or a child being served by Child Welfare Services (CWS) to the Oklahoma Commission of Children and Youth (OCCY) Office of Juvenile System Oversight (OJSO). If not submitted in writing, the complaint is entered into the written format established by OCA and OJSO.
"Custodian" means, per 10A O.S. § 1-1-105, an individual other than a parent, legal guardian, or Indian custodian, to whom legal custody of the child has been awarded by the court. The term "custodian" shall not mean OKDHS.
"Day treatment program" means non-residential, partial hospitalization programs, day treatment programs, and day hospital programs in which children and adolescents are placed for psychiatric or psychological treatment, per 10 O.S. §175.20.
"Disposition" means, with regard to OCA intake processes, the OCA intake unit action taken in response to a referral received, per OAC 310:678-3-4.
"Educational employee" means a school district employee, who provides contractual educational services on-site at a facility, who is either a witness or the alleged perpetrator in an OCA investigation.
"Exploitation" or "exploit" means with regard to vulnerable adults, an unjust or improper use of the resources of a vulnerable adult for the profit or advantage, pecuniary or otherwise, of a person other than the vulnerable adult through the use of undue influence, coercion, harassment, duress, deception, false representation, or false pretense, per 43A O.S. § 10-103.
"Failure to protect" means, per 10A O.S. § 1-1-105, failure to take reasonable action to remedy or prevent child abuse or neglect, and includes the conduct of a non-abusing parent or guardian who knows the identity of the abuser or the person neglecting the child, but lies, conceals, or fails to report the child abuse or neglect or otherwise take reasonable action to end the abuse or neglect.
"Financial neglect" means, with regard to vulnerable adults, per 43A O.S. § 10-103, repeated instances by a caretaker or other person, who has assumed the role of financial management, of failure to use the resources available to restore or maintain the health and physical well-being of a vulnerable adult, including, but not limited to:
"Force" means, as used by an alleged perpetrator with regard to a child residing outside of his or her home, other than in foster care:
"Foster care" or "foster care services" means continuous 24-hour care and supportive services provided for a child in a foster placement including, but not limited to, the care, supervision, guidance, and rearing of a foster child by the foster parent, per 10A O.S. § 1-1-105.
"Foster parent" means any person maintaining a therapeutic, emergency, specialized community, tribal, kinship, or foster family home, responsible for providing care, supervision, guidance, rearing, and other foster care services to a child.
"GARC" means the Grievance and Abuse Review Committee, per OAC 310:678-7-1.
"Group home for persons with developmental or physical disabilities" means any establishment for not more than 12 residents who are 18 years of age or older and who have developmental or physical disabilities, and which offers or provides supervision, residential accommodations, food service, and training and skill development opportunities designed to lead to increased independence of the residents and which offers or provides supportive assistance to residents requiring supportive assistance, per 10 O.S. § 1430.2.
"Guardian" or "guardian of an incapacitated person" means, per 30 O.S. § 1-111 a person who has been appointed by a court to serve as the guardian of an incapacitated person to assure that the essential requirements for the health and safety of the person are met, to manage the estate or financial resources of the person, or both. The term includes persons appointed as general or limited guardians of the person, general or limited guardians of property, and special guardian, but does not include a person appointed as guardian ad litem, per 30 O.S. § 1-106.
"Harm or threatened harm to the health or safety, of a child" means any real or threatened physical, mental, or emotional injury or damage to the body or mind that is not accidental including, but not limited to, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, neglect, or dependency, per 10A O.S. § 1-1-105.
"Heinous and shocking abuse" means abuse that includes, but is not limited to, aggravated physical abuse that results in serious bodily, mental, or emotional injury. Serious bodily injury means injury that involves:
"Hissom class member" or "HCM" means an individual certified by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma as a member of the plaintiff class in Homeward Bound, Inc., et al. vs. Hissom Memorial Center, et al., Case No. 85-CV-437-GKF.
"Hotline" means the statewide Centralized Abuse and Neglect Hotline, toll-free phone number, maintained by OKDHS for the purpose of receiving reports of abuse, neglect, or exploitation of children and vulnerable adults. The Hotline operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
"Incapacitated person" means, per 43 O.S. § 10-103:
"Indecent exposure" means, per 43A O.S. § 10-103, forcing or requiring a vulnerable adult to:
"In-home supports" or "(IHS)" means services funded through Medicaid Home and Community-Based Waivers, per Section 1915(c) of the Social Security Act and administered by OKDHS DDS. Services are provided in the service recipient's home, that are not residential services, per OAC 340:100-5-22.1, or group home services per 10 O.S. § 1430.2.
"Injury" means any hurt, harm, appreciable physical pain, or mental anguish.
"Intermediate Care Facility for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities" or "(IFC/IID)" or a "specialized facility for individuals with intellectual disabilities" means a private or public residential facility, licensed per state law and certified by the federal government as a Medicaid services provider, for individuals with intellectual disabilities as defined in Title XIX rules and regulations of the Social Security Act.
"Investigation" means, regarding a:
"Investigation results" means, per 10A O.S. § 1-1-105, a written response stating one of the following findings:
"Maltreatment" means, per 56 O.S. § 1025.1, abuse, verbal abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, financial neglect, exploitation, or sexual exploitation of vulnerable adults, as those terms are defined in 43A O.S. § 10-103; or abuse, neglect, sexual abuse or sexual exploitation of children, per 10A O.S. § 1-1-105.
"Medicaid personal care assistant" means, per 56 O.S. § 1025.1, a person who provides Medicaid services funded under Oklahoma's personal care program and is not a certified nurse aide or a licensed professional.
"Medicaid personal care services provider" means, per 56 O.S. § 1025.1, a program, corporation, or individual who provides services under the state Medicaid program personal care program or ADvantage Waiver to individuals who are elderly, or who have a physical disability.
"Mental anguish" means, in regard to a vulnerable adult, mental damage evidenced by distress, depression, withdrawal, severe anxiety, or unusually aggressive behavior toward one's self or others.
"Mental health facility" means a public or private hospital or related institution, as defined by 63 O.S. § 1-701, offering or providing inpatient mental health services, a public or private facility accredited as an inpatient or residential psychiatric facility by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, or a facility operated by the ODMHSAS and designated by the Commissioner of O DMHSAS as appropriate for the inpatient evaluation or treatment of minors, per 43A O.S. § 5-502.
"Near death" means a child is in serious or critical condition as certified by a physician, as a result of abuse or neglect, per 10A O.S. § 1-1-105.
"Neglect" means in regard to:
"OCA intake" means the OCA maintained centralized intake system that receives authorized referrals.
"Ombudsman" or "ombuds" means an advocate.
"Person responsible for the child's (PRFC) health, safety, or welfare" means, per 10A O.S. § 1-1-105, a parent; legal guardian; custodian; foster parent; person 18 years of age or older with whom the child's parent cohabitates or any other adult residing in the home of the child; an agent or employee of: a public or private residential home, institution, facility or day treatment program, as defined in 10 O.S. § 175.20; or an owner, operator, or employee of a child care facility, as defined by 10 O.S. § 402.
"Personal degradation" means, per 43A O.S. § 10-103, a willful act by a caretaker intended to shame, degrade, humiliate, or otherwise harm the personal dignity of a vulnerable adult, or where the caretaker knew or reasonably should have known the act would cause shame, degradation, humiliation, or harm to the personal dignity of a reasonable person. Personal degradation includes the taking, transmitting, or display of an electronic image of a vulnerable adult by a caretaker, where the caretaker's actions constitute a willful act intended to shame, degrade, humiliate, or otherwise harm the personal dignity of the dependent adult, or where the caretaker knew or reasonably should have known the act would cause shame, degradation, humiliation, or harm to the personal dignity of a reasonable person. Personal degradation does not include:
"Personal support team" or "(team)," formerly known as the "interdisciplinary team," means the decisionmaking body for service planning, implementation, and monitoring of the individual plan, per OAC 340:100-5-52.
"Physical abuse" means, in regard to children, an injury resulting from punching, beating, kicking, biting, burning, or otherwise harming a child. Even when the injury is not an accident, the alleged perpetrator may not have intended to hurt the child.
"Plan for Immediate Safety" means the plan for actions taken to immediately control any significant and clearly observable condition that is present and is endangering or threatening to endanger a child or vulnerable adult.
"Probable cause" means, in regards to vulnerable adults, information or evidence that would lead a reasonable person to believe that abuse, neglect, or exploitation has been committed.
"Problem resolution" means verbal or written communications that seek to resolve concerns, complaints, service inadequacies, or issues the client or the client's team members identify, including the client's guardian, OCA advocate, volunteer advocate, or other persons interested in the client's welfare.
"Protective custody" means custody of a child taken by law enforcement or designated court employee, without a court order.
"Reasonable and prudent parent standard" means, per 10A O.S. § 1-1-105, the standard characterized by careful and sensible parental decisions that maintain the health, safety, and best interests of a child while at the same time encouraging the emotional and developmental growth of the child. This standard is used by the child's caregiver when determining whether to allow a child to participate in extracurricular, enrichment, cultural, and social activities. For purposes of this definition, the term "caregiver" means a foster parent with whom a child in foster care has been placed, a representative of a group home where a child in foster care has been placed, or a designated official for a residential childcare facility where a child in foster care has been placed.
"Referring party" means the individual who informs OCA, calls the Hotline, or reports in writing that an incident occurred.
"Reportable incident" means an incident that must be reported because the person reporting knows, or has reasonable cause to believe or suspect, that a child or vulnerable adult may have been subjected to abuse or neglect.
"Reporting party" means the individual who initially tells someone verbally or in writing that an incident occurred.
"Residential childcare facility" means, per 10A O.S. § 1-1-105, a 24-hour residential facility where children live together with or are supervised by adults who are not their parents or relatives.
"Restricted registry" or "Joshua's List" means the registry created per 10 O.S. § 405.3, for the purpose of recording individuals who have:
"Safety threat" means the threat of serious harm due to child abuse or neglect occurring in the present or in the very near future that without another person's intervention, a child would likely or in all probability sustain severe or permanent disability or injury, illness, or death.
"Secure facility" means, per 10A O.S. § 1-1-105, a facility which is designed and operated to ensure all entrances and exits from the facility are subject to the exclusive control of the staff of the facility, whether or not the juvenile being detained has freedom of movement within the perimeter of the facility, or a facility that relies on locked rooms and buildings, fences, or physical restraint in order to control behavior of its residents. This definition excludes OJA-operated secure facilities.
"Self-neglect" means, per 43A O.S. § 10-103, the action or inaction of a vulnerable adult which causes that person to fail to meet the essential requirements for physical or mental health and safety due to the vulnerable adult's lack of awareness, incompetence, or incapacity.
"Sexual abuse" means, with regard to:
"Sexual exploitation" means, with regard to:
"Specialized foster care" means, per OAC 317:40-5-50, foster care that:
"State Office administrator" means, with regard to grievances filed by a:
"Suspicious injury" means, regarding a vulnerable adult, an injury that includes, but is not limited to, an injury that:
"Verbal abuse" means the use of words, sounds, or other communication including, but not limited to, gestures, actions, or behaviors by a caretaker or other person providing services to a vulnerable adult that are likely to cause a reasonable person to experience humiliation, intimidation, fear, shame, or degradation, per 43A O.S. § 10-103.
"Vulnerable adult" means, per 43A O.S. § 10-103, an individual who is an incapacitated person or who because of physical or mental disability, including persons with Alzheimer's disease or other dementias, incapacity, or other disability, is substantially impaired in the ability to provide adequately for the care or custody of himself or herself, or is unable to manage his or her property and financial affairs effectively or to meet essential requirements for mental or physical health or safety or to protect himself or herself from abuse, verbal abuse, neglect, or exploitation without assistance from others.
"Ward" means a person over whom a guardianship has been given by the court.
Okla. Admin. Code § 310:678-1-2