Or. Admin. Code § 419-240-0110

Current through Register Vol. 64, No. 1, January 1, 2025

Section 419-240-0110 - Definitions

Unless the context indicates otherwise, the following definitions apply to these rules, OAR chapter 419, division 240:

(1) "Abuse" has the same meaning as defined in 419B.005 (see OAR 419-240-0160(2)).

(2) "Abuse determination" means the determination OTIS makes after an investigation under these rules (OAR chapter 419, division 240) that a report of abuse is founded, unfounded, or unable to determine as described in OAR 419-240-0170(1).

(3) "Abuse investigation report" means the report the OTIS investigator completes as provided in OAR 419-240-0180 on a report of abuse that is determined to require an investigation under OAR 419-240-0130 or OAR 419-240-0135.

(4) "Alleged victim" means the child who is reported, alleged, or determined to be subjected to abuse under these rules (OAR chapter 419, division 240).

(5) "Business days" means all consecutive calendar days, not counting Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays as defined in ORS 187.010.

(6) "Child" means an unmarried person who is under 18 years of age.

(7) "Department" means the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS).

(8) "Indian child" as defined in 25 U.S.C. § 1903(4) means any unmarried individual who is under age 18 and either:

(a) Is a member or citizen of an Indian Tribe; or

(b) Is eligible for membership or citizenship in an Indian Tribe and is the biological child of a member or citizen of an Indian Tribe.

(9) "Investigation" as defined in ORS 419B.005(4) means a detailed inquiry into or assessment of the safety of a child alleged to have experienced abuse. "Investigation" does not include screening activities conducted upon the receipt of a report.

(10) "Law enforcement agency" has the same meaning as defined in ORS 419B.005(5).

(11) "Legal guardian" means, for an individual under the age of 18, the parent, unless a court appoints another person or agency to act as the individual's guardian.

(12) "OTIS investigator" means a Department: Office of Training, Investigations and Safety (OTIS) employee who is authorized and receives OTIS approved training to screen or investigate reports of abuse under OAR chapter 419, division 240.

(13) "OTIS response" means how OTIS will respond to a report of abuse that is determined at the conclusion of the OTIS screening process.

(14) "Other Third-Party" means an adult who is not the alleged victim's parent, caregiver, guardian, or other member of the alleged victim's household, and who is not responsible for the alleged victim's care, custody, and control.

(15) "OYA foster home" means a home with foster parents certified by The Oregon Youth Authority under OAR chapter 416, division 530 who demonstrate special competence to supervise youth offenders with serious social or behavioral maladaptive characteristics in a youth offender foster home setting.

(16) "Reasonable cause" means a subjectively and objectively reasonable belief, given all of the circumstances and based on specific and articulable facts (ORS 419B.150).

(17) "Reasonable suspicion" for purposes of complying with ORS 419B.023 (Karly's Law) means a reasonable belief given all the circumstances, based upon specific and describable facts, that the suspicious physical injury may be the result of abuse.

(18) "Redacted" means information deemed confidential under state or federal law that has been protected from view.

(19) "Reporter" means an individual who makes a report of suspected child abuse to the Department.

(20) "Respondent" means the adult alleged to have committed abuse.

(21) "Screening" means the process used by OTIS to determine the response to reports that are determined to be the responsibility of OTIS.

(22) "Severe harm" as defined in ORS 419B.150 means:

(a) Life -threatening damage; or

(b) Significant or acute injury to a person's physical, sexual, or psychological functioning.

(23) "Sex trafficking" as defined in ORS 418.322(1)(b) means the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing, or soliciting of an individual under the age of 18 for the purpose of a commercial sex act.

(24) "Suspicious physical injury" has the same meaning as defined in ORS 419B.023 (Karly's Law).

(25) "Third-party abuse" means child abuse by a person who is not the alleged victim's parent, caregiver, guardian, or other member of the alleged victim's household, and who is not responsible for the alleged victim's care, custody, and control.

(a) "Caregiver" means a guardian, legal custodian, or other person acting in loco parentis, who exercises significant authority over and responsibility for a child.

(b) "Guardian" means an individual who has been granted guardianship of a child through a judgment of the court.

(c) "Household" means an association of persons who live in the same home or dwelling and may be related by blood, adoption, or marriage or may be unrelated persons residing in the same home or dwelling as the child.

(d) "Parent" means the biological or adoptive mother or the legal father of the child. A legal father is a man who has adopted the child or whose paternity has been established or declared under ORS 109.070, ORS 416.400 to 416.465, or by a juvenile court. In cases involving an Indian child under the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), "parent" means any biological parent of an Indian child, any Indian who has lawfully adopted an Indian child, including adoptions under tribal law or custom, or a father whose paternity has been acknowledged or established under tribal law, recognized in accordance with tribal custom, or openly proclaimed to the court by the man, the Indian child's family, the Oregon Department of Human Services or an adoption agency. "Parent" also includes a putative father who has demonstrated a direct and significant commitment to the child by assuming or attempting to assume responsibilities normally associated with parenthood, unless a court finds that the putative father is not the legal father.

(26) "Third-party professional" means an adult who is employed, certified, licensed, contracted, is a volunteer, or whose role is overseen by a regulatory entity, and has contact with the child because of the adult's position or occupation.

Or. Admin. Code § 419-240-0110

DHS 3-2021, adopt filed 02/26/2021, effective 03/01/2021; DHS 29-2022, amend filed 07/20/2022, effective 08/01/2022; DHS 16-2024, renumbered from 407-047-0610, filed 10/30/2024, effective 11/1/2024; OTIS 48-2024, minor correction filed 11/01/2024, effective 11/1/2024

Statutory/Other Authority: ORS 409.050

Statutes/Other Implemented: ORS 419B.005 - 419B.050