Ga. Code § 49-5-3

Current through 2023-2024 Legislative Session Chapter 709

Section 49-5-3 - Definitions

As used in this article, the term:

(1) "Age or developmentally appropriate" means activities or items that are generally accepted as suitable for children of the same chronological age or level of maturity or that are determined to be developmentally-appropriate for a child, based on the development of cognitive, emotional, physical, and behavioral capacities that are typical for an age or age group. In the case of a specific child, such term also includes activities or items that are suitable for the child based on the developmental stages attained by the child with respect to the cognitive, emotional, physical, and behavioral capacities of the child.

(2) "Caregiver" means a foster parent with whom a child in foster care has been placed or a designated official for a child care institution in which a child in foster care has been placed.

(3) "Child-caring institution" means any institution, society, agency, or facility, whether incorporated or not, which either primarily or incidentally provides full-time care for children through 18 years of age outside of their own homes, subject to such exceptions as may be provided in rules and regulations of the board. Such term includes a qualified residential treatment program. Such term includes a commercial sexual exploitation recovery center.

(4) "Child-placing agency" means any institution, society, agency, or facility, whether incorporated or not, which places children in foster homes for temporary care or for adoption.

(5) "Child welfare and youth services" means duties and functions authorized or required by this article to be provided by the department with respect to:

(A) Establishment and enforcement of standards for social services and facilities for children and youths which supplement or substitute for parental care and supervision for the purpose of preventing or remedying or assisting in the solution of problems which may result in neglect, abuse, exploitation, or delinquency of children and youths;

(B) Protecting and caring for dependent children and youths;

(C) Protecting and promoting the welfare of children of working mothers;

(D) Providing social services to children and youths and their parents and care for children and youths born out of wedlock and their mothers;

(E) Promotion of coordination and cooperation among organizations, agencies, and citizen groups in community planning, organization, development, and implementation of such services; and

(F) Otherwise protecting and promoting the welfare of children and youths, including the strengthening of their homes where possible or, where needed, the provision of adequate care of children and youths away from their homes in foster family homes or day-care or other child care facilities.

(6) "Children's transition care center" means a transition center which provides a temporary, home-like environment for medically fragile children, technology dependent children, and children with special health care needs, up to 21 years of age, who are deemed clinically stable by a physician but dependent on life-sustaining medications, treatments, and equipment and who require assistance with activities of daily living to facilitate transitions from a hospital or other facility to a home or other appropriate setting. Such centers are designated sites that provide child placing services and nursing care, clinical support services, and therapies for short-term stays of one to 14 days and for longer stays of up to 90 days to facilitate transitions of children to homes or other appropriate settings. Extended stays of up to 12 months may be approved by the department by waiver.

(6.1) "Commercial sexual exploitation recovery center" means a child-caring institution certified as a victim assistance program, as provided for in subsection (e) of Code Section 15-21-132, which provides full-time residential care and support services to youth through 18 years of age who are victims of sexual exploitation as defined in Code Section 49-5-40.

(7) "Dependent child or youth" means any person so adjudged under Chapter 11 of Title 15.

(8) "Group-care facility" means a place providing care for groups of children and youths, other than a foster family home.

(9) "Homemaker service" means a service provided by a woman selected for her skills in the care of children and home management and placed in a home to help maintain and preserve the family life during the absence or incapacity of the mother.

(10) "In loco parentis" means a quasi-parental relationship inferred from and implied by the fact that a child or youth has been taken into a family and treated like any other member thereof, unless an express contract exists to the contrary.

(11) "Legal custody" means a legal status created by court order embodying the following rights and responsibilities:

(A) The right to have the physical possession of the child;

(B) The right and the duty to protect, train, and discipline the child;

(C) The responsibility to provide the child with food, clothing, shelter, education, and ordinary medical care; and

(D) The right to determine where and with whom the child shall live,

provided that these rights and responsibilities shall be exercised subject to the powers, rights, duties, and responsibilities of the guardian of the person of the child and subject to any residual parental rights and responsibilities. These rights shall be subject to judicial oversight and review pursuant to Code Section 15-11-212.

(12) "Maintenance" means all general expenses for care such as board; shelter; clothing; medical, dental, and hospital care; transportation; and other necessary or incidental expenses.

(13) "Maternity home" means any place in which any person, society, agency, corporation, or facility receives, treats, or cares for, within any six-month period, more than one pregnant woman whose child is to be born out of wedlock, either before, during, or within two weeks after childbirth. This definition shall not include women who receive maternity care in the home of a relative or in general or special hospitals, licensed according to law, in which maternity treatment and care is part of the medical services performed and the care of children is only brief and incidental. Such term shall not include a commercial sexual exploitation recovery center.

(13.1) "Maternity supportive housing residence" means a residential home that houses on behalf of a nonprofit organization up to six pregnant women aged 18 years or older and their minor children at any one time during the woman's pregnancy and up to 18 months after childbirth; provided, however, that no medical services shall be provided. This term shall not include:

(i) a child welfare agency, as defined in Code Section 49-5-12;

(ii) the residential home of a relative in which a woman receives maternity care; or

(iii) a general or special hospital.

(14) "Probation" means a legal status created by court order following adjudication in a delinquency case, whereby a child or youth is permitted to remain in the community, subject to supervision by the court or an agency designated by the court and subject to being returned to court at any time during the period of probation.

(15) "Protective supervision" means a legal status created by court order following adjudication in a dependency case, whereby a child's place of abode is not changed but assistance directed at correcting the dependency is provided through the court or an agency designated by the court.

(15.1) "Qualified residential treatment program" means a program as defined in Code Section 15-11-2.

(16) "Reasonable and prudent parent standard" means 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, that a caregiver shall use when determining whether to allow a child in foster care under the responsibility of the department to participate in extracurricular, enrichment, cultural, and social activities.

(17) "Shelter" or "shelter care" means temporary care in a nonsecurity or open type of facility.

OCGA § 49-5-3

Amended by 2024 Ga. Laws 490,§ 4, eff. 4/24/2024.

Amended by 2024 Ga. Laws 382,§ 2, eff. 4/19/2024.

Amended by 2022 Ga. Laws 787,§ 2, eff. 7/1/2022.

Amended by 2015 Ga. Laws 77,§ 5, eff. 7/1/2015.

Amended by 2013 Ga. Laws 127,§ 4-54, eff. 1/1/2014.

Amended by 2008 Ga. Laws 781,§ 1, eff. 7/1/2008.

Amended by 2007 Ga. Laws 325,§ 3, eff. 7/1/2007.

Amended by 2004 Ga. Laws 565, § 7, eff. 10/1/2004