(28) Garbage--Food or items that when deteriorating
cause offensive odors and/or attract rodents, insects, and other pests.
(29) General Residential Operation--A residential child-care
operation that provides child care for seven or more children or young
adults. The care may include treatment services or programmatic services.
These operations include formerly titled emergency shelters, operations
providing basic child care, residential treatment centers, and halfway
houses.
(30) Governing body--A group of persons or officers
of the corporation or other type of business entity having ultimate
authority and responsibility for the operation.
(31) Grounds--Includes any parcel of land where the
operation is located and any building, other structure, body of water,
play equipment, street, sidewalk, walkway, driveway, parking garage,
or parking lot on the parcel. Also referred to as "premises" in this
chapter.
(32) Group of children--Children assigned to a specific
caregiver or specific caregivers. Generally, the group stays with
the assigned caregivers throughout the day and may move to different
areas throughout the operation, indoors and out. For example, children
who are assigned to specific caregivers occupying a unit or cottage
are considered a group.
(33) Health-care professional--A licensed physician,
licensed advanced practice registered nurse (APRN), physician's assistant,
licensed vocational nurse (LVN), licensed registered nurse (RN), or
other licensed medical personnel providing health care to the child
within the scope of the person's license. This does not include physicians,
nurses, or other medical personnel not licensed to practice in the
United States or in the country in which the person practices.
(34) High-risk behavior--Behavior of a child that creates
an immediate safety risk to self or others. Examples of high-risk
behavior include suicide attempt, self-abuse, physical aggression
causing bodily injury, chronic running away, substance abuse, fire-setting,
and sexual aggression or perpetration.
(35) Human services field--A field of study that contains
coursework in the social sciences of psychology and social work including
some counseling classes focusing on normal and abnormal human development
and interpersonal relationship skills from an accredited college or
university. Coursework in guidance counseling does not apply.
(36) Immediate danger--A situation where a prudent
person would conclude that bodily harm would occur if there were no
immediate interventions. Immediate danger includes a serious risk
of suicide, serious physical injury to self or others, or the probability
of bodily harm resulting from a child running away. Immediate danger
does not include:
(A) Harm that might occur over time or at a later time;
or
(B) Verbal threats or verbal attacks.
(37) Infant--A child from birth through 17 months.
(38) Livestock--An animal raised for human consumption
or an equine animal.
(39) Living quarters--A structure or part of a structure
where a group of children reside, such as a building, house, cottage,
or unit.
(40) Mechanical restraint--A type of emergency behavior
intervention that uses the application of a device to restrict the
free movement of all or part of a child's body in order to control
physical activity.
(41) Mental health professional--Refers to:
(A) A psychiatrist licensed by the Texas Medical Board;
(B) A psychologist licensed by the Texas State Board
of Examiners of Psychologists;
(C) A master's level social worker or higher licensed
by the Texas State Board of Social Work Examiners;
(D) A professional counselor licensed by the Texas
State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors;
(E) A marriage and family therapist licensed by the
Texas State Board of Examiners of Marriage and Family Therapists;
and
(F) A master's level or higher nurse licensed as an
Advanced Practice Registered Nurse by the Texas Board of Nursing and
board certified in Psychiatric/Mental Health.
(42) Non-ambulatory--A child that is only able to move
from place to place with assistance, such as a walker, crutches, a
wheelchair, or prosthetic leg.
(43) Non-mobile--A child that is not able to move from
place to place, even with assistance.
(44) Normalcy--See §748.701 of this chapter (relating
to What is "normalcy"?).
(45) Operation--General residential operations, including
residential treatment centers.
(46) Owner--The sole proprietor, partnership, or corporation
or other type of business entity who owns the operation.
(47) Parent--A person or entity that has legal responsibility
for or legal custody of a child, including the managing conservator,
or legal guardian of the child or a legally authorized representative
of an entity with that status.
(48) Partnership--A partnership may be a general partnership,
(general) limited liability partnership, limited partnership, or limited
partnership as limited liability partnership.
(49) Permit holder--The owner of the operation that
is granted the permit.
(50) Permit is no longer valid--For purposes of this
chapter, a permit remains valid through the renewal process. A permit
only becomes invalid when your operation voluntarily closes or is
required to close through an enforcement action in Subchapter L of
Chapter 745 (relating to Enforcement Actions).
(51) Person legally authorized to give consent--The
person legally authorized to give consent by the Texas Family Code
or a person authorized by the court.
(52) Personal restraint--A type of emergency behavior
intervention that uses the application of physical force without the
use of any device to restrict the free movement of all or part of
a child's body in order to control physical activity.
(53) Physical force--Pressure applied to a child's
body that reduces or eliminates the child's ability to move freely.
(54) Premises--See the term "grounds" and its definition
in this section.
(55) PRN--A standing order or prescription that applies
"pro re nata" or "as needed according to circumstances."
(56) Prone restraint--A restraint in which the child
is placed in a chest-down hold.
(57) Psychosocial assessment--An evaluation by a mental
health professional of a child's mental health that includes a:
(A) Clinical interview of the child;
(B) Diagnosis from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual
of Mental Disorders 5 (DSM-5), or statement that rules out a DSM-5
diagnosis;
(C) Treatment plan for the child, including whether
further evaluation of the child is needed (for example: is a psychiatric
evaluation needed to determine if the child would benefit from psychotropic
medication or hospitalization; or is a psychological evaluation with
psychometric testing needed to determine if the child has a learning
disability or an intellectual disability); and
(D) Written summary of the assessment.
(58) Re-evaluate--Re-assessing all factors required
for the initial evaluation for the purpose of determining if any substantive
changes have occurred. If substantive changes have occurred, these
areas must be fully evaluated.
(59) Regularly--On a recurring, scheduled basis. Note:
For the definition for "regularly or frequently present at an operation"
as it applies to background checks, see §745.601 of this title
(relating to What words must I know to understand this subchapter?).
(60) Residential child-care operation--A licensed or
certified operation that provides residential child care. Also referred
to as a "residential child-care facility."
(61) Residential Treatment Center (RTC)--A general
residential operation for seven or more children or young adults that
exclusively provides treatment services for children with emotional
disorders.
(62) Sanitize--The use of a product (usually a disinfecting
solution) registered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
that substantially reduces germs on inanimate objects to levels considered
safe by public health requirements. Many bleach and hydrogen peroxide
products are EPA-registered. You must follow the product's labeling
instructions for sanitizing (paying particular attention to any instructions
regarding contact time and toxicity on surfaces likely to be mouthed
by children, such as toys and crib rails). For an EPA-registered sanitizing
product or disinfecting solution that does not include labeling instructions
for sanitizing (a bleach product, for example), you must conduct these
steps in the following order:
(A) Washing with water and soap;
(B) Rinsing with clear water;
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