2023 Louisiana Laws › Revised Statutes › Title 28 - Mental Health › §28:822. Definitions

RS 28:822 - Definitions
The following definitions shall apply:
(1) "Adult" means an individual eighteen years of age or older.
(2) "Cash subsidy" means a monetary payment to eligible families of children with developmental disabilities to offset the costs of services and equipment. The payment shall be considered a benefit and shall not be counted as income when determining eligibility or the amount of any other benefits.
(3) "Child" means an individual under the age of eighteen.
(4) "Communication services" means those necessary supports and services for a person with a disability to communicate, including but not limited to sign language classes for the individual with a disability, family members, and staff working with the individual including personal care attendants and teachers; interpreters; and braille devices.
(5) "Community supports" means those supports and services that enable an adult with developmental disabilities to live in the residence of his choice. Community supports shall include but not be limited to the following:
(a) Dental and medical care that are not otherwise covered.
(b) Respite care.
(c) Recreation.
(d) Homemaker services.
(e) Transportation.
(f) Personal assistance services.
(g) Home health services.
(h) Therapeutic and nursing services.
(i) Home and vehicle modifications.
(j) Equipment and supplies.
(k) Counseling services.
(l) Communication services.
(m) Crisis intervention.
(n) Specialized utility costs.
(o) Vocational and employment supports.
(p) Specialized diagnosis and evaluation.
(q) Specialized nutrition and clothing.
(r) Service coordination.
(6) "Companion or roommate services" means services for those individuals needing regular supervision up to twenty-four hours for daily living.
(7) "Counseling services" means professional counseling for the individual or his family including siblings; assistance with behavior management; group and individual therapy; parent to parent support.
(8) "Crisis intervention" means twenty-four hour, on-call availability of professionals to intervene and deal with crisis in the home with the intention of preventing unnecessary out-of-home placement.
(9) "Day care" means after school and holiday and summer time care for children and adolescents, specialized training for day care providers and staff, and the supports needed to access the typical day care opportunities available to the community.
(10) "Dental and medical care" means such care which is not otherwise covered through Medicaid services or private insurance.
(11) "Developmental disability" means a severe, chronic disability of a person which:
(a) Is attributable to a mental or physical impairment or combination of mental and physical impairments.
(b) Is manifested before the person attains age twenty-two.
(c) Is likely to continue indefinitely.
(d) Results in substantial functional limitations in three or more of the following areas of major life activity:
(i) Self-care.
(ii) Receptive and expressive language.
(iii) Learning.
(iv) Mobility.
(v) Self-direction.
(vi) Capacity for independent living.
(vii) Economic self-sufficiency.
(e) Reflects the person's need for a combination and sequence of special, interdisciplinary, or generic care, treatment, or other services which are of lifelong or extended duration and are individually planned and coordinated.
(12) "Equipment and supplies" means mobility aids, prosthetics, sensory aids, equipment to maintain medical treatment or health, including disposable supplies and durable items, and assistive technology devices to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of persons with disabilities.
(13) "Family supports" means those supports that enable a family to keep their child with developmental disabilities at home. Family supports shall include but not be limited to the following:
(a) Dental and medical care that are not otherwise covered.
(b) Respite care.
(c) Recreation.
(d) Homemaker services.
(e) Transportation.
(f) Personal assistance services.
(g) Home health services.
(h) Therapeutic and nursing services.
(i) Home and vehicle modifications.
(j) Equipment and supplies.
(k) Counseling services.
(l) Communication services.
(m) Crisis intervention.
(n) Specialized utility costs.
(o) Day care.
(p) Specialized diagnosis and evaluation.
(q) Specialized nutrition and clothing.
(r) Parent education and training.
(s) Service coordination.
(14) "Home and vehicle modifications" means enlarging hallways and doorways to accommodate wheelchairs, adapting bathrooms to accommodate wheelchairs, building ramps for access into and out of the home, and any other home modification needed to accommodate the special needs of a person with a disability. Vehicle modifications include hydraulic lifts to accommodate wheelchairs in vans and any other assistive devices that would enable a person with a disability to be transported in his own or his family's vehicle.
(15) "Home health services" means assistance with medical procedures performed in the home usually by a nurse or trained paraprofessional.
(16) "Homemaker services" means those services which provide families with assistance in household chores in order to free family members to provide care to the child with a disability. In the case of an adult with disabilities it means those in-home supports that assist the person with a disability or the family to carry out basic household chores.
(17) "Parent education and training services" means those services which provide guidance to community parenting groups to assist families of children with special needs.
(18) "Personal assistance services" means services which are required by a person with a severe disability to achieve greater physical and communicative independence. Such services include but are not limited to assistance related to the following:
(a) Routine bodily functions, such as bowel or bladder care.
(b) Dressing.
(c) Preparation and consumption of food.
(d) Housecleaning and laundry.
(e) Moving in and out of bed.
(f) Routine bathing.
(g) Ambulation.
(h) Any other similar activity of daily living.
(19) "Recreation services" means those supports that provide consultation to community recreation service providers to improve access, organize leisure time activities to the extent necessary, and educate persons who have developmental disabilities and their families in the use of community recreational resources which are available to all community members.
(20) "Respite care" means such care that is provided periodically by persons substituting for the usual care giver. Respite services may be used for a few hours or a few days, and may be provided either in or out of the recipient's home depending upon the individual or family needs. Respite care may be arranged prior to the event or provided on an emergency basis due to family crisis.
(21) "Service coordination" means a lifelong, goal-oriented process for coordination of the range of services needed and wanted by persons with developmental disabilities and their families.
(22) "Sitter services" means care for a child who needs supervision and for whom regular day care is not appropriate. It includes after school care for an adolescent, evening care when a parent has an evening job, or care when a child is ill.
(23) "Specialized diagnosis and evaluation" means diagnosis and evaluation necessary for assistive devices, therapies, behavior management plans, and any other specialized services.
(24) "Specialized nutrition and clothing" means supplemental food nutrients and specialized clothing adaptable to physical disabilities.
(25) "Specialized utility costs" means costs related to various extraordinary energy needs, such as electricity and gas, and other utilities, such as water and telephone, to enable a person with a disability to live at home.
(26) "Substitute family" means placement of a child in a family other than his natural or adoptive family.
(27) "Therapeutic services" means occupational, physical, speech and language, respiratory, vision, and other therapies to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of persons with disabilities.
Acts 1989, No. 378, §1; Acts 1991, No. 1011, §1; Acts 1993, No. 752, §1, eff. June 22, 1993.
{{NOTE: SEE ACTS 1993, NO. 752, §2.}}