2023 Tennessee Code › Title 33 - MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND INTELLECTUAL AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES (§§ 33-1-101 — 33-11-106) › Chapter 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS (§§ 33-1-101 — 33-1-402) › Part 1 - DEFINITIONS (§ 33-1-101) › Section 33-1-101 - Title definitions

As used in this title, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1)
"Alcohol abuse" means a condition characterized by the continuous or episodic use of alcohol resulting in social impairment, vocational impairment, psychological dependence or pathological patterns of use;
(2)
"Alcohol dependence" means alcohol abuse that results in the development of tolerance or manifestations of alcohol abstinence syndrome upon cessation of use;
(3)
"Available suitable accommodations" or "suitable available accommodations" means that a state-owned or operated hospital or treatment resource has the capacity, as reasonably determined by the commissioner, and the medical capability, equipment and staffing to provide an appropriate level of care, treatment and physical security to an individual in an unoccupied and unassigned bed;
(4)
"Chief officer" means the person with overall authority for a public or private hospital or treatment resource, or the person's designee;
(5)
"Child" means a person who is under eighteen (18) years of age;
(6)
"Commissioner" means the commissioner of mental health and substance abuse services;
(7)
(A)
"Community mental health center" means an entity that:
(i)
Provides outpatient services, including specialized outpatient services for persons of all ages with a serious mental illness, and persons who have been discharged from inpatient treatment at a hospital or treatment resource;
(ii)
Provides twenty-four hour a day emergency care services;
(iii)
Provides day treatment or other partial hospitalization services, or psychosocial rehabilitation services;
(iv)
Provides screening for persons being considered for admission to state mental health facilities to determine the appropriateness of the admission; and
(v)
Has community participation in its planning, policy development, and evaluation of services;
(B)
"Community mental health center" includes for profit corporations and private entities qualified as tax exempt organizations under Internal Revenue Code, § 501(c)(3) (
26 U.S.C. § 501(c)(3)
), or public entities created by private act of the general assembly that, prior to July 1, 1992, were approved providers in the state under the medicaid clinic option and grantees of the department and the successor or surviving corporation of any such entity that underwent a corporate name change or corporate restructuring after July 1, 1992;
(8)
"Consent" means voluntary agreement to what is reasonably well understood regardless of how the agreement is expressed;
(9)
"Department" means the department of mental health and substance abuse services;
(10)
"Drug abuse" means a condition characterized by the continuous or episodic use of a drug or drugs resulting in social impairment, vocational impairment, psychological dependence or pathological patterns of use;
(11)
"Drug dependence" means drug abuse that results in the development of tolerance or manifestations of drug abstinence syndrome upon cessation of use;
(12)
"Hospital" means a public or private hospital or facility or part of a hospital or facility equipped to provide inpatient care and treatment for persons with mental illness or serious emotional disturbance;
(13)
"Indigent person" means a service recipient whose resources, including property, assets, and income, are insufficient, under chapter 2, part 11 of this title, to pay for the cost of providing services and supports and who does not have a responsible relative or other legally responsible person who is able to pay for the cost of providing the services and supports;
(14)
"Licensed physician" means a graduate of an accredited medical school authorized to confer upon graduates the degree of doctor of medicine (M.D.) who is duly licensed in the state, or an osteopathic physician who is a graduate of a recognized osteopathic college authorized to confer the degree of doctor of osteopathy (D.O.) and who is licensed to practice osteopathic medicine in the state;
(15)
"Medical capability" means that a state-owned or operated hospital or treatment resource has the ability to treat an individual's medical needs onsite or that the individual's medical needs do not exceed the onsite capability of the state-owned or operated hospital or treatment resource to treat;
(16)
"Mental illness" means a psychiatric disorder, alcohol dependence, or drug dependence, but does not include intellectual disability or other developmental disabilities as defined in title 52;
(17)
"Qualified mental health professional" means a person who is licensed in the state, if required for the profession, and who is a psychiatrist; physician with expertise in psychiatry as determined by training, education, or experience; psychologist with health service provider designation; psychological examiner or senior psychological examiner; licensed master's social worker with two (2) years of mental health experience or licensed clinical social worker; marital and family therapist; nurse with a master's degree in nursing who functions as a psychiatric nurse; professional counselor; or if the person is providing service to service recipients who are children, any of the above educational credentials plus mental health experience with children;
(18)
"Responsible relative" means the parent of an unemancipated child with mental illness, serious emotional disturbance, alcohol dependence, or drug dependence who is receiving service in programs of the department or any relative who accepts financial responsibility for the care and service of a service recipient;
(19)
"Serious emotional disturbance" means a condition in a child who currently or at any time during the past year has had a diagnosable mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder of sufficient duration to meet psychiatric diagnostic criteria that results in functional impairment that substantially interferes with or limits the child's role or functioning in family, school, or community activities and includes any mental disorder, regardless of whether it is of biological etiology;
(20)
"Service recipient" means a person who is receiving service, has applied for service, or for whom someone has applied for or proposed service because the person has mental illness or serious emotional disturbance;
(21)
"Support" means any activity or resource that enables a service recipient to participate in a service for mental illness or serious emotional disturbance or in community life; and
(22)
"Treatment resource" means any public or private facility, service, or program providing treatment or rehabilitation services for mental illness or serious emotional disturbance, including, but not limited to, detoxification centers, hospitals, community mental health centers, clinics or programs, halfway houses, and rehabilitation centers.
Amended by 2024 Tenn. Acts, ch. 688,s 12, eff. 7/1/2024.
Amended by 2024 Tenn. Acts, ch. 688,s 11, eff. 7/1/2024.
Amended by 2024 Tenn. Acts, ch. 688,s 10, eff. 7/1/2024.
Amended by 2024 Tenn. Acts, ch. 688,s 9, eff. 7/1/2024.
Amended by 2024 Tenn. Acts, ch. 688,s 8, eff. 7/1/2024.
Amended by 2024 Tenn. Acts, ch. 688,s 7, eff. 7/1/2024.
Amended by 2024 Tenn. Acts, ch. 688,s 6, eff. 7/1/2024.
Amended by 2024 Tenn. Acts, ch. 688,s 5, eff. 7/1/2024.
Acts 2000, ch. 947, § 1; 2001, ch. 334, § 1; 2002, ch. 730, § 1; 2006, ch. 674, § 1; 2008 , ch. 1016, § 3; 2009 , ch. 531, §§ 31, 32; 2010 , ch. 734, § 1; 2010 , ch. 1100, §§ 25 - 27; 2011 , ch. 158, §§ 10 - 12; 2012 , ch. 575, §§ 1, 2.