Connecticut Administrative Code › Title 17a - Social and Human Services and Resources › 238 - Rights of Persons Under the Supervision of the Commissioner of Mental Retardation › Section 17a-238-1 - Definitions

Current through July 10, 2024
For the purpose of Sections 17a-238-1 through 6 inclusive, the
				following definitions shall apply:
(a)
Department
and
Departmental
as used in these
			 regulations refer to the Department of Mental Retardation.
(b)
Persons
or
clients
are individuals served by the Training Schools and
			 Regional Centers under the supervision of the Commissioner of Mental
			 Retardation.
(c)
Service
is any departmental program that provides: direct care and
			 treatment; functional education; preacademic, academic, prevocational and
			 vocational skills training; self-help skills training; therapy, counseling,
			 recreation, and evaluations which include, but are not limited to,
			 psychological, medical, social service, audiological and
			 communication.
(d)
Corporal
			 punishment
is the application of a painful stimulus to the body as a
			 penalty for behavior, but does not include the contingent application of such a
			 stimulus in an approved written behavior modification or behavioral therapy
			 program which complies with federal and state regulations.
(e)
Therapy
is any of many
			 methods utilized by many disciplines whose purpose is to enable the client to
			 interact with and adapt to the environment so as to function in a manner which
			 is adequate for his or her needs and for the development to full potential.
			 These therapy methods include, but are not limited to, behavior modification
			 and psychotropic drug therapy.
(f)
Restraint
is the use of any device or means to hold back, bind,
			 tie, restrict, or otherwise prevent a client from doing something, and from
			 which the client cannot voluntarily extricate himself or herself. Restraint
			 shall include totally enclosed cribs. Supportive devices used in normative
			 situations to achieve proper body position and balance shall not be considered
			 to be restraints, provided that they are approved by a physician licensed to
			 practice in the State of Connecticut.
(g)
Seclusion
is the placement
			 of a client alone in a locked room, but does not include the contingent use of
			 a time-out from positive reinforcement room when employed in an approved
			 written behavior modification or behavior therapy program which complies with
			 state regulations and departmental policy.
(h)
Force
is constraining or
			 compelling the actions of another by physical means.
(i)
Habilitation
is the process
			 by which the staff of the facility assists the client to acquire and maintain
			 those life skills which enable the client to cope more effectively with the
			 demands of that client's own person and environment, and to raise the level of
			 the client's physical, mental and social efficiency. Habilitation includes, but
			 is not limited to programs of formal, structured education and
			 treatment.
(j)
Treatment
shall refer to and be synonomous with therapy.
(k)
Emergency intervention
as
			 here defined refers to the actions staff shall take in response to a situation
			 which threatens health or life as a result of self-injury and/or violent
			 assaultive behavior toward others.
(l)
Staff
shall include anyone
			 employed by the Department, the Training Schools, the Regional Centers and any
			 other authorized person having direct contact with, or responsibilities for,
			 clients.
(m)
An individual
			 "plan of care"
is a written plan setting forth goals or behaviorally
			 stated objectives and prescribing an integrated program of individually
			 designed activities, experiences, training, or therapies necessary to achieve
			 such goals or objectives. The overall objective of the plan is to attain or
			 maintain the optimal physical, intellectual, emotional, social or vocational
			 functioning of which the individual is presently or potentially capable.
			 "Individual plan of care" and "individual program plan" are used
			 interchangeably hereafter.
(n)
Training
as herein defined refers to a systematic and planned
			 application of procedures in the form of a formal written behavior program for
			 the purpose of helping a client acquire and/or maintain behaviors, skills and
			 capabilities.
(o)
Chemical
			 Restraints
as here defined are drugs such as tranquilizers or other
			 psychopharmacologic agents which are used for the purpose of controlling or
			 limiting behavior.