Code of Maine Rules › 05 - DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION › 071 - EDUCATION - GENERAL › Chapter 18 - RULES FOR THE LICENSURE OF RESIDENTIAL CHILD CARE FACILITIES › Section 071-18-2 - DEFINITIONS

Current through 2024-29, July 17, 2024
A. For the purposes of these rules the
				meaning of all adjectives and adverbs such as adequate, competent, substantial,
				qualified, necessary, reasonable, satisfactory, sufficient, effective,
				appropriate or suitable used to qualify a persons policy, procedure, equipment
				or building shall be determined by the licensing authority.
B. As used in these rules, the following
				words shall have the following meanings unless the context requires otherwise.
Advisory Board. An association of persons which makes
				  recommendations regarding the policies and procedures of a residential facility
				  to the governing body of that facility but having no proprietary interest in
				  the facility or actual managerial or administrative authority.
Approval. (See definition of License.)
Bedroom. A distinct space used as a sleeping area for
				  children. A dormitory-style bedroom may be broken into several bedroom spaces
				  using partitions. Closets, alcoves and corridors or any other room which is
				  normally used for other than sleeping is not considered to be a bedroom.
Blood Relatives. Natural or adoptive mother, father.,
				  brother, sister, grandparent, uncle, aunt, niece, nephew, first cousin.
Board of Directors. An association of persons which has
				  ultimate administrative and managerial control and is empowered to serve as the
				  governing body of a residential facility. This board normally discharges its
				  responsibilities by employing a chief executive officer and formulating
				  policies for the facility's operations.
Chemical Restraint. The use of psychotropic agents as a form
				  of restraint.
Child. Any person who has not attained the age of eighteen
				  (18).
Children's Home. Any residence maintained exclusively or in
				  part for the board and care of one or more children under the age of eighteen
				  (18) by anyone other than a relative by blood, marriage or adoption and as
				  further defined in
				  22 MRSA
				  §8101(1). Children's
				  home shall not include a facility established primarily to provide medical
				  care, a children's camp established solely for recreational and educational
				  purposes, or a school established solely for educational purposes except as
				  defined in "residential child care facility."
Department, The Department of Human Services, the Department
				  of Mental Health and Mental Retardation and/or the Department of Education
				  jointly or separately, as appropriate.
Discipline. A system of rules governing conduct which usually
				  prescribe consequences for the violation of those particular rules.
Emergency Shelter. A children's home which operates to
				  receive children twenty-four hours a day and which limits placement to thirty
				  (30) consecutive days or less and as further defined in 22 MRSA58101(2).
				  Emergency shelter shall not mean family foster home or specialized children's
				  home and, if a service of a residential child care facility shall be restricted
				  to a designated physical area of the facility.
Facility. Residential child care facility; any body licensed
				  to provide residential child care; a body applying for licensure to provide
				  residential child care.
Family Foster Home. A children's home that is a private
				  dwelling where substitute parental care is provided within a family on a
				  regular, twenty-four hours a day, residential basis. The total number of
				  children in care may not exceed six (6) including the family's legal children
				  under 16 years of age, with no more than two (2) of these children under the
				  age of two.
Governing Body. A person or persons ultimately responsible
				  for the operation of a facility. The governing body has authority over the
				  policies and activities of a facility.
Guardian. A person or persons with an ongoing legal
				  responsibility for caring for a child, including the biological or adoptive
				  mother and/or father or a court-appointed guardian.
Immediate Family. Natural or adoptive mother and father,
				  brother and sister. If extended family member(s) (e.g.* grandparent, aunt,
				  uncle, cousin, nephew, niece) live in the same household, they may be
				  considered as part of the immediate family.
Isolation. The removing of a child from a stimulus by use of
				  involuntary separation and restricted activity. Isolation may mean restriction
				  in an unlocked room with adequate supervision but shall not mean confinement in
				  a locked room.
License. Written permission, whether provisional, conditional
				  or full, issued by the department which authorizes the licensee to operate a
				  residential child care facility.
Licensing Authority. The unit(s) or person(s) authorized by
				  the department to issue licenses or approvals under these rules.
Living Unit. Any specific grouping of children who are
				  assigned to a distinct and common physical space within the total residential
				  facility and who share that space.
Mechanical Restraint. The restriction by mechanical means of
				  a child's mobility and/or ability to use his/her hands, arms or legs except
				  when such restriction is primarily for the treatment of physical injury.
Parent(s). The biological or adoptive mother and
				  father.
Passive Physical Restraint. The least amount of direct
				  physical contact required on the part of a staff member to prevent a child from
				  hurting himself/herself or others; approved methods of making such physical
				  contact.
Person. Any individual, partnership, corporation,
				  association, organization or trust.
Placing Agency. Any individual, agency or organization,
				  either publicly or privately operated, legally authorized to place a child into
				  the care of a children's home.
Principal Owner, Any person holding a greater than 7%
				  financial interest in the facility.
Relatives by Marriage. A step-brother, step-sister,
				  step-father, step-mother, or step-grandparent, a spouse of a natural aunt or
				  uncle.
Residential Child Care Facility. Any children's home which
				  provides board and care for one or more children on a regular, twenty-four hour
				  a day residential basis and as further defined in 22 MRSA {8101 (4). A
				  residential child care facility shall not mean family foster home, specialized
				  children's home or an emergency shelter facility.
Rules. The Rules for the Licensure of Residential Child Care
				  Facilities, in whole or in part.
Service Plan. A comprehensive time-limited, goal-oriented,
				  individualized plan for the care, treatment and education of a child in care of
				  a residential facility. The service plan is based on a current comprehensive
				  evaluation of the child's needs.
Specialized Children's Home. A children's home where care is
				  provided to no more than four (4) moderately to severely handicapped children
				  by a caretaker who is specifically educated and trained to provide for the
				  particular needs of each child placed. The total number of children in a
				  specialized children's home may not exceed four (4), including the caretaker's
				  legal children under sixteen years of age, with no more than two (2) children
				  under the age of two.