New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 10 - HUMAN SERVICES › Chapter 91 - ORGANIZATION AND GENERAL POLICY PROVISIONS OF THE COMMISSION FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED › Subchapter 1 - PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF COMMISSION SERVICES › Section 10:91-1.2 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
The following words and terms, when used in this chapter,
				  shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates
				  otherwise:
"Accommodation" means a process by which a person with a
				  visual impairment uses alternative techniques.
"Active status" means that a person has been found eligible
				  to receive Commission services.
"Adaptive skills" means those skills which will enable a
				  visually impaired person to perform tasks that normally involve the use of the
				  visual sense.
"Ancillary caseworker" means a Commission staff person who is
				  providing services to a client but is not the client's primary
				  caseworker.
"Applicant" means a person who has completed the agency's
				  application for service form, but has not yet been found either eligible or
				  ineligible for placement into active status.
"Best correction" means the optimal visual acuity which a
				  person can attain after their visual functioning is evaluated and corrected by
				  an eye practitioner.
"Blind" see legally blind.
"Client" refers to a person who has been found eligible to
				  receive Commission services.
"Comparable services" means any service or financial
				  assistance for the same services from any other source(s); also known as
				  similar benefits.
"Competitive employment" means work in the competitive labor
				  market that is performed on a full or part time basis in an integrated setting
				  and for which an individual is compensated at or above the minimum wage, but
				  not less than the customary wage and level of benefits paid by an employer for
				  the same or similar work performed by individuals who are not disabled.
"Contested case" means an adversary proceeding, including any
				  licensing proceeding, in which the legal rights, duties, obligations,
				  privileges, benefits or other legal relations of specific parties are required
				  by constitutional right or by statute to be determined by an agency by
				  decisions, determinations, or orders, addressed to them or disposing of their
				  interests, after opportunity for an agency hearing (see
				  52:14B-2). The required hearing
				  must be designed to result in an adjudication concerning the rights, duties,
				  obligations, privileges, benefits or other legal relations of specific parties
				  over which there exist disputed questions of fact, law or disposition relating
				  to past, current or proposed activities or interests. Contested cases are
				  neither informational nor intended to provide a forum for the expression of
				  public sentiment on proposed agency action or broad policy issues affecting
				  entire industries or large, undefined classes of people.
"Daily living skills" means those skills which a person
				  learns that enables them to perform personal care activities, for example,
				  dressing, washing and shopping.
"Developmentally disabled" means a severe, chronic disability
				  of a person which is attributable to a mental or physical impairment or
				  combination of mental or physical impairment that is manifest before age 22, is
				  likely to continue indefinitely, results in substantial functional limitations
				  in three or more of the following areas of major life activity, that is,
				  self-care, receptive and expressive language, mobility, self-direction, and
				  capacity for independent living or economic self-sufficiency, and reflects the
				  need for a combination and sequence of special interdisciplinary or generic
				  care, treatment or other services which are of life-long or extended duration
				  and are individually planned and coordinated. Developmentally disabled
				  includes, but is not limited to, severe disabilities attributable to mental
				  retardation, autism, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, spina bifida and other
				  neurological impairments where the above criteria are met.
"Duly authorized representative" means an individual who is
				  empowered to speak on behalf of another.
"Early intervention" means the period of time between birth
				  and a child's third birthday.
"Eligible" means that a visually impaired person has met the
				  criteria set forth for the services they wish to receive.
"Eye practitioner" means a licensed ophthalmologist or
				  licensed optometrist.
"Family income" means gross wages before deductions,
				  pensions, income from property and trusts, disability payments, interest and
				  dividends, public assistance payments, and any other income, not including
				  loans, available to a client or legally responsible person. Dividends or
				  interest from savings or insurance policies are counted as income.
"Field of vision defect" means that the person cannot detect
				  visual stimuli throughout the entire area being observed which normally can be
				  seen without moving the head or eyes. See definition of "legally blind" in this
				  section.
"Homemaker" means a person who performs the major portion of
				  tasks associated with maintaining a home.
"Independent living" means that a person is able to maximize
				  their level of independent and productive functioning in the most appropriate,
				  inclusive and least restrictive setting.
"Intake" means the process by which the Commission gathers
				  information and shares information regarding agency services pursuant to an
				  application.
"Last dollar resource" means that the Commission will execute
				  payment for a service only after all other potential payors have been
				  eliminated.
"Legally blind" means central visual acuity that does not
				  exceed 20/200 in the better eye with best correction or fields of vision that
				  are so limited that the widest diameter of visual field subtends an angle no
				  greater than 20 degrees.
"Legally responsible person" means spouse, parent or children
				  depending on the ages involved (see:
				  44:4-100 et seq.). Where a client
				  over age 18 is supported by a parent or other responsible persons the full
				  financial resources of the parents or legally responsible relatives is counted
				  in establishing family income.
"Low vision" means reduced visual acuity and/or abnormal
				  visual fields which are the result of a disorder in the visual system.
"Medical professionals" for the purposes of consultation
				  regarding exceptions to the fee schedule, as well as services and medical
				  matters, means physicians who specialize in ophthalmology (certified by the
				  American Board of Ophthalmology); psychiatrists and neuropsychiatrists licensed
				  by the State Board of Medical Examiners; psychologists licensed by the State
				  Board of Psychological Examiners; ophthalmic dispensers and technicians
				  licensed by the State Board of Examiners of Ophthalmic Dispensers and
				  Ophthalmic Technicians; and clinical social workers licensed by the State Board
				  of Social Work Examiners.
"Non-contested case" means any hearing offered by an agency
				  for reasons not requiring a contested case proceeding under the statutory
				  definition of contested case.
"Non-immigrant aliens" are individuals admitted for a
				  particular purpose or time period and are expected to return to their home
				  country upon completion of a specific purpose or time period.
"Orientation and mobility services" are techniques designed
				  to teach methods for safe, independent indoor or outdoor travel.
"Preschool" means the period of time between age three and a
				  child's fifth birthday.
"Primary caseworker" means the Commission staff person who
				  coordinates service delivery on behalf of an individual client.
"Referral" means a person, or someone on their behalf, has
				  contacted the Commission seeking services.
"Resident" means a person who is currently living in New
				  Jersey, or for the purpose of vocational rehabilitation, living in the United
				  States and who is either a United States citizen by birth or naturalization or
				  can provide documentation that they have either applied for and/or been granted
				  permanent residence by the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
"Self-employment" means that a person owns and operates their
				  own business.
"Severe field of vision defect" means a field of vision that
				  is limited to an angle of 40 degrees or less.
"Specialized vision instruction" means the teaching of
				  students with a visual impairment by emphasizing concrete experiences, learning
				  by doing and unifying experiences to overcome the limitations imposed by the
				  visual impairment.
"Substantial impediment to employment" means that a physical
				  or mental disability (in light of attendant medical, psychological, vocational,
				  educational, and other related factors) hinders an individual from preparing
				  for, entering into, engaging in, or retaining employment, consistent with the
				  individual's capacities and abilities.
"Visual acuity" means the measurement of the ability of the
				  eye to perceive the shape of objects in the direct line of vision and to
				  distinguish detail.
"Visual impairment" means visual acuity that may range from
				  20/70 to 20/200 in the better eye with correction, or in which the peripheral
				  field has contracted so that the diameter of the visual field subtends an angle
				  no greater than 40 degrees but no less than 20 degrees.