§ 43A-5-502. Definitions.

As used in the Inpatient Mental Health and Substance Abuse Treatment of Minors Act:

1.  "Minor" means any person under eighteen (18) years of age;

2.  "Minor in need of treatment" means a minor:

a.who has a demonstrable mental illness or who is drug or alcohol dependent and as a result of that mental illness or dependency can be expected within the near future to inflict or attempt to inflict serious bodily harm to himself or herself or another person, and who has engaged in one or more recent overt acts or made significant recent threats which substantially support that expectation, or

b.who has a demonstrable mental illness or is drug or alcohol dependent of sufficient severity to cause substantial impairment or disability in at least two of the following major areas of functioning in the life of the minor:

(1)              family relations,

(2)              school performance,

(3)              social interactions,

(4)              ability to perform independently the basic tasks of personal hygiene, hydration and nutrition, or

(5)              self-protection.

A determination regarding the ability of the minor to perform independently such basic tasks shall be based upon the age of the minor and the reasonable and appropriate expectation of the abilities of a minor of such age to perform such tasks.

The term "minor in need of treatment" shall not mean a minor afflicted with epilepsy, a developmental disability, organic brain syndrome, physical handicaps, brief periods of intoxication caused by such substances as alcohol or drugs or who is truant or sexually active unless the minor also meets the criteria for a minor in need of treatment pursuant to subparagraph a or b of this paragraph;

3.  "Consent" means the voluntary, express, and informed agreement to treatment in a mental health facility by a minor sixteen (16) years of age or older or by a parent of the minor;

4.  "Individualized treatment plan" means a specific plan for the care and treatment of an individual minor who requires inpatient mental health treatment.  The plan shall be developed with maximum involvement of the family of the minor, consistent with the desire of the minor for confidentiality and with the treatment needs of the minor, and shall clearly include the following:

a.a statement of the presenting problems of the minor, short- and long-term treatment goals and the estimated date of discharge.  The short- and long-term goals shall be based upon a clinical evaluation and shall include specific behavioral and emotional goals against which the success of treatment can be measured,

b.treatment methods and procedures to be used to achieve these goals, which methods and procedures are related to each of these goals and which include, but are not limited to, specific prognosis for achieving each of these goals,

c.identification of the types of professional personnel who will carry out the treatment procedures including, but not limited to, appropriate licensed mental health professionals, education professionals, and other health or social service professionals, and

d.documentation of the involvement of the minor or the parent of the minor or legal custodian in the development of the treatment plan and whether all persons have consented to such plan;

5.  "Inpatient treatment" means treatment services offered or provided for a continuous period of more than twenty-four (24) hours in residence after admission to a mental health or substance abuse treatment facility for the purpose of observation, evaluation or treatment;

6.  "Least restrictive alternative" means the treatment and conditions of treatment which, separately and in combination, are no more intrusive or restrictive of freedom than reasonably necessary to achieve a substantial therapeutic benefit to the minor, or to protect the minor or others from physical injury;

7.  "Less restrictive alternative to inpatient treatment" means and includes, but is not limited to, outpatient counseling services, including services provided in the home of the minor and which may be referred to as "home-based services", day treatment or day hospitalization services, respite care, or foster care or group home care, as defined by Section 1-1-105 of Title 10A of the Oklahoma Statutes, through a program established and specifically designed to meet the needs of minors in need of mental health treatment, or a combination thereof;

8.  "Licensed mental health professional" means a person who is not related by blood or marriage to the person being examined or does not have any interest in the estate of the person being examined, and who is:

a.a psychiatrist who is a diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology,

b.a physician licensed pursuant to Chapter 11 or Chapter 14 of Title 59 of the Oklahoma Statutes who has received specific training for and is experienced in, performing mental health therapeutic, diagnostic, or counseling functions,

c.a clinical psychologist who is duly licensed to practice by the State Board of Examiners of Psychologists,

d.a professional counselor licensed pursuant to Chapter 44 of Title 59 of the Oklahoma Statutes,

e.a person licensed as a clinical social worker pursuant to the provisions of the Licensed Social Workers Act,

f.a licensed marital and family therapist as defined in Chapter 44A of Title 59 of the Oklahoma Statutes,

g.a licensed behavioral practitioner as defined in Chapter 44B of Title 59 of the Oklahoma Statutes, or

h.an advanced practice nurse, as defined in Chapter 12 of Title 59 of the Oklahoma Statutes, specializing in mental health.

For the purposes of this paragraph, "licensed" means that the person holds a current, valid license issued in accordance with the laws of this state;

9.  "Mental health evaluation" means an examination or evaluation of a minor for the purpose of making a determination whether, in the opinion of the licensed mental health professional making the evaluation, the minor is a minor in need of treatment and, if so, is in need of inpatient treatment and for the purpose of preparing reports or making recommendations for the most appropriate and least restrictive treatment for the minor;

10.  "Mental health facility" means a public or private hospital or related institution as defined by Section 1-701 of Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes offering or providing inpatient mental health services, a public or private facility accredited as an inpatient or residential psychiatric facility by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, or a facility operated by the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and designated by the Commissioner of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services as appropriate for the inpatient evaluation or treatment of minors;

11.  "Mental illness" means a substantial disorder of the child's thought, mood, perception, psychological orientation or memory that demonstrably and significantly impairs judgment, behavior or capacity to recognize reality or to meet the ordinary demands of life.  "Mental illness" may include substance abuse, which is the use, without compelling medical reason, of any substance which results in psychological or physiological dependency as a function of continued use in such a manner as to induce mental, emotional, or physical impairment and cause socially dysfunctional or socially disordering behavior;

12.  "Parent" means:

a.a biological or adoptive parent who has legal custody of the minor or has visitation rights, or

b.a person judicially appointed as a legal guardian of the minor, or

c.a relative within the third degree of consanguinity who exercises the rights and responsibilities of legal custody by delegation from a parent, as provided by law;

13.  "Person responsible for the supervision of the case" means:

a.when the minor is in the legal custody of a private child care agency, the Department of Human Services or the Office of Juvenile Affairs, the caseworker or other person designated by the agency to supervise the case, or

b.when the minor is a ward of the court and under the court-ordered supervision of the Department of Human Services, the Office of Juvenile Affairs or a statutorily constituted juvenile bureau, the person designated by the Department of Human Services, the Office of Juvenile Affairs or juvenile bureau to supervise the case;

14.  “Initial assessment (medical necessity review)” means the examination of current and recent behaviors and symptoms of a minor who appears to be mentally ill, alcohol-dependent, or drug-dependent and a minor requiring treatment, whose condition is such that it appears that emergency detention may be warranted by a licensed mental health professional at a facility approved by the Commissioner of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, or a designee, as appropriate for such examination to determine if emergency detention of the minor is warranted, and whether admission for inpatient mental illness or drug- or alcohol-dependence treatment or evaluation constitutes the least restrictive level of care necessary;

15.  "Ward of the court" means a minor adjudicated to be a deprived child, a child in need of supervision, or a delinquent child;

16.  "Treatment" means any planned intervention intended to improve the functioning of a minor in those areas which show impairment as a result of mental illness or drug or alcohol dependence; and

17.  “Prehearing detention order” means a court order that authorizes a facility to detain a minor pending a hearing on a petition to determine whether the minor is a minor in need of treatment.

Added by Laws 1992, c. 298, § 2, eff. July 1, 1993.  Amended by Laws 1994, c. 156, § 1, eff. July 1, 1994; Laws 1995, c. 254, § 3, eff. Nov. 1, 1995; Laws 1998, c. 144, § 3, emerg. eff. April 22, 1998; Laws 2000, c. 49, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2000; Laws 2002, c. 327, § 2, eff. July 1, 2002; Laws 2003, c. 130, § 2, eff. Nov. 1, 2003; Laws 2003, c. 394, § 1; Laws 2005, c. 110, § 2, eff. Nov. 1, 2005; Laws 2006, c. 97, § 25, eff. Nov. 1, 2006; Laws 2009, c. 234, § 138, emerg. eff. May 21, 2009.