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Idaho Statutes
Idaho Statutes are updated to the website July 1 following the legislative session.
JUVENILE PROCEEDINGS
CHAPTER 24
CHILDREN’S MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES
16-2403. Definitions. As used in this chapter:
(1) "Child" means an individual less than eighteen (18) years of age and not emancipated by either marriage or legal proceeding.
(2) "Consistent with the least restrictive alternative principle" means that services are delivered in the setting that places the fewest restrictions on the personal liberty of the child and that provides the greatest integration with individuals who do not have disabilities, in typical and age-appropriate school, community and family environments, which is consistent with safe, effective and cost-effective treatment for the child and family.
(3) "Department" means the department of health and welfare.
(4) "Designated examiner" means a psychiatrist, psychologist, psychiatric nurse, or social worker and such other mental health professionals as may be designated in accordance with rules promulgated pursuant to the provisions of chapter 52, title 67, Idaho Code, by the department of health and welfare. Any person designated by the department director will be specially qualified by training and experience in the diagnosis and treatment of mental or mentally related illnesses or conditions.
(5) "Director" means the director of the state department of health and welfare.
(6) "Emergency" means a situation in which the child’s condition, as evidenced by recent behavior, poses a significant threat to the health or safety of the child, his family or others, or poses a serious risk of substantial deterioration in the child’s condition which cannot be eliminated by the use of supportive services or intervention by the child’s parents, or mental health professionals, and treatment in the community while the child remains in his family home.
(7) "Informed consent to treatment" means a knowing and voluntary decision to undergo a specific course of treatment, evidenced in writing, and made by an emancipated child, or a child’s parent, or guardian, who has the capacity to make an informed decision, after the staff of the facility or other provider of treatment has explained the nature and effects of the proposed treatment.
(8) "Involuntary treatment" means treatment, services and placement of children provided without consent of the parent of a child, under the authority of a court order obtained pursuant to this chapter, as directed by an order of disposition issued by a designated employee of the department of health and welfare under section 16-2415, Idaho Code.
(9) "Lacks capacity to make an informed decision concerning treatment" means that the parent is unable to understand the nature and effects of hospitalization or treatment, or is unable to engage in a rational decision-making process regarding such hospitalization or treatment, as evidenced by an inability to weigh the risks and benefits, despite conscientious efforts to explain them in terms that the parent can understand.
(10) "Likely to cause harm to himself or to suffer substantial mental or physical deterioration" means that, as evidenced by recent behavior, the child:
(a) Is likely in the near future to inflict substantial physical injury upon himself;
(b) Is likely to suffer significant deprivation of basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter, health or safety; or
(c) Will suffer a substantial increase or persistence of symptoms of mental illness or serious emotional disturbance which is likely to result in an inability to function in the community without risk to his safety or well-being or the safety or well-being of others, and which cannot be treated adequately with available home and community-based outpatient services.
(11) "Likely to cause harm to others" means that, as evidenced by recent behavior causing, attempting, or threatening such harm with the apparent ability to complete the act, a child is likely to cause physical injury or physical abuse to another person.
(12) "Protection and advocacy system" means the agency designated by the governor as the state protection and advocacy system pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 6042 and 42 U.S.C. 10801 et seq.
(13) "Serious emotional disturbance" means a diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM) diagnosable mental health, emotional or behavioral disorder, or a neuropsychiatric condition which results in a serious disability, and which requires sustained treatment interventions, and causes the child’s functioning to be impaired in thought, perception, affect or behavior. A disorder shall be considered to "result in a serious disability" if it causes substantial impairment of functioning in family, school or community that is measured by and documented through the use of a standardized instrument approved by the department and conducted or supervised by a qualified clinician. A substance abuse disorder does not, by itself, constitute a serious emotional disturbance, although it may coexist with serious emotional disturbance.
(14) "Special therapy" means any treatment modality used to treat children with serious emotional disturbances which is subject to restrictions or special conditions imposed by the department of health and welfare rules.
(15) "Surrogate parent" means any person appointed to act in the place of the parent of a child for purposes of developing an individual education program under the authority of the individuals with disabilities education act, 20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq., as amended.
(16) "Teens at risk" means individuals attending Idaho secondary public schools who have been identified as expressing or exhibiting indications of depression, suicidal inclination, emotional trauma, substance abuse or other behaviors or symptoms that indicate the existence of, or that may lead to, the development of mental illness or substance abuse.
(17) "Treatment facility" means a facility or program meeting applicable licensing standards that has been approved for the provisions of services under this chapter by the department of health and welfare.
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