The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

(1) Administrative law judge--An attorney who serves as a hearings examiner in a due process hearing, including a release hearing or Employee Misconduct Registry (EMR) hearing.

(2) Adult--A person aged 18 or older, or an emancipated minor.

(3) Adult with a disability--A person aged 18 or older, or an emancipated minor, with a physical, mental, or developmental disability that substantially impairs the person's ability to adequately provide for his or her own care or protection.

(4) Allegation--An assertion that an alleged victim is in a state of or at risk of harm due to abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation.

(5) Alleged perpetrator--A person who is reported to be responsible for the abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation of an alleged victim.

(6) Alleged victim--An adult with a disability or an adult aged 65 or older who has been reported to APS to be in a state of or at risk of harm due to abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation.

(7) Alleged victim/perpetrator--An adult with a disability or an adult aged 65 or older who has been reported to APS to be in a state of or at risk of self-neglect.

(8) APS--Adult Protective Services, a division of DFPS.

(9) Capacity to consent to protective services--Having the mental and physical ability to understand the services offered and to accept or reject those services knowing the consequences of the decision.

(10) Caretaker-- (A) A guardian, representative payee, or other person who by act, words, or course of conduct has acted so as to cause a reasonable person to conclude that the person has accepted the responsibility for protection, food, shelter, or care for an alleged victim; (B) An employee of a home and community support services agency (HCSSA) providing non-Medicaid services to an alleged victim; or (C) A person, including a family member, privately hired and receiving monetary compensation to provide personal care services, as defined in Texas Health and Safety Code, §142.001(22-a), to an alleged victim.

(11) Client--An alleged victim or alleged victim/perpetrator who has been determined by a validated finding to be in need of protective services. The alleged victim does not have to meet financial eligibility requirements.

(12) Commissioner--The commissioner of DFPS or the commissioner's designee.

(13) Designated perpetrator--An alleged perpetrator who has been determined by a validated finding to have abused, neglected, or financially exploited a client. A designated perpetrator may be eligible for inclusion on the Employee Misconduct Registry, when the abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation meets the definition of reportable conduct.

(14) Designated victim--An alleged victim with a valid abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation finding.

(15) Designated victim/perpetrator--An alleged victim/perpetrator with a validated self-neglect finding.

(16) DFPS--Department of Family and Protective Services.

(17) Emancipated minor--A person under 18 years of age who has the power and capacity of an adult. This includes a minor who has had the disabilities of minority removed by a court of law or a minor who, with or without parental consent, has been married. Marriage includes common-law marriage.

(18) Emergency protective services--Services provided to an alleged victim who is also the subject of an investigation conducted by HHSC PI under Texas Human Resources Code, Chapter 48, Subchapter F, to alleviate danger of serious harm or death.

(19) Emotional harm--A highly unpleasant mental reaction with observable signs of distress, such as anguish, grief, fright, humiliation, or fury.

(20) Employee Misconduct Registry (EMR)--A database established under Texas Health and Safety Code, Chapter 253, and maintained by HHSC that contains the names of persons who have committed reportable conduct. A person whose name is recorded in the EMR is prohibited by law from working for certain facilities or agencies in Texas, as provided under Texas Health and Safety Code, Chapter 253.

(21) EMR hearing--A due process hearing offered to a person who has been found to have committed reportable conduct for the purpose of appealing the finding of reportable conduct as well as the underlying finding of abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation.

(22) Goods--Tangible objects such as food, clothing, shelter and other items necessary to meet one's basic needs.

(23) HHSC--Health and Human Services Commission.

(24) HHSC PI--Health and Human Services Commission Regulatory Services Division Provider Investigations.

(25) Home and community support services agency (HCSSA)--An agency licensed under Texas Health and Safety Code, Chapter 142.

(26) Intimidation--Behavior by actions or words creating fear of physical harm, death, or abandonment.

(27) Ongoing relationship--A personal relationship that includes: (A) frequent and regular interaction; (B) a reasonable assumption that the interaction will continue; and (C) an establishment of trust, beyond a commercial or contractual agreement.

(28) Physical harm--Physical pain, injury, illness, or any impairment of physical condition.

(29) Protective services--The services furnished by DFPS or by another protective services agency to an APS client, designated victim, or designated victim/perpetrator, or to that person's relative or caretaker if DFPS determines the services are necessary to prevent the client, designated victim, or designated victim/perpetrator from being in or returning to a state of abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation. These services may include social casework, case management, and arranging for psychiatric and health evaluation, home care, day care, social services, health care, respite services, and other services consistent with Texas Human Resources Code, §48.002. The term does not include the investigation of an allegation of abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation.

(30) Purchased client services--A type of protective services provided in accordance with Texas Human Resources Code, §48.002(a)(5), including, but not limited to, emergency shelter, medical, and psychiatric assessments, in-home care, residential care, heavy housecleaning, minor home repairs, money management, transportation, emergency food, medication, and other supplies.

(31) Release hearing--A formal due process hearing conducted by an administrative law judge. A release hearing provides a designated perpetrator with an opportunity to appeal DFPS's decision to release information about him or her to persons or entities outside DFPS, except for information released as required or allowed by state or federal law or in accordance with this chapter.

(32) Report--An allegation of abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation, as described in Texas Human Resources Code, §48.002, which is made under Texas Human Resources Code, §48.051(a).

(33) Reporter--A person who makes a report to DFPS about a situation of alleged abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation of an alleged victim.

(34) Serious harm--In danger of sustaining significant physical harm or death; or danger of imminent impoverishment or deprivation of basic needs.

(35) Services--Activities provided by others, including, but not limited to, cooking, cleaning, money management, medical care, or mental health care.

(36) Substantially impairs--When a disability grossly and chronically diminishes an adult's physical or mental ability to live independently or provide self-care as determined through observation, diagnosis, evaluation, or assessment.

(37) Sustained perpetrator--A designated perpetrator whose validated finding of abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation of a designated victim has been sustained by an administrative law judge in a due process hearing, including a release hearing or Employee Misconduct Registry (EMR) hearing, or if the designated perpetrator has waived the right to a hearing.

(38) Unreasonable confinement--An act that results in a forced isolation from the people one would normally associate with, including friends, family, neighbors, and professionals; an inappropriate restriction of movement; or the use of any inappropriate restraint.

Source Note: The provisions of this §705.101 adopted to be effective February 1, 2021, 46 TexReg 317