OAR 413-053-0000: Definitions

(1) "Child" means a person who: (a) Is under 18 years of age; or (b) Is under 21 years of age and residing in or receiving care or services at a child-caring agency or proctor foster home. (2) "Child protective services" (CPS) means a specialized social service program that Child Welfare provides on behalf of children or, when applicable, young adults who may be unsafe after a report of abuse is received. (3) “Contractor” means the person or entity that is awarded a contract and is responsible for the provision of services. (4) "CPS assessment" means an investigation into a report of abuse pursuant to ORS 419B.020, ORS 418. 205 - 418.327, or ORS 419B.035 that includes activities and interventions to identify and analyze safety threats, determine if there is reasonable cause to believe abuse occurred, and assure safety through protective action plans, initial safety plans, or ongoing safety planning. (5) “Department” means the Oregon Department of Human Services. (6) “Family” means, at a minimum but not to the exclusion of siblings as defined in ORS 419A.004 or other persons living in the same household with a child, the child and: (a) The child’s parent as defined in ORS 419A.004; (b) The child’s guardian appointed pursuant to ORS chapter 125; or (c) A person who has a caregiver relationship as defined in ORS 419B.116 with the child. (7) “Flexible funds” means expenditures that are intended to provide goods and services that support child safety and maintain a child safely in the home or to expedite reunification, attachment, permanency and well-being. (8) “Front-end intervention” means a service that provides specialists in areas such as alcohol and drug treatment, domestic violence, mental health or a human service generalist, who may accompany Department caseworkers on initial CPS calls and visits in response to allegations or reports of abuse or neglect. (9) "Impending danger safety threat" means a family behavior, condition, or circumstance that meets all five safety threshold criteria. When it is occurring, this type of threat to a child is not immediate, obvious, or occurring at the onset of the CPS intervention. This threat is identified and understood more fully by evaluating and understanding individual and family functioning. (10) "Initial safety plan" means a documented set of actions or interventions sufficient to protect a child from an impending danger safety threat in order to allow for completion of the CPS assessment. (11) "Moderate to high needs" means observable family behaviors, conditions, or circumstances that are occurring now; and over the next year without intervention, are likely to have a negative impact on a child's physical, sexual, psychological, cognitive, or behavioral development or functioning. The potential negative impact is not judged to be severe. While intervention is not required for the child to be safe, it is reasonable to determine that short-term, targeted services could reduce or eliminate the likelihood that the negative impact will occur. (12) “Navigator” means a service provider who works with families, assists them in understanding the safety concerns leading to Department involvement, encourages participation with the Department and other service providers, locates resources and eliminates barriers . (13) "Ongoing safety plan" means a documented set of actions or interventions that manage the safety of a child or, when applicable, a young adult after Child Welfare has identified one or more impending danger safety threats at the conclusion of a CPS assessment or anytime during ongoing work with a family. (14) “Other admin-only case” refers to a case opened by the Department for the sole purpose of providing contracted community services post CPS assessment to a family with moderate to high needs. No casework activities, including monitoring child safety, occur. (15) "Present danger safety threat" means an immediate, significant, and clearly observable family behavior, condition, or circumstance occurring in the present tense, already endangering or threatening to endanger a child or, when applicable, a young adult. The family behavior, condition, or circumstance is happening now and it is currently in the process of actively placing a child or, when applicable, a young adult in peril. (16) "Protective action plan" means an immediate, same day, short-term plan, lasting a maximum of 10 calendar days, sufficient to protect a child from a present danger safety threat. (17) “SPRF” means the Strengthening, Preserving and Reunifying Families program. Services paid for with SPRF funds are intended to prevent a child from entering substitute care and allow a child to remain with or reunify with his or her family. The services: (a) Are flexible and can be provided during the Department’s initial involvement with the family; (b) Can be ongoing, long or short term; and (c) Can be focused on the child, family or both. (18) “Strengths and needs assessment” means a tool used to assess the strengths and needs, including service needs, of a family determined to have moderate to high needs. (19) "Substitute care" means the out-of-home placement of a child or young adult who is in the legal or physical custody and care of the Department.