Definitions.

  1. Law
  2. Oklahoma Statutes
  3. Mental Health
  4. Definitions.

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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.a."Minor in need of treatment" means a minor who because of his or her mental illness or drug or alcohol dependency:

    • (1)poses a substantial risk of physical harm to self in the near future as manifested by evidence of serious threats of or attempts at suicide or other significant self-inflicted bodily harm,
    • (2)poses a substantial risk of physical harm to another person or persons in the near future as manifested by evidence of violent behavior directed toward another person or persons,
    • (3)has placed another person or persons in a reasonable fear of violent behavior or serious physical harm directed toward such person or persons as manifested by serious and immediate threats,
    • (4)is in a condition of severe deterioration such that, without intervention, there exists a substantial risk that severe impairment or injury to the minor will result in the near future, or
    • (5)poses a substantial risk of serious physical injury to self or death in the near future as manifested by evidence that the minor is unable to provide for and is not providing for his or her basic physical needs.
  • b.The mental health or substance abuse history of the minor may be used as part of the evidence to determine whether the minor is a minor in need of treatment as defined in this section. The mental health or substance abuse history of the minor shall not be the sole basis for this determination.
  • c.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 or American Osteopathic Board of Neurology and Psychiatry,
  • b.a physician licensed pursuant to the Oklahoma Allopathic Medical and Surgical Licensure and Supervision Act or the Oklahoma Osteopathic Medicine Act,
  • 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 the Licensed Professional Counselors Act,
  • 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 the Marital and Family Therapist Licensure Act,
  • g.a licensed behavioral practitioner as defined in the Licensed Behavioral Practitioner Act,
  • h.an advanced practice nurse, as defined in the Oklahoma Nursing Practice Act, specializing in mental health,
  • i.a physician assistant, who is licensed in good standing in this state, or
  • j.a licensed alcohol and drug counselor/mental health (LADC/MH) as defined in the Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselors Act.

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,
  • b.a person judicially appointed as a legal guardian or custodian 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; Laws 2016, c. 280, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2016; Laws 2019, c. 360, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2019.


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