Terms Used In U.S. Code > Title 42 > Chapter 7 > Subchapter IV - Grants to States for Aid and Services to Needy Families With Children and for Child-Welfare Services

• Administration: means the Social Security Administration, except where the context requires otherwise. See 42 USC 1301
• administrative costs: means costs for the following, but only to the extent incurred in administering the State plan developed pursuant to this subpart: procurement, payroll management, personnel functions (other than the portion of the salaries of supervisors attributable to time spent directly supervising the provision of services by caseworkers), management, maintenance and operation of space and property, data processing and computer services, accounting, budgeting, auditing, and travel expenses (except those related to the provision of services by caseworkers or the oversight of programs funded under this subpart). See 42 USC 622
• administrative review: means a review open to the participation of the parents of the child, conducted by a panel of appropriate persons at least one of whom is not responsible for the case management of, or the delivery of services to, either the child or the parents who are the subject of the review. See 42 USC 675
• adoption assistance agreement: means a written agreement, binding on the parties to the agreement, between the State agency, other relevant agencies, and the prospective adoptive parents of a minor child which at a minimum (A) specifies the nature and amount of any payments, services, and assistance to be provided under such agreement, and (B) stipulates that the agreement shall remain in effect regardless of the State of which the adoptive parents are residents at any given time. See 42 USC 675
• adoption promotion and support services: means services and activities designed to encourage more adoptions out of the foster care system, when adoptions promote the best interests of children, including such activities as pre- and post-adoptive services and activities designed to expedite the adoption process and support adoptive families. See 42 USC 629a
• adult: means an individual who is not a minor child. See 42 USC 619
• Advice and consent: Under the Constitution, presidential nominations for executive and judicial posts take effect only when confirmed by the Senate, and international treaties become effective only when the Senate approves them by a two-thirds vote.
• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• age or developmentally-appropriate: means &mdash. See 42 USC 675
• agency or instrumentality of a foreign state: has the meaning given that term in section 1603(b) of title 28. See 22 USC 6023
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• appropriate congressional committees: means the Committee on International Relations and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate. See 22 USC 6023
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• association: when used in reference to a corporation, shall be deemed to embrace the words "successors and assigns of such company or association" in like manner as if these last-named words, or words of similar import, were expressed. See 1 USC 5
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• authorized person: means &mdash. See 42 USC 653
• Balanced budget: A budget in which receipts equal outlays.
• Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
• Baseline: Projection of the receipts, outlays, and other budget amounts that would ensue in the future without any change in existing policy. Baseline projections are used to gauge the extent to which proposed legislation, if enacted into law, would alter current spending and revenue levels.
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• Board: means the United States Metric Board, established under section 205d of this title. See 15 USC 205c
• caregiver: means a foster parent with whom a child in foster care has been placed or a designated official for a child care institution in which a child in foster care has been placed. See 42 USC 675
• case plan: means a written document which meets the requirements of section 675a of this title and includes at least the following:

  (A) A description of the type of home or institution in which a child is to be placed, including a discussion of the safety and appropriateness of the placement and how the agency which is responsible for the child plans to carry out the voluntary placement agreement entered into or judicial determination made with respect to the child in accordance with section 672(a)(1) ¹ of this title. See 42 USC 675

• case review system: means a procedure for assuring that&mdash. See 42 USC 675
• child: means an individual who has not attained 18 years of age. See 42 USC 675
• child who is a candidate for foster care: means , a child who is identified in a prevention plan under section 671(e)(4)(A) of this title as being at imminent risk of entering foster care (without regard to whether the child would be eligible for foster care maintenance payments under section 672 of this title or is or would be eligible for adoption assistance or kinship guardianship assistance payments under section 673 of this title) but who can remain safely in the child's home or in a kinship placement as long as services or programs specified in section 671(e)(1) of this title that are necessary to prevent the entry of the child into foster care are provided. See 42 USC 675
• commercial activity: has the meaning given that term in section 1603(d) of title 28. See 22 USC 6023
• Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• confiscated: refers to &mdash. See 22 USC 6023
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• cost or pricing data or price analysis: has the meaning given such terms in section 3501(a) of title 41. See 15 USC 205c
• county: includes a parish, or any other equivalent subdivision of a State or Territory of the United States. See 1 USC 2
• Cuban Government: includes the government of any political subdivision of Cuba, and any agency or instrumentality of the Government of Cuba. See 22 USC 6023
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• democratically elected government in Cuba: means a government determined by the President to have met the requirements of section 6066 of this title. See 22 USC 6023
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Discretionary spending: Spending (budget authority and outlays)controlled in annual appropriations acts.
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• domestic violence: has the meaning given such term in paragraph (7). See 42 USC 602
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• economic embargo of Cuba: refers to &mdash. See 22 USC 6023
• eligible State: means , with respect to a fiscal year, a State that, during the 27-month period ending with the close of the 1st quarter of the fiscal year, has submitted to the Secretary a plan that the Secretary has found includes the following:

  (1) Outline of family assistance program

  (A) General provisions

  A written document that outlines how the State intends to do the following:

  (i) Conduct a program, designed to serve all political subdivisions in the State (not necessarily in a uniform manner), that provides assistance to needy families with (or expecting) children and provides parents with job preparation, work, and support services to enable them to leave the program and become self-sufficient. See 42 USC 602

• Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Extradition: The formal process of delivering an accused or convicted person from authorities in one state to authorities in another state.
• Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
• family preservation services: means services for children and families designed to help families (including adoptive and extended families) at risk or in crisis, including&mdash. See 42 USC 629a
• family reunification services: means the services and activities described in subparagraph (B) that are provided to a child that is removed from the child's home and placed in a foster family home or a child care institution or a child who has been returned home and to the parents or primary caregiver of such a child, in order to facilitate the reunification of the child safely and appropriately within a timely fashion and to ensure the strength and stability of the reunification. See 42 USC 629a
• family support services: means community-based services designed to carry out the purposes described in subparagraph (B). See 42 USC 629a
• Federal facility: means any public building (as defined under section 3301(a) of title 40 ¹ and shall include any Federal building or construction project&mdash. See 15 USC 205c
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• fiscal year: means any 12-month period ending on September 30 of a calendar year. See 42 USC 619
• foster care maintenance payments: means payments to cover the cost of (and the cost of providing) food, clothing, shelter, daily supervision, school supplies, a child's personal incidentals, liability insurance with respect to a child, reasonable travel to the child's home for visitation, and reasonable travel for the child to remain in the school in which the child is enrolled at the time of placement. See 42 USC 675
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• hard-metric: means measurement, design, and manufacture using the metric system of measurement, but does not include measurement, design, and manufacture using English system measurement units which are subsequently reexpressed in the metric system of measurement. See 15 USC 205c
• including: when used in a definition contained in this chapter shall not be deemed to exclude other things otherwise within the meaning of the term defined. See 42 USC 1301
• Indian tribe: means , with respect to the State of Alaska, only the Metlakatla Indian Community of the Annette Islands Reserve and the following Alaska Native regional nonprofit corporations:

  (i) Arctic Slope Native Association. See 42 USC 619

• Indian tribe: has the meaning given the term in section 628(c) of this title. See 42 USC 629a
• Indictment: The formal charge issued by a grand jury stating that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to justify having a trial; it is used primarily for felonies.
• individual: shall include every infant member of the species homo sapiens who is born alive at any stage of development. See 1 USC 8
• international financial institutions: means the International Monetary Fund, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, International Development Association, International Finance Corporation, Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, African Development Bank, African Development Fund, Asian Development Bank, Inter-American Development Bank ² Bank for Economic Cooperation and Development in the Middle East and North Africa,,³ and Inter-American Investment Corporation. See 22 USC 262r
• Joint resolution: A legislative measure which requires the approval of both chambers.
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• knowingly: means with knowledge or having reason to know. See 22 USC 6023
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Legacy: A gift of property made by will.
• legal guardian: means the caretaker in such a relationship. See 42 USC 675
• legal guardianship: means a judicially created relationship between child and caretaker which is intended to be permanent and self-sustaining as evidenced by the transfer to the caretaker of the following parental rights with respect to the child: protection, education, care and control of the person, custody of the person, and decisionmaking. See 42 USC 675
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Majority leader: see Floor Leaders
• Markup: The process by which congressional committees and subcommittees debate, amend, and rewrite proposed legislation.
• metric system of measurement: means the International System of Units as established by the General Conference of Weights and Measures in 1960 and as interpreted or modified for the United States by the Secretary of Commerce. See 15 USC 205c
• Minority leader: See Floor Leaders
• non-Federal funds: means State funds, or at the option of a State, State and local funds. See 42 USC 629a
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• oath: includes affirmation, and "sworn" includes affirmed. See 1 USC 1
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• officer: includes any person authorized by law to perform the duties of the office. See 1 USC 1
• official of the Cuban Government or the ruling political party in Cuba: refers to any member of the Council of Ministers, Council of State, central committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, or the Politburo of Cuba, or their equivalents. See 22 USC 6023
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• parents: means biological or adoptive parents or legal guardians, as determined by applicable State law. See 42 USC 675
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• person: means any person or entity, including any agency or instrumentality of a foreign state. See 22 USC 6023
• person: means an individual, a trust or estate, a partnership, or a corporation. See 42 USC 1301
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. ^{Source: OCC}
• President pro tempore: A constitutionally recognized officer of the Senate who presides over the chamber in the absence of the Vice President. The President Pro Tempore (or, "president for a time") is elected by the Senate and is, by custom, the Senator of the majority party with the longest record of continuous service.
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• property: means any property (including patents, copyrights, trademarks, and any other form of intellectual property), whether real, personal, or mixed, and any present, future, or contingent right, security, or other interest therein, including any leasehold interest. See 22 USC 6023
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• reasonable and prudent parent standard: means the standard characterized by careful and sensible parental decisions that maintain the health, safety, and best interests of a child while at the same time encouraging the emotional and developmental growth of the child, that a caregiver shall use when determining whether to allow a child in foster care under the responsibility of the State to participate in extracurricular, enrichment, cultural, and social activities. See 42 USC 675
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Remand: When an appellate court sends a case back to a lower court for further proceedings.
• Rescission: The cancellation of budget authority previously provided by Congress. The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 specifies that the President may propose to Congress that funds be rescinded. If both Houses have not approved a rescission proposal (by passing legislation) within 45 days of continuous session, any funds being withheld must be made available for obligation.
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• sex trafficking victim: means a victim of&mdash. See 42 USC 675
• sexual harassment: means hostile, intimidating, or oppressive behavior based on sex that creates an offensive work environment. See 42 USC 602
• sibling: means an individual who satisfies at least one of the following conditions with respect to a child:

  (A) The individual is considered by State law to be a sibling of the child. See 42 USC 675

• State: when used in such subchapters (but not in subchapter XVI as in effect pursuant to such amendment after December 31, 1973) includes Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam. See 42 USC 1301
• State: means the 50 States of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa. See 42 USC 619
• State: includes an Indian tribe or tribal organization, in addition to the meaning given such term for purposes of subpart 1. See 42 USC 629a
• State agency: means the State agency responsible for administering the program under subpart 1. See 42 USC 629a
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• support order: means a judgment, decree, or order, whether temporary, final, or subject to modification, issued by a court or an administrative agency of competent jurisdiction, for the support and maintenance of a child, including a child who has attained the age of majority under the law of the issuing State, or of the parent with whom the child is living, which provides for monetary support, health care, arrearages, or reimbursement, and which may include related costs and fees, interest and penalties, income withholding, attorneys' fees, and other relief. See 42 USC 653
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• total installed price: means the price of purchasing a product or material, trimming or otherwise altering some or all of that product or material, if necessary to fit with other building components, and then installing that product or material into a Federal facility. See 15 USC 205c
• transition government in Cuba: means a government that the President determines is a transition government consistent with the requirements and factors set forth in section 6065 of this title. See 22 USC 6023
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• tribal organization: has the meaning given the term in section 628(c) of this title. See 42 USC 629a
• United States: means (but only for purposes of subparagraphs (A) and (B) of this paragraph) the fifty States and the District of Columbia. See 42 USC 1301
• United States national: means &mdash. See 22 USC 6023
• Uphold: The decision of an appellate court not to reverse a lower court decision.
• User fees: Fees charged to users of goods or services provided by the government. In levying or authorizing these fees, the legislature determines whether the revenue should go into the treasury or should be available to the agency providing the goods or services.
• vehicle: includes every description of carriage or other artificial contrivance used, or capable of being used, as a means of transportation on land. See 1 USC 4
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
• writing: includes printing and typewriting and reproductions of visual symbols by photographing, multigraphing, mimeographing, manifolding, or otherwise. See 1 USC 1