Terms Used In Delaware Code > Title 16 > Chapter 11 > Subchapter I - Licensing By The State

• 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.
• 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.
• 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
• assisted living facility: means a special combination of housing, supportive services, supervision, personalized assistance, and health care designed to respond to the individual needs of those who need help with activities of daily living or instrumental activities of daily living. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 1102
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• controlling person: includes the following:

  1. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 1102

• 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.
• Court: means the Superior Court or the Family Court of the State, both of which courts shall have jurisdiction and responsibility for the implementation of this chapter. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 5001
• Credentialed mental health screener: means an individual who is:

  a. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 5001

• Dangerous to others: means that by reason of mental condition there is a substantial likelihood that the person will inflict serious bodily harm upon another person within the immediate future. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 5001
• Dangerous to self: means that by reason of mental condition there is a substantial likelihood that the person will imminently sustain serious bodily harm to oneself. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 5001
• Department: means the Department of Health and Social Services. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 1102
• Department: means the State of Delaware Department of Health and Social Services. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 5001
• Designated psychiatric treatment facilities: means all facilities designated by the Secretary to provide psychiatric emergency care for individuals believed to have a mental condition and whose behavior is believed to be dangerous to self or dangerous to others; such facilities include psychiatric hospitals operated by the State of Delaware, privately operated psychiatric hospitals, any psychiatric emergency receiving facilities that provide mental health screenings, evaluations, treatment, and referral services, or other facilities as may be designated by the Department by regulation. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 5001
• Director: means the Director of the Division of Public Health, or such persons as may be designated by the Director. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 101
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Division: shall mean the Division of Health Care Quality;

  (4) a. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 1102

• Division: means the Division of Public Health. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 101
• emergently detained: means the process whereby an adult who appears to have a mental condition, and whose mental condition causes the person to be dangerous to self or dangerous to others, and who is unwilling to be admitted to a facility voluntarily for assessment or care, is involuntarily detained for such evaluation and treatment for 24 hours in a designated psychiatric facility because other less restrictive, more community integrated services are not appropriate or available to meet the person's current mental health-care needs. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 5001
• 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.
• family care home: means a home, including a physical structure and the necessary equipment, that provides beds and personal care services for 2 or 3 residents who cannot live independently and who need or could benefit from a family living situation, and that provides shelter, housekeeping services, food, meals, and personal care for residents. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 1102
• 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.
• Freedom of Information Act: A federal law that mandates that all the records created and kept by federal agencies in the executive branch of government must be open for public inspection and copying. The only exceptions are those records that fall into one of nine exempted categories listed in the statute. ^{Source: OCC}
• group home for persons with AIDS: means a residence for 16 or less individuals with AIDS that only admits those individuals with an established diagnosis and disease progression such that the individual requires a routine and frequent combination of physician, professional nursing, and supportive services. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 1102
• group home for persons with mental illness: means a residence that provides 24-hour supports, mental health treatment, rehabilitation, housing for between 3 and 10 adults with a primary diagnosis of psychiatric disabilities, and is fully integrated in the community, not on the grounds of an institution, has shared common living areas, and is where the individual chooses to live. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 1102
• 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.
• Habeas corpus: A writ that is usually used to bring a prisoner before the court to determine the legality of his imprisonment. It may also be used to bring a person in custody before the court to give testimony, or to be prosecuted.
• Hospital: means the Delaware Psychiatric Center and any hospital in this State which is certified by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Social Services as being an appropriate facility for the diagnosis, care and treatment of persons with mental conditions 18 years of age or older. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 5001
• intensive behavioral support and educational residence: means a residential facility that provides services to adult individuals with autism, developmental disabilities, or severe mental or emotional disturbances who have specialized behavioral needs. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 1102
• Involuntary patient: means a person admitted pursuant to emergency detention, provisional admission, a complaint for involuntary civil commitment, a probable cause hearing or an involuntary inpatient commitment hearing to the custody of a designated psychiatric treatment facility or hospital for observation, diagnosis, care and treatment. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 5001
• 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.
• Juvenile mental health screener: means a person authorized by the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families to assess individuals under the age of 18 for emergency detention. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 5001
• Lawsuit: A legal action started by a plaintiff against a defendant based on a complaint that the defendant failed to perform a legal duty, resulting in harm to the plaintiff.
• Licensed independent practitioner: means employees of designated psychiatric treatment facilities, in addition to psychiatrists, who hold credentials and privileges to admit persons into care and write orders to treat said persons in that facility. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 5001
• Long-term care facility: includes all of the following:

  1. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 1102

• Mental condition: means a current, substantial disturbance of thought, mood, perception or orientation which significantly impairs judgment, capacity to control behavior, or capacity to recognize reality. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 5001
• neighborhood home: means a residence for no more than 5 individuals that is fully integrated in the community, not on the grounds of an institution, has shared common living areas, is where the individual chooses to live, and offers 24-hour supports to individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 1102
• nursing home: means a residential facility that provides services to residents including resident beds, continuous nursing services, and health and treatment services for individuals who do not currently require continuous hospital care and that provides care in accordance with a physician's order and requires the supervision of a registered nurse (RN). See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 1102
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• 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.
• Peace officer: means any public officer authorized by law to make arrests in a criminal case. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 5001
• Person: means an individual, firm, partnership, corporation, association, joint stock company, limited partnership, limited liability company, or any other legal entity, and includes a legal successor of those entities. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 1102
• Person with a mental condition: includes every person with an emotional or psychiatric disorder or disability. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
• Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Protection and advocacy agency: means the Community Legal Aid Society, Inc. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 1102
• Psychiatrist: means an individual who possesses a valid State of Delaware license to practice medicine and has completed an accredited residency training program in psychiatry. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 5001
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• Resident: means an individual, whether identified as a patient, guest, or other designation, residing and receiving services in a long-term care facility. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 1102
• rest residential facility: means a facility that provides resident beds and personal care services in a homelike environment for adult individuals who are normally able to manage their own activities of daily living. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 1102
• Secretary: means the Secretary of the State of Delaware Department of Health and Social Services. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 5001
• Secretary: means the Secretary of the Department of Health and Social Services or such persons as may be designated by the Secretary. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 101
• Serious bodily harm: means physical injury which creates a substantial risk of death, significant and prolonged disfigurement, significant impairment of health, or significant impairment of the function of any bodily organ. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 5001
• 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.
• State: means the State of Delaware; and when applied to different parts of the United States, it includes the District of Columbia and the several territories and possessions of the United States. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
• State Civil Penalty Trust Fund: means a fund maintained by the Department to which civil money penalties imposed for violations of state statute or regulation are to be remitted. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 1102
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Temporary restraining order: Prohibits a person from an action that is likely to cause irreparable harm. This differs from an injunction in that it may be granted immediately, without notice to the opposing party, and without a hearing. It is intended to last only until a hearing can be held.
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• United States: includes its territories and possessions and the District of Columbia. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
• Voluntary patient: means a person who voluntarily seeks treatment at, and is admitted to, a designated psychiatric treatment facility or hospital for inpatient treatment of a mental condition. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 5001
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
• Year: means a calendar year, and is equivalent to the words "year of our Lord. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302