2. For the purposes of P.L.1951, c.138 (C. 30:4C-1 et seq.) the following words and terms shall, unless otherwise indicated, be deemed and taken to have the meanings herein given to them:

(a) The term “Division of Child Protection and Permanency” or “division,” means the State agency for the care, custody, guardianship, maintenance, and protection of children, as more specifically described by the provisions of P.L.1951, c.138, and succeeding the agency heretofore variously designated by the laws of this State as the State Board of Child Welfare or the State Board of Children’s Guardians.

(b) The word “child” includes stepchild and illegitimate child, and further means any person under the age of 18 years.

(c) The term “care” means cognizance of a child for the purpose of providing necessary welfare services, or maintenance, or both.

(d) The term “custody” means continuing responsibility for the person of a child, as established by a surrender and release of custody or consent to adoption, for the purpose of providing necessary welfare services, or maintenance, or both.

(e) The term “guardianship” means control over the person and property of a child as established by the order of a court of competent jurisdiction, and as more specifically defined by the provisions of P.L.1951, c.138. Guardianship by the Division of Child Protection and Permanency shall be treated as guardianship by the Commissioner of Children and Families exercised on his behalf wholly by and in the name of the Division of Child Protection and Permanency, acting through the chief executive officer of the division or the chief executive’s authorized representative. The exercise of guardianship by the division shall be at all times and in all respects subject to the supervision of the commissioner.

(f) The term “maintenance” means moneys expended by the Division of Child Protection and Permanency to procure board, lodging, clothing, medical, dental, and hospital care, or any other similar or specialized commodity or service furnished to, on behalf of, or for a child pursuant to the provisions of P.L.1951, c.138; maintenance also includes but is not limited to moneys expended for shelter, utilities, food, repairs, essential household equipment, and other expenditures to remedy situations of an emergent nature to permit, as far as practicable, children to continue to live with their families.

(g) The term “welfare services” means consultation, counseling, and referral to or utilization of available resources, for the purpose of determining and correcting or adjusting matters and circumstances which are endangering the welfare of a child, and for the purpose of promoting a child’s proper development and adjustment in the family and the community.

(h) The term “resource family parent” means any person other than a natural or adoptive parent with whom a child in the care, custody, or guardianship of the Department of Children and Families is placed by the department, or with its approval, for care, and shall include any person with whom a child is placed by the division for the purpose of adoption until the adoption is finalized.

(i) The term “resource family home” means and includes private residences wherein any child in the care, custody, or guardianship of the Department of Children and Families may be placed by the department, or with its approval, for care, and shall include any private residence maintained by persons with whom any child is placed by the division for the purpose of adoption until the adoption is finalized.

(j) The singular includes the plural form.

(k) The masculine noun and pronoun include the feminine.

(l) The word “may” shall be construed to be permissive.

(m) The term “group home” means and includes any single family dwelling used in the placement of 12 children or less pursuant to law, recognized as a group home by the Department of Children and Families in accordance with rules and regulations adopted by the Commissioner of Children and Families; provided, however, that no group home shall contain more than 12 children.

(n) The term “youth facility” means a facility within this State used to house or provide services to children under P.L.1951, c.138, including but not limited to group homes, residential facilities, day care centers, and day treatment centers.

(o) The term “youth facility aid” means aid provided by the Division of Child Protection and Permanency to public, private, or voluntary agencies to purchase, construct, renovate, repair, upgrade, or otherwise improve a youth facility in consideration for an agreement for the agency to provide residential care, day treatment, or other youth services for children in need of such services.

(p) The term “day treatment center” means a facility used to provide counseling, supplemental educational services, therapy, and other related services to children for whom it has been determined that such services are necessary, but is not used to house these children in a residential setting.

(q) The term “residential facility” means a facility used to house and provide treatment and other related services on a 24-hour basis to children determined to be in need of such housing and services.

(r) The term “legally responsible person” means the natural or adoptive parent, or the spouse of a child receiving maintenance from or through the Division of Child Protection and Permanency.

(s) “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Children and Families.

(t) “Department” means the Department of Children and Families.

L.1951, c.138, s.2; amended 1962, c.197, ss.8,49; 1974, c.178, s.1; 1979, c.208; 1979, c.309, s.2; 1980, c.105, s.6; 1985, c.8, s.1; 2004, c.130, s.47; 2005, c.169, s.4; 2006, c.47, s.113; 2012, c.16, s.53.