Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws > Chapter 5-63.1 - Reporting of Sexual Misconduct by Mental Health Professionals

• 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.
• 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
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• 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.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• 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.
• Former patient: is a person who obtained a professional consultation or diagnostic or therapeutic service from a mental-health professional within two (2) years prior to sexual contact with the mental-health professional. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-63.1-1
• 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.
• 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}
• Mental-health professional: includes a licensed, an unlicensed, a certified, or an uncertified or an in-training:

  (i)  Marriage and family therapist;

  (ii)  Mental-health counselor;

  (iii)  Psychiatric nurse;

  (iv)  Psychiatrist;

  (v)  Psychologist;

  (vi)  Social worker;

  (vii)  Chemical dependency professional; or

  (viii)  Any mental health or human service professional, or any other person, licensed or unlicensed, certified or uncertified, rendering or offering to render services, for the purpose of treating, diagnosing, or assessing mental or emotional disorders or distress, modifying behaviors, or alleviating problems pertaining to interpersonal relationships, work and life adjustment, and personal effectiveness that are caused by mental or emotional disorders or distress. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-63.1-1

• 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.
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Patient: is a person who obtains a professional consultation or diagnostic or therapeutic service from a mental health professional. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-63.1-1
• person: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Reporter: Makes a record of court proceedings and prepares a transcript, and also publishes the court's opinions or decisions (in the courts of appeals).
• seal: shall be construed to include an impression of the seal made with or without the use of wax or wafer on the paper. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-15
• Sexual contact: means any of the following, whether or not occurring with the consent of a patient or former patient:

  (A)  Sexual intercourse, cunnilingus, fellatio, anal intercourse, or any intrusion, however slight, into the genital or anal openings of the patient's or former patient's body by any part of the mental health professional's body or any object used by the mental health professional for that purpose, or any intrusion, however slight, into the genital or anal openings of the mental health professional's body by any part of the patient's or former patient's body or by any object used by the patient or former patient for that purpose, if consented to by the mental health professional;

  (B)  Sustained kissing of the mouth or kissing or intentional touching by the mental health professional of the patient's or former patient's genital area, groin, inner thigh, buttocks, or breast or the clothing covering any of these body parts; or sustained kissing of the mouth or kissing or intentional touching by the patient or former patient of the mental health professional's genital area, groin, inner thigh, buttocks, or breast or the clothing covering any of these body parts if the mental health professional consents to the kissing or intentional touching;

  (C)  Exhibition by the mental health professional in view of the patient or former patient of the mental health professional's genital area, groin, inner thigh, buttocks, or breast; voyeurism by the mental health professional in the form of viewing the patient's or former patient's genital area, groin, inner thigh, buttocks, or breast;

  (D)  Using the influence inherent in the mental health professional-patient or mental health professional-former patient relationship to induce the patient or former patient to engage in sexual contact with a third party. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-63.1-1

• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subject: means the mental health professional named in a report as being suspected of having sexual contact with a patient or former patient or who has been determined to have engaged in sexual contact with a patient or former patient. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-63.1-1
• town: may be construed to include city; the words "town council" include city council; the words "town clerk" include city clerk; the words "ward clerk" include clerk of election district; the words "town treasurer" include city treasurer; and the words "town sergeant" include city sergeant. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-9
• town council: include city council; the words "town clerk" include city clerk; the words "ward clerk" include clerk of election district; the words "town treasurer" include city treasurer; and the words "town sergeant" include city sergeant. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-9
• United States: include the several states and the territories of the United States. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-8