Terms Used In Virginia Code > Title 54.1 > Subtitle III > Chapter 37 > Article 1 - Social Work.

• Administration: means the process of attaining the objectives of an organization through a system of coordinated and cooperative efforts to make social service programs effective instruments for the amelioration of social conditions and for the solution of social problems. See Virginia Code 54.1-3700
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Board: means the Board of Social Work. See Virginia Code 54.1-3700
• Casework: means both direct treatment, with an individual or several individuals, and intervention in the situation on the client's behalf with the objectives of meeting the client's needs, helping the client deal with the problem with which he is confronted, strengthening the client's capacity to function productively, lessening his distress, and enhancing his opportunities and capacities for fulfillment. See Virginia Code 54.1-3700
• Casework management and supportive services: means assessment of presenting problems and perceived needs, referral services, policy interpretation, data gathering, planning, advocacy, and coordination of services. See Virginia Code 54.1-3700
• Clinical social worker: means a social worker who, by education and experience, is professionally qualified at the autonomous practice level to provide direct diagnostic, preventive and treatment services where functioning is threatened or affected by social and psychological stress or health impairment. See Virginia Code 54.1-3700
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Consultation and education: means program consultation in social work to agencies, organizations, or community groups; academic programs and other training such as staff development activities, seminars, and workshops using social work principles and theories of social work education. See Virginia Code 54.1-3700
• 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.
• 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.
• Group work: means helping people, in the realization of their potential for social functioning, through group experiences in which the members are involved with common concerns and in which there is agreement about the group's purpose, function, and structure. See Virginia Code 54.1-3700
• in writing: include any representation of words, letters, symbols, numbers, or figures, whether (i) printed or inscribed on a tangible medium or (ii) stored in an electronic or other medium and retrievable in a perceivable form and whether an electronic signature authorized by Virginia Code 1-257
• Includes: means includes, but not limited to. See Virginia Code 1-218
• 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.
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Locality: means a county, city, or town as the context may require. See Virginia Code 1-221
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Oath: includes affirmation. See Virginia Code 1-228
• Person: shall include individuals, a trust, an estate, a partnership, an association, an order, a corporation, or any other legal or commercial entity;

  6. See Virginia Code 8.01-2

• Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Planning and community organization: means helping organizations and communities analyze social problems and human needs; planning to assist organizations and communities in organizing for general community development; and improving social conditions through the application of social planning, resource development, advocacy, and social policy formulation. See Virginia Code 54.1-3700
• Practice of social work: means rendering or offering to render to individuals, families, groups, organizations, governmental units, or the general public service which is guided by special knowledge of social resources, social systems, human capabilities, and the part conscious and unconscious motivation play in determining behavior. See Virginia Code 54.1-3700
• Process: includes subpoenas, the summons and complaint in a civil action, and process in statutory actions. See Virginia Code 1-237
• real estate: includes lands, tenements and hereditaments, and all rights and appurtenances thereto and interests therein, other than a chattel interest. See Virginia Code 1-219
• Research: means the application of systematic procedures for the purpose of developing, modifying, and expanding knowledge of social work practice which can be communicated and verified. See Virginia Code 54.1-3700
• Sheriff: shall include deputy sheriffs and such other persons designated in § Virginia Code 8.01-2
• Social worker: means a person trained to provide service and action to effect changes in human behavior, emotional responses, and the social conditions by the application of the values, principles, methods, and procedures of the profession of social work. See Virginia Code 54.1-3700
• State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• United States: includes the 50 states, the District of Columbia the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-255
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.