Terms Used In Virginia Code > Title 63.2 > Subtitle I > Chapter 1 - General Provisions

• Abused or neglected child: means any child less than 18 years of age:

  1. See Virginia Code 63.2-100

• Adoptive home: means any family home selected and approved by a parent, local board or a licensed child-placing agency for the placement of a child with the intent of adoption. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
• Adult: means a person 18 years of age or more. See Virginia Code 1-203
• Adult foster care: means room and board, supervision, and special services to an adult who has a physical or mental condition. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
• 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.
• Affordable housing: means , as a guideline, housing that is affordable to households with incomes at or below the area median income, provided that the occupant pays no more than thirty percent of his gross income for gross housing costs, including utilities. See Virginia Code 15.2-2201
• 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.
• 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
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Child support services: means any civil, criminal or administrative action taken by the Division of Child Support Enforcement to locate parents; establish paternity; and establish, modify, enforce, or collect child support, or child and spousal support. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
• Child-protective services: means the identification, receipt and immediate response to complaints and reports of alleged child abuse or neglect for children under 18 years of age. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
• Child-welfare agency: means a child-placing agency, children's residential facility, or independent foster home. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
• City: means an independent incorporated community which became a city as provided by law before noon on July 1, 1971, or which has within defined boundaries a population of 5,000 or more and which has become a city as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-208
• Commissioner: means the Commissioner of the Department, his designee or authorized representative. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
• 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.
• County: means any existing county or such unit hereafter created. See Virginia Code 15.2-102
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Department: means the State Department of Social Services. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
• Department of Health and Human Services: means the Department of Health and Human Services of the United States government or any department or agency thereof that may hereafter be designated as the agency to administer the Social Security Act, as amended. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
• Development: means a tract of land developed or to be developed as a unit under single ownership or unified control which is to be used for any business or industrial purpose or is to contain three or more residential dwelling units. See Virginia Code 15.2-2201
• Energy assistance: means benefits to assist low-income households with their home heating and cooling needs, including, but not limited to, purchase of materials or substances used for home heating, repair or replacement of heating equipment, emergency intervention in no-heat situations, purchase or repair of cooling equipment, and payment of electric bills to operate cooling equipment, in accordance with § Virginia Code 63.2-100
• 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.
• 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 and permanency team: means the group of individuals assembled by the local department to assist with determining planning and placement options for a child, which shall include, as appropriate, all biological relatives and fictive kin of the child, as well as any professionals who have served as a resource to the child or his family, such as teachers, medical or mental health providers, and clergy members. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
• Fictive kin: means persons who are not related to a child by blood or adoption but have an established relationship with the child or his family. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
• 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.
• Foster care placement: means placement of a child through (i) an agreement between the parents or guardians and the local board where legal custody remains with the parents or guardians or (ii) an entrustment or commitment of the child to the local board or licensed child-placing agency. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
• Foster home: means a residence approved by a child-placing agency or local board in which any child, other than a child by birth or adoption of such person or a child who is the subject of a power of attorney to delegate parental or legal custodial powers by his parents or legal custodian to the natural person who has been designated the child's legal guardian pursuant to Chapter 10 of Title 20 and who exercises legal authority over the child on a continuous basis for at least 24 hours without compensation, resides as a member of the household. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• general contractor: includes contractors, laborers, mechanics, and persons furnishing materials, who contract directly with the owner, and the term "subcontractor" includes all such contractors, laborers, mechanics, and persons furnishing materials, who do not contract with the owner but with the general contractor. See Virginia Code 43-1
• General relief: means money payments and other forms of relief made to those persons mentioned in § Virginia Code 63.2-100
• Governing body: means the board of supervisors of a county, council of a city, or council of a town, as the context may require. See Virginia Code 15.2-102
• 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.
• Historic area: means an area containing one or more buildings or places in which historic events occurred or having special public value because of notable architectural, archaeological or other features relating to the cultural or artistic heritage of the community, of such significance as to warrant conservation and preservation. See Virginia Code 15.2-2201
• 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
• Independent living: means a planned program of services designed to assist a child age 16 and over and persons who are former foster care children or were formerly committed to the Department of Juvenile Justice and are between the ages of 18 and 21 in transitioning to self-sufficiency. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
• Independent living arrangement: means placement of (i) a child at least 16 years of age who is in the custody of a local board or licensed child-placing agency by the local board or licensed child-placing agency or (ii) a child at least 16 years of age or a person between the ages of 18 and 21 who was committed to the Department of Juvenile Justice immediately prior to placement by the Department of Juvenile Justice, in a living arrangement in which such child or person does not have daily substitute parental supervision. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
• Independent physician: means a physician who is chosen by the resident of the assisted living facility and who has no financial interest in the assisted living facility, directly or indirectly, as an owner, officer, or employee or as an independent contractor with the residence. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
• 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.
• Kinship guardianship: means a relationship established in accordance with § Virginia Code 63.2-100
• 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}
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Local board: means the local board of social services representing one or more counties or cities. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
• Local department: means the local department of social services of any county or city in the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
• Local director: means the director or his designated representative of the local department of the city or county. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
• local government: shall be construed to mean a county, city, or town as the context may require. See Virginia Code 15.2-102
• Locality: means a county, city, or town as the context may require. See Virginia Code 1-221
• Mixed use development: means property that incorporates two or more different uses, and may include a variety of housing types, within a single development. See Virginia Code 15.2-2201
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• New residential development: means any construction or building expansion on residentially zoned property, including a residential component of a mixed-use development, that results in either one or more additional residential dwelling units or, otherwise, fewer residential dwelling units, beyond what may be permitted by right under the then-existing zoning of the property, when such new residential development requires a rezoning or proffer condition amendment. See Virginia Code 15.2-2303.4
• New residential use: means any use of residentially zoned property that requires a rezoning or that requires a proffer condition amendment to allow for new residential development. See Virginia Code 15.2-2303.4
• 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.
• Offsite proffer: means a proffer addressing an impact outside the boundaries of the property to be developed and shall include all cash proffers. See Virginia Code 15.2-2303.4
• 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: 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.
• 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}
• Process: includes subpoenas, the summons and complaint in a civil action, and process in statutory actions. See Virginia Code 1-237
• Proffer condition amendment: means an amendment to an existing proffer statement applicable to a property or properties. See Virginia Code 15.2-2303.4
• Public assistance: means Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF); auxiliary grants to the aged, blind, and disabled; medical assistance; energy assistance; food stamps; employment services; child care; and general relief. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
• Public facilities: means public transportation facilities, public safety facilities, public school facilities, or public parks. See Virginia Code 15.2-2303.4
• Public facility improvement: means an offsite public transportation facility improvement, a public safety facility improvement, a public school facility improvement, or an improvement to or construction of a public park. See Virginia Code 15.2-2303.4
• public park: shall include playgrounds and other recreational facilities. See Virginia Code 15.2-2303.4
• Public safety facility improvement: means construction of new law-enforcement, fire, emergency medical, and rescue facilities or expansion of existing public safety facilities, to include all buildings, structures, parking, and other costs directly related thereto. See Virginia Code 15.2-2303.4
• Public school facility improvement: means construction of new primary and secondary public schools or expansion of existing primary and secondary public schools, to include all buildings, structures, parking, and other costs directly related thereto. See Virginia Code 15.2-2303.4
• Public transportation facility improvement: means (i) construction of new roads; (ii) improvement or expansion of existing roads and related appurtenances as required by applicable standards of the Virginia Department of Transportation, or the applicable standards of a locality; and (iii) construction, improvement, or expansion of buildings, structures, parking, and other facilities directly related to transit. See Virginia Code 15.2-2303.4
• Qualified individual: means a trained professional or licensed clinician who is not an employee of the local board of social services or licensed child-placing agency that placed the child in a qualified residential treatment program and is not affiliated with any placement setting in which children are placed by such local board of social services or licensed child-placing agency. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
• Qualified residential treatment program: means a program that (i) provides 24-hour residential placement services for children in foster care; (ii) has adopted a trauma-informed treatment model that meets the clinical and other needs of children with serious emotional or behavioral disorders, including any clinical or other needs identified through assessments conducted pursuant to clause (viii) of this definition; (iii) employs registered or licensed nursing and other clinical staff who provide care, on site and within the scope of their practice, and are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; (iv) conducts outreach with the child's family members, including efforts to maintain connections between the child and his siblings and other family; documents and maintains records of such outreach efforts; and maintains contact information for any known biological family and fictive kin of the child; (v) whenever appropriate and in the best interest of the child, facilitates participation by family members in the child's treatment program before and after discharge and documents the manner in which such participation is facilitated; (vi) provides discharge planning and family-based aftercare support for at least six months after discharge; (vii) is licensed in accordance with Virginia Code 63.2-100
• 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
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• 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.
• Resident curator: means a person, firm, or corporation that leases or otherwise contracts to manage, preserve, maintain, operate, or reside in a historic property in accordance with the provisions of § Virginia Code 15.2-2201
• Residentially zoned property: means property zoned or proposed to be zoned for either single-family or multifamily housing. See Virginia Code 15.2-2303.4
• 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.
• Site plan: means the proposal for a development or a subdivision including all covenants, grants or easements and other conditions relating to use, location and bulk of buildings, density of development, common open space, public facilities and such other information as required by the subdivision ordinance to which the proposed development or subdivision is subject. See Virginia Code 15.2-2201
• Small area comprehensive plan: means that portion of a comprehensive plan adopted pursuant to § Virginia Code 15.2-2303.4
• Social services: means foster care, adoption, adoption assistance, child-protective services, domestic violence services, or any other services program implemented in accordance with regulations adopted by the Board. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
• Special exception: means a special use that is a use not permitted in a particular district except by a special use permit granted under the provisions of this chapter and any zoning ordinances adopted herewith. See Virginia Code 15.2-2201
• Special order: means an order imposing an administrative sanction issued to any party licensed pursuant to this title by the Commissioner that has a stated duration of not more than 12 months. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
• 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
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Supervised independent living setting: means the residence of a person 18 years of age or older who is participating in the Fostering Futures program set forth in Article 2 (§ Virginia Code 63.2-100
• TANF: means the program administered by the Department through which a relative can receive monthly cash assistance for the support of his eligible children. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
• TANF-UP: means the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program for families in which both natural or adoptive parents of a child reside in the home and neither parent is exempt from Virginia Initiative for Education and Work (VIEW) participation under § Virginia Code 63.2-100
• Title IV-E Foster Care: means a federal program authorized under §§ 472 and 473 of the Social Security Act, as amended, and administered by the Department through which foster care is provided on behalf of qualifying children. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• 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
• Variance: means , in the application of a zoning ordinance, a reasonable deviation from those provisions regulating the shape, size, or area of a lot or parcel of land or the size, height, area, bulk, or location of a building or structure when the strict application of the ordinance would unreasonably restrict the utilization of the property, and such need for a variance would not be shared generally by other properties, and provided such variance is not contrary to the purpose of the ordinance. See Virginia Code 15.2-2201