As used in this chapter:

(1) "Child" means a person under the age of eighteen years.

(2) "Child in need of emergency admission" means a child who is in need of treatment, who poses an imminent danger of seriously harming himself or others if not immediately hospitalized, and for whom immediate hospitalization can be obtained only through an involuntary emergency admission.

(3) "Child in need of judicial admission" means a child who is in need of treatment and for whom treatment can be obtained only through an involuntary judicial admission.

(4) "Child in need of treatment" means a child in need of mental health treatment who manifests a substantial disorder of cognitive or emotional processes, which lessens or impairs to a marked degree that child's capacity either to develop or to exercise age appropriate or age adequate behavior. The behavior includes, but is not limited to, marked disorders of mood or thought processes, severe difficulties with self-control and judgment including behavior dangerous to self or others, or serious disturbances in the ability to care for and relate to others. The presence of epilepsy, intellectual disability, organic brain syndrome, physical or sensory handicaps, or brief periods of intoxication caused by alcohol or other substances is not sufficient to meet the criteria for a child in need of treatment but does not exclude a child otherwise determined to fulfill the above criteria.

(5) "Court" means the probate court unless otherwise specified.

(6) "Crisis stabilization" means a short term placement to enable a child who has lost control to regain control in order to be returned to his previous placement or to an appropriate treatment facility or program.

(7) "Department" means the State Department of Mental Health.

(8) "Diagnostic evaluation" means the systematic appraisal of a child's functional level in various domains such as educational, social, and psychological to determine the nature and extent of treatment or services which may be required to meet the needs of the child.

(9) "In-home intervention" means comprehensive, individualized in-home family services which are designed to intervene at times when there is a possibility that the child will have to be removed from the home to a more restrictive environment or to prepare a family for a child's transition back into the home.

(10) "Law enforcement officer" means a state, county, or city police officer, officer of the South Carolina Highway Patrol, sheriff, or deputy sheriff.

(11) "Outpatient counseling" means a regularly scheduled goal-oriented intervention by a competent professional responsive to the needs of the child, for the purposes of assisting the child in solving problems related to educational, vocational, emotional, familial, and social issues through cognitive and affective modes.

(12) "Psychiatric assessment and evaluation" means a systematic appraisal, in accordance with generally accepted medical practices, for the following purposes: specialized psychiatric review of physiological phenomena, psychiatric diagnostic evaluation, psychiatric therapeutic evaluative services, and assessment of the appropriateness of initiating or continuing the use of psychotropic medications in treatment of a child.

(13) "Residential treatment program or facility" means a structured, supportive, and therapeutic residential program for a child in need of treatment.

(14) "Treatment team" means persons drawn from or representing the professional disciplines or service areas included in the development and implementation of a treatment plan.

(15) "Twenty-four hour emergency assessment" means diagnostic evaluation capabilities when necessary to determine a child's clinical status and needs.

HISTORY: 1991 Act No. 88, Section 1.