The definitions in this section
apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires
otherwise.
(1) "Antipsychotic medications" means that class of drugs
primarily used to treat serious manifestations of mental illness
associated with thought disorders, which includes but is not
limited to atypical antipsychotic medications.
(2) "Attending staff" means any person on the staff of a
public or private agency having responsibility for the care and
treatment of a patient.
(3) "Chemical dependency" means alcoholism, drug addiction,
or dependence on alcohol and one or more other psychoactive
chemicals, as the context requires and as those terms are defined
in chapter 70.96A RCW.
(4) "Chemical dependency professional" means a person
certified as a chemical dependency professional by the department
of health under chapter 18.205 RCW.
(5) "Commitment" means the determination by a court that an
individual should be detained for a period of either evaluation
or treatment, or both, in an inpatient or a less restrictive
setting.
(6) "Conditional release" means a modification of a
commitment that may be revoked upon violation of any of its
terms.
(7) "Custody" means involuntary detention under chapter 71.05 or 70.96A RCW, uninterrupted by any period of unconditional
release from commitment from a facility providing involuntary
care and treatment.
(8) "Department" means the department of social and health
services.
(9) "Designated responder" means a designated mental health
professional, a designated chemical dependency specialist, or a
designated crisis responder as those terms are defined in chapter 70.96A, 71.05, or 70.96B RCW.
(10) "Detention" or "detain" means the lawful confinement of
an individual under chapter 70.96A or 71.05 RCW.
(11) "Discharge" means the termination of facility
authority. The commitment may remain in place, be terminated, or
be amended by court order.
(12) "Enhanced services facility" means a facility that
provides treatment and services to persons for whom acute
inpatient treatment is not medically necessary and who have been
determined by the department to be inappropriate for placement in
other licensed facilities due to the complex needs that result in
behavioral and security issues.
(13) "Expanded community services program" means a nonsecure
program of enhanced behavioral and residential support provided
to long-term and residential care providers serving specifically
eligible clients who would otherwise be at risk for
hospitalization at state hospital geriatric units.
(14) "Facility" means an enhanced services facility.
(15) "Gravely disabled" means a condition in which an
individual, as a result of a mental disorder, as a result of the
use of alcohol or other psychoactive chemicals, or both:
(a) Is in danger of serious physical harm resulting from a
failure to provide for his or her essential human needs of health
or safety; or
(b) Manifests severe deterioration in routine functioning
evidenced by repeated and escalating loss of cognitive or
volitional control over his or her actions and is not receiving
such care as is essential for his or her health or safety.
(16) "History of one or more violent acts" refers to the
period of time ten years before the filing of a petition under
this chapter, or chapter 70.96A or 71.05 RCW, excluding any time
spent, but not any violent acts committed, in a mental health
facility or a long-term alcoholism or drug treatment facility, or
in confinement as a result of a criminal conviction.
(17) "Licensed physician" means a person licensed to
practice medicine or osteopathic medicine and surgery in the
state of Washington.
(18) "Likelihood of serious harm" means:
(a) A substantial risk that:
(i) Physical harm will be inflicted by an individual upon
his or her own person, as evidenced by threats or attempts to
commit suicide or inflict physical harm on oneself;
(ii) Physical harm will be inflicted by an individual upon
another, as evidenced by behavior that has caused such harm or
that places another person or persons in reasonable fear of
sustaining such harm; or
(iii) Physical harm will be inflicted by an individual upon
the property of others, as evidenced by behavior that has caused
substantial loss or damage to the property of others; or
(b) The individual has threatened the physical safety of
another and has a history of one or more violent acts.
(19) "Mental disorder" means any organic, mental, or
emotional impairment that has substantial adverse effects on an
individual's cognitive or volitional functions.
(20) "Mental health professional" means a psychiatrist,
psychologist, psychiatric nurse, or social worker, and such other
mental health professionals as may be defined by rules adopted by
the secretary under the authority of chapter 71.05 RCW.
(21) "Professional person" means a mental health
professional and also means a physician, registered nurse, and
such others as may be defined in rules adopted by the secretary
pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
(22) "Psychiatrist" means a person having a license as a
physician and surgeon in this state who has in addition completed
three years of graduate training in psychiatry in a program
approved by the American medical association or the American
osteopathic association and is certified or eligible to be
certified by the American board of psychiatry and neurology.
(23) "Psychologist" means a person who has been licensed as
a psychologist under chapter 18.83 RCW.
(24) "Registration records" include all the records of the
department, regional support networks, treatment facilities, and
other persons providing services to the department, county
departments, or facilities which identify individuals who are
receiving or who at any time have received services for mental
illness.
(25) "Release" means legal termination of the commitment
under chapter 70.96A or 71.05 RCW.
(26) "Resident" means a person admitted to an enhanced
services facility.
(27) "Secretary" means the secretary of the department or
the secretary's designee.
(28) "Significant change" means:
(a) A deterioration in a resident's physical, mental, or
psychosocial condition that has caused or is likely to cause
clinical complications or life-threatening conditions; or
(b) An improvement in the resident's physical, mental, or
psychosocial condition that may make the resident eligible for
release or for treatment in a less intensive or less secure
setting.
(29) "Social worker" means a person with a master's or
further advanced degree from an accredited school of social work
or a degree deemed equivalent under rules adopted by the
secretary.
(30) "Treatment" means the broad range of emergency,
detoxification, residential, inpatient, and outpatient services
and care, including diagnostic evaluation, mental health or
chemical dependency education and counseling, medical,
psychiatric, psychological, and social service care, vocational
rehabilitation, and career counseling, which may be extended to
persons with mental disorders, chemical dependency disorders, or
both, and their families.
(31) "Treatment records" include registration and all other
records concerning individuals who are receiving or who at any
time have received services for mental illness, which are
maintained by the department, by regional support networks and
their staffs, and by treatment facilities. "Treatment records"
do not include notes or records maintained for personal use by an
individual providing treatment services for the department,
regional support networks, or a treatment facility if the notes
or records are not available to others.
(32) "Violent act" means behavior that resulted in homicide,
attempted suicide, nonfatal injuries, or substantial damage to
property.
[2005 c 504 § 403.]
NOTES:
Findings -- Intent -- Severability -- Application -- Construction -- Captions, part headings, subheadings not law -- Adoption of rules -- Effective dates -- 2005 c 504: See notes following RCW 71.05.027.
Alphabetization -- Correction of references -- 2005 c 504: See note following RCW 71.05.020.