The definitions in this section
apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires
otherwise.
(1) "Admission" or "admit" means a decision by a physician
that a person should be examined or treated as a patient in a
hospital;
(2) "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;
(3) "Attending staff" means any person on the staff of a
public or private agency having responsibility for the care and
treatment of a patient;
(4) "Commitment" means the determination by a court that a
person should be detained for a period of either evaluation or
treatment, or both, in an inpatient or a less restrictive
setting;
(5) "Conditional release" means a revocable modification of
a commitment, which may be revoked upon violation of any of its
terms;
(6) "Crisis stabilization unit" means a short-term facility
or a portion of a facility licensed by the department of health
and certified by the department of social and health services
under RCW 71.24.035, such as an evaluation and treatment facility
or a hospital, which has been designed to assess, diagnose, and
treat individuals experiencing an acute crisis without the use of
long-term hospitalization;
(7) "Custody" means involuntary detention under the
provisions of this chapter or chapter 10.77 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 chemical dependency specialist" means a
person designated by the county alcoholism and other drug
addiction program coordinator designated under RCW 70.96A.310 to
perform the commitment duties described in chapters 70.96A and 70.96B RCW;
(10) "Designated crisis responder" means a mental health
professional appointed by the county or the regional support
network to perform the duties specified in this chapter;
(11) "Designated mental health professional" means a mental
health professional designated by the county or other authority
authorized in rule to perform the duties specified in this
chapter;
(12) "Detention" or "detain" means the lawful confinement of
a person, under the provisions of this chapter;
(13) "Developmental disabilities professional" means a
person who has specialized training and three years of experience
in directly treating or working with persons with developmental
disabilities and is a psychiatrist, psychologist, or social
worker, and such other developmental disabilities professionals
as may be defined by rules adopted by the secretary;
(14) "Developmental disability" means that condition defined
in RCW 71A.10.020(3);
(15) "Discharge" means the termination of hospital medical
authority. The commitment may remain in place, be terminated, or
be amended by court order;
(16) "Evaluation and treatment facility" means any facility
which can provide directly, or by direct arrangement with other
public or private agencies, emergency evaluation and treatment,
outpatient care, and timely and appropriate inpatient care to
persons suffering from a mental disorder, and which is certified
as such by the department. A physically separate and separately
operated portion of a state hospital may be designated as an
evaluation and treatment facility. A facility which is part of,
or operated by, the department or any federal agency will not
require certification. No correctional institution or facility,
or jail, shall be an evaluation and treatment facility within the
meaning of this chapter;
(17) "Gravely disabled" means a condition in which a person,
as a result of a mental disorder: (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;
(18) "Habilitative services" means those services provided
by program personnel to assist persons in acquiring and
maintaining life skills and in raising their levels of physical,
mental, social, and vocational functioning. Habilitative
services include education, training for employment, and therapy.
The habilitative process shall be undertaken with recognition of
the risk to the public safety presented by the person being
assisted as manifested by prior charged criminal conduct;
(19) "History of one or more violent acts" refers to the
period of time ten years prior to the filing of a petition under
this chapter, excluding any time spent, but not any violent acts
committed, in a mental health facility or in confinement as a
result of a criminal conviction;
(20) "Imminent" means the state or condition of being likely
to occur at any moment or near at hand, rather than distant or
remote;
(21) "Individualized service plan" means a plan prepared by
a developmental disabilities professional with other
professionals as a team, for a person with developmental
disabilities, which shall state:
(a) The nature of the person's specific problems, prior
charged criminal behavior, and habilitation needs;
(b) The conditions and strategies necessary to achieve the
purposes of habilitation;
(c) The intermediate and long-range goals of the
habilitation program, with a projected timetable for the
attainment;
(d) The rationale for using this plan of habilitation to
achieve those intermediate and long-range goals;
(e) The staff responsible for carrying out the plan;
(f) Where relevant in light of past criminal behavior and
due consideration for public safety, the criteria for proposed
movement to less-restrictive settings, criteria for proposed
eventual discharge or release, and a projected possible date for
discharge or release; and
(g) The type of residence immediately anticipated for the
person and possible future types of residences;
(22) "Judicial commitment" means a commitment by a court
pursuant to the provisions of this chapter;
(23) "Likelihood of serious harm" means:
(a) A substantial risk that: (i) Physical harm will be
inflicted by a person 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 a person upon
another, as evidenced by behavior which has caused such harm or
which places another person or persons in reasonable fear of
sustaining such harm; or (iii) physical harm will be inflicted by
a person upon the property of others, as evidenced by behavior
which has caused substantial loss or damage to the property of
others; or
(b) The person has threatened the physical safety of another
and has a history of one or more violent acts;
(24) "Mental disorder" means any organic, mental, or
emotional impairment which has substantial adverse effects on a
person's cognitive or volitional functions;
(25) "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 pursuant to the provisions of this chapter;
(26) "Peace officer" means a law enforcement official of a
public agency or governmental unit, and includes persons
specifically given peace officer powers by any state law, local
ordinance, or judicial order of appointment;
(27) "Private agency" means any person, partnership,
corporation, or association that is not a public agency, whether
or not financed in whole or in part by public funds, which
constitutes an evaluation and treatment facility or private
institution, or hospital, which is conducted for, or includes a
department or ward conducted for, the care and treatment of
persons who are mentally ill;
(28) "Professional person" means a mental health
professional and shall also mean a physician, registered nurse,
and such others as may be defined by rules adopted by the
secretary pursuant to the provisions of this chapter;
(29) "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;
(30) "Psychologist" means a person who has been licensed as
a psychologist pursuant to chapter 18.83 RCW;
(31) "Public agency" means any evaluation and treatment
facility or institution, or hospital which is conducted for, or
includes a department or ward conducted for, the care and
treatment of persons with mental illness, if the agency is
operated directly by, federal, state, county, or municipal
government, or a combination of such governments;
(32) "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 persons who are
receiving or who at any time have received services for mental
illness;
(33) "Release" means legal termination of the commitment
under the provisions of this chapter;
(34) "Resource management services" has the meaning given in
chapter 71.24 RCW;
(35) "Secretary" means the secretary of the department of
social and health services, or his or her designee;
(36) "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;
(37) "Treatment records" include registration and all other
records concerning persons 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 include mental
health information contained in a medical bill including but not
limited to mental health drugs, a mental health diagnosis,
provider name, and dates of service stemming from a medical
service. Treatment records do not include notes or records
maintained for personal use by a person providing treatment
services for the department, regional support networks, or a
treatment facility if the notes or records are not available to
others;
(38) "Violent act" means behavior that resulted in homicide,
attempted suicide, nonfatal injuries, or substantial damage to
property.
[2007 c 375 § 6; 2007 c 191 § 2; 2005 c 504 § 104; 2000 c 94 § 1; 1999 c 13 § 5; 1998 c 297 § 3; 1997 c 112 § 3. Prior: 1989 c 420 § 13; 1989 c 205 § 8; 1989 c 120 § 2; 1979 ex.s. c 215 § 5; 1973 1st ex.s. c 142 § 7.]
NOTES:
Reviser's note: This section was amended by 2007 c 191 § 2 and by 2007 c 375 § 6, each without reference to the other. Both amendments are incorporated in the publication of this section under RCW 1.12.025(2). For rule of construction, see RCW 1.12.025(1).
Findings -- Purpose -- Construction -- Severability -- 2007 c 375: See notes following RCW 10.31.110.
Alphabetization--Correction of references--2005 c 504: "(1)
The code reviser shall alphabetize and renumber the definitions,
and correct any internal references affected by this act.
(2) The code reviser shall replace all references to "county
designated mental health professional" with "designated mental
health professional" in the Revised Code of Washington." [2005 c
504 § 811.]
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.
Purpose -- Construction -- 1999 c 13: See note following RCW 10.77.010.
Effective dates -- Severability -- Intent -- 1998 c 297: See notes following RCW 71.05.010.