Code of Massachusetts Regulations
606 CMR - DEPARTMENT OF EARLY EDUCATION AND CARE
Title 606 CMR 3.00 - Standards for the Licensure or Approval of Residential Programs Servicing Children and Teen Parents
Section 3.02 - Definitions

(1) General Definitions . As used in 606 CMR 3.00, the following words shall have the following meanings unless the context otherwise requires:

Child . Any person younger than 18 years old for part or all of a calendar year.

Child with Special Needs . A child who, because of a disability consisting of a developmental delay or an intellectual, sensory, neurological, emotional, communication, physical, specific learning or health impairment or combination thereof, is or would be unable to progress effectively in a regular school program. This may include, but not be limited to, a school age child with special needs as determined by an evaluation conducted pursuant to M.G.L. c. 71B, § 3, and as defined by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in 603 CMR 28.00: Special Education.

Consent . An agreement by a parent who has been fully informed of all information relevant to the activity for which agreement is sought, in his or her native language or other mode of communication, that the parent understands and agrees in writing to carrying out of the activity, and understands that the granting of consent is voluntary and may be revoked at any time. The consent describes the activity and lists the records (if any) which will be released and to whom. In seeking parental consent, a licensee shall not condition admission or continued enrollment upon agreement by the parent to the proposed use of any restraint.

Department . When used alone shall mean the Department of Early Education and Care.

Group Care Program . A program or facility that provides care and custody for one or more children by anyone other than a relative by blood, marriage or adoption on a regular 24-hour a day, residential basis. Group care program includes but is not limited to programs serving teen parents younger than 16 years old; transition to independent living programs; private residential schools that provide special services to children with special needs in which children with special needs constitute 30% or more of the school's population; and group residences or group homes. Group care program does not include family foster care; a recreational or summer camp; a hospital, ward or comprehensive center, including an intensive residential treatment program, licensed under M.G.L. c. 19, § 19 or c. 19B, § 15; a hospital, ward or comprehensive center operated by the Commonwealth; a hospital, institution for unwed mothers, convalescent or nursing home, rest home or infirmary or any program licensed under M.G.L. c. 111; any program licensed under M.G.L. c. 111E, §§ 5 and 7 unless the program admits children other than drug dependent children or dependency drug using children; or private residential schools except those providing special services to children with special needs as defined in 606 CMR 3.02.

Parent . A resident's father, mother or legal guardian or person with the custody of the resident.

Placement Agency . A department, agency or institution of the Commonwealth, or any political subdivision thereof, or any organization incorporated under M.G.L. c. 180, one of whose principal purposes is providing custodial care and social services to children, which receives by agreement with a parent or guardian, by contract with a state agency or as a result of referral by a court of competent jurisdiction, any child, for placement in family foster care, a residential program or for adoption.

Referral Source . A parent, guardian, Massachusetts or out-of-state public or private agency responsible for the placement and/or funding of the placement of a child.

Resident . A child or other person in the care or custody of a group care, temporary shelter, transition to independent living or transitional housing program serving teen parents.

Residential Program . A group care, temporary shelter, or transition to independent living program, or a transitional housing program serving teen parents.

Secure Detention . A program for children in the custody of or detained by the Department of Youth Services, who are awaiting court appearance or long-term placement, which requires restrictive features including locked doors and windows and a high staff-child ratio to insure security.

Shelter Home . A private residential home which has been approved by a temporary shelter agency to provide temporary shelter care to four or fewer children. In order to place sibling groups together in an emergency situation, Shelter Home shall not prohibit the placement of more than four children in a home which, prior to the placement of the sibling group, contained fewer than four children.

Special Services . Any special services provided to children with special needs by a private residential school that are special education services similar to those referred to at 603 CMR 18.05(3)(a) and (b); or social, psychological or psychiatric services; or occupational or physical therapy; or speech or language therapy; or vocational rehabilitation skills; or regular nursing or medical care provided on site; or self-help skills or activities of daily living training.

Teen Parent . A lawful father or mother or pregnant adolescent who is at least 13 years old but younger than 21 years old.

Temporary Shelter . Care and services (as appropriate to the needs of the child) provided to a child on a regular 24 hour a day basis for a period not to exceed 45 days or in the case of placement in a secure detention facility, not to exceed 90 days. Temporary shelter shall include both temporary shelter facility and shelter home.

Temporary Shelter Program . Any facility which operates to receive children under 18 years of age for temporary shelter care during the day or night when such children request shelter therein, or when such children are placed there by a placement agency, a parent, a law enforcement agency, or a court with authority to make such placement. Temporary shelter facility shall not mean family foster care or a group care facility, a police station or a town lockup.

Transition to Independent Living Program . Any residential program designed to serve adolescents and young adults for whom the service plan and/or treatment goal is independent living. Transition to independent living program shall not include unstaffed independent living programs where residents live in self-contained units.

Transitional Housing Program Serving Teen Parents . A facility or program for parents who are 16 years of age or older in which the parents reside in a structured setting that includes educational, psychological and medical services, including counseling and basic life skills toward living independently. The facility or program shall require the parents to reside with their children.

(2) Definitions Pertaining to Restraint . As used in 606 CMR 3.00, the following words shall have the following meanings when used in the context of a restraint:

De-escalation . Strategies used to defuse a volatile situation, to assist a resident to regain behavioral control and to avoid physical intervention.

Mechanical Restraint . The use of any device or equipment to restrict the movement of a resident or the movement or normal function of a portion of his or her body. Mechanical Restraint does not include an adaptive or protective device recommended by a physician and consented to by the parent, when used as recommended by the physician for protection of a resident from serious self injury, or to promote normative body positioning and physical functioning.

Medication Restraint . The administration of medication for the purpose of temporarily controlling behavior.

Monitoring . Observation of the physical, verbal and behavioral responses of a resident for signs of distress or signs of behavioral calming while being restrained.

Physical Escort . A temporary touching or holding, without the use of force, of the hand, wrist, arm, shoulder or back for the purpose of inducing a resident who is agitated to walk to a safe location.

Physical Restraint . Direct physical contact that prevents or significantly restricts a resident's freedom of movement. Physical Restraint does not include providing brief physical contact, without force, to promote resident safety or limit self-injurious behavior, providing physical guidance or prompting when teaching a skill, redirecting attention, providing comfort, or a physical escort.

Processing . Verbal interactions between staff and a resident who has been restrained, designed to assist the staff and resident in reviewing the behavioral incident and the restraint, with the goal of minimizing the need for future restraint.

Prone Restraint . A restraint in which a resident is placed face down on the floor or on another surface, and physical pressure is applied to the resident's body to keep the resident in the prone position. Prone Restraint does not include temporary prone positioning used by the Department of Youth Services, as a secondary tactic for handcuffing a resident.

Release . Ending the restraint hold on a resident.

Restraint . The use of any force, physical device, medication or seclusion as a means to temporarily control behavior.

Restraint Coordinator . Licensee staff member responsible for oversight of all matters related to restraint, including oversight and documentation of training; ensuring that restraints are only employed when necessary and that the restraint method taught is being used correctly; data collection, analysis and reporting, and review, with the restraint safety committee of restraint data and staff/resident safety information.

Restraint Follow-up . Review by program management of each restraint with involved staff as part of a feedback and quality assurance process.

Seclusion . The involuntary confinement of a resident alone in a room or area from which the resident is physically prevented from leaving. Seclusion does not include permissible group separation as detailed in 606 CMR 3.07(7)(k), nor does it include permissible separation used by the Department of Youth Services for purposes of room confinement related to population control, during shift changes and investigation as described in 606 CMR 3.07(7)(n).