CODE OF VIRGINIA

DEFINITIONS (§ 16.1-336)

When used in this article, unless the context otherwise
requires:”Community services board” has the same meaning as provided
in § 37.2-100. Whenever the term community services board appears, it shall
include behavioral health authority, as that term is defined in §
37.2-100.”Consent” means the voluntary, express, and informed
agreement to treatment in a mental health facility by a minor 14 years of age or
older and by a parent or a legally authorized custodian.”Designee of the
local community services board” means an examiner designated by the local
community services board who (i) is skilled in the assessment and treatment of
mental illness, (ii) has completed a certification program approved by the
Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, (iii) is able to
provide an independent examination of the minor, (iv) is not related by blood,
marriage, or adoption to, or is not the legal guardian of, the minor being
evaluated, (v) has no financial interest in the admission or treatment of the
minor being evaluated, (vi) has no investment interest in the facility detaining
or admitting the minor under this article, and (vii) except for employees of
state hospitals and of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, is not employed
by the facility.”Employee” means an employee of the local community
services board who is skilled in the assessment and treatment of mental illness
and has completed a certification program approved by the Department of
Behavioral Health and Developmental Services.”Incapable of making an
informed decision” means unable to understand the nature, extent, or
probable consequences of a proposed treatment or unable to make a rational
evaluation of the risks and benefits of the proposed treatment as compared with
the risks and benefits of alternatives to the treatment. Persons with dysphasia
or other communication disorders who are mentally competent and able to
communicate shall not be considered incapable of giving informed
consent.”Inpatient treatment” means placement for observation,
diagnosis, or treatment of mental illness in a psychiatric hospital or in any
other type of mental health facility determined by the Department of Behavioral
Health and Developmental Services to be substantially similar to a psychiatric
hospital with respect to restrictions on freedom and therapeutic
intrusiveness.”Investment interest” means the ownership or holding
of an equity or debt security, including shares of stock in a corporation,
interests or units of a partnership, bonds, debentures, notes, or other equity
or debt instruments.”Judge” means a juvenile and domestic relations
district judge. In addition, “judge” includes a retired judge
sitting by designation pursuant to § 16.1-69.35, substitute judge, or special
justice authorized by § 37.2-803 who has completed a training program regarding
the provisions of this article, prescribed by the Executive Secretary of the
Supreme Court.”Least restrictive alternative” means the treatment
and conditions of treatment which, separately and in combination, are no more
intrusive or restrictive of freedom than reasonably necessary to achieve a
substantial therapeutic benefit or to protect the minor or others from physical
injury.”Mental health facility” means a public or private facility
for the treatment of mental illness operated or licensed by the Department of
Behavioral Health and Developmental Services.”Mental illness” means
a substantial disorder of the minor’s cognitive, volitional, or emotional
processes that demonstrably and significantly impairs judgment or capacity to
recognize reality or to control behavior. “Mental illness” may
include substance abuse, which is the use, without compelling medical reason, of
any substance which results in psychological or physiological dependency as a
function of continued use in such a manner as to induce mental, emotional, or
physical impairment and cause socially dysfunctional or socially disordering
behavior. Intellectual disability, head injury, a learning disability, or a
seizure disorder is not sufficient, in itself, to justify a finding of mental
illness within the meaning of this article.”Minor” means a person
less than 18 years of age.”Parent” means (i) a biological or
adoptive parent who has legal custody of the minor, including either parent if
custody is shared under a joint decree or agreement, (ii) a biological or
adoptive parent with whom the minor regularly resides, (iii) a person judicially
appointed as a legal guardian of the minor, or (iv) a person who exercises the
rights and responsibilities of legal custody by delegation from a biological or
adoptive parent, upon provisional adoption or otherwise by operation of law. The
director of the local department of social services, or his designee, may stand
as the minor’s parent when the minor is in the legal custody of the local
department of social services.”Qualified evaluator” means a
psychiatrist or a psychologist licensed in Virginia by either the Board of
Medicine or the Board of Psychology, or if such psychiatrist or psychologist is
unavailable, (i) any mental health professional licensed in Virginia through the
Department of Health Professions as a clinical social worker, professional
counselor, marriage and family therapist, psychiatric nurse practitioner, or
clinical nurse specialist, or (ii) any mental health professional employed by a
community services board. All qualified evaluators shall (a) be skilled in the
diagnosis and treatment of mental illness in minors, (b) be familiar with the
provisions of this article, and (c) have completed a certification program
approved by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. The
qualified evaluator shall (1) not be related by blood, marriage, or adoption to,
or is not the legal guardian of, the minor being evaluated, (2) not be
responsible for treating the minor, (3) have no financial interest in the
admission or treatment of the minor, (4) have no investment interest in the
facility detaining or admitting the minor under this article, and (5) except for
employees of state hospitals, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and
community services boards, not be employed by the
facility.”Treatment” means any planned intervention intended to
improve a minor’s functioning in those areas which show impairment as a
result of mental illness.

HISTORY: 1990, c. 975; 1991, c. 159; 2007, cc. 500, 897; 2008, cc. 139, 774;
2009, cc. 455, 555, 813, 840; 2010, cc. 778, 825; 2012, cc. 476, 507.