Library: Policy
340:75-6-4. Definitions
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Revised 4-9-19
The following words and terms when used in Section 1-1-105 of Title 10A of the Oklahoma Statutes (10A O.S. § 1-1-105) or in this Subchapter have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Age-appropriate" or "developmentally-appropriate" means:
(A) activities or items that are generally accepted as suitable for children of the same age or level of maturity or that are determined to be developmentally-appropriate for a child, based on the development of cognitive, emotional, physical, and behavioral capacities that are typical for an age or age group; and
(B) in the case of a specific child, activities or items that are suitable for that child based on the developmental stages attained by the child with respect to the cognitive, emotional, physical, and behavioral capacities of the specific child.
"Alleged father" means a man who alleges himself to be, or is alleged to be, the genetic father or a possible genetic father of a child, but whose paternity has not been determined. The term does not include a presumed father per 10 O.S. § 7700-102.
"Child advocacy center" means an entity that is an associate or full member in good standing with the National Children's Alliance.
"Concurrent permanency planning" means when indicated, the implementation of two plans for a child entering out-of-home placement. One plan focuses on reuniting the parent and child; the other seeks to find a permanent out-of-home placement for the child and both plans are pursued simultaneously.
"Kinship care" means full-time care of a child by a kinship relation.
"Kinship relation" means relatives, stepparents, or other responsible adults who have a bond or tie with the child and to whom have been ascribed a family relationship role with the child or the child's parent.
"Multidisciplinary team" means any team of three or more persons involved in the provision of services, treatment, or both, to a child and the child's family and who meet to assess the progress on the treatment and service plan.
"Permanent guardianship" means a judicially created relationship between a child, a kinship relation of the child, or other adult per 10A O.S. 1-4-709.
"Presumed father" means a man who, by operation of law per 10 O.S. § 7700-204, is recognized as the father of a child until that status is rebutted or confirmed in a judicial proceeding. A man is presumed the father of a child when:
(A) he and the mother of the child are married to each other and the child is born during the marriage;
(B) he and the mother of the child were married to each other and the child is born within 300-calendar days after the marriage is terminated by death, annulment, declaration of invalidity, dissolution of marriage, or after decree of separation;
(C) before the birth of the child, he and the mother of the child married each other in apparent compliance with law, even if the attempted marriage is or could be declared invalid, and the child is born during the invalid marriage or within 300-calendar days after its termination by death, annulment, declaration of invalidity, or after a decree of separation, or dissolution of marriage;
(D) after the birth of the child, he and the mother of the child married each other in apparent compliance with law, whether the marriage is or could be declared invalid, and he voluntarily asserted his paternity of the child; and:
(i) the assertion is in a record with the Oklahoma State Department of Health, Division of Vital Records or the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (DHS);
(ii) he agreed to be and is named as the child's father on the child's birth certificate; or
(iii) he promised in a record to support the child as his own; or
(E) for the first two years of the child's life, he resided in the same household with the child and openly held out the child as his own.
"Reasonable and prudent parent standard" means the standard characterized by careful and sensible parental decisions that maintain the health, safety, and best interests of a child while at the same time encouraging the emotional and developmental growth of the child. This standard is used by the child's caregiver when determining whether to allow a child to participate in extracurricular, enrichment, cultural, and social activities. For purposes of this definition, the term "caregiver" means a foster parent with whom a child in foster care has been placed, a representative of a group home where a child has been placed, or a designated official for a residential child care facility where a child in foster care has been placed.
"Risk" means the likelihood that an incident of child abuse or neglect will occur in the future.
"Safety threat" means the threat of serious harm due to child abuse or neglect occurring in the present or in the very near future and without the intervention of another person, a child would likely or in all probability sustain severe or permanent disability or injury, illness, or death.
"Sibling" means a biologically or legally-related brother or sister of a child. This includes an individual who satisfies at least one of the conditions in (A) or (B) with respect to a child. The individual:
(A) is considered by state law to be a child's sibling; or
(B) would be considered a sibling under state law except for a termination or other disruption of parental rights, such as the parent(s)' death.
"Successful adulthood program" means a program specifically designed to assist a child in DHS custody or tribal custody in developing and enhancing the skills and abilities necessary for successful adult living, per 10A O.S. § 1-9-107.
"Trafficking in persons" means sex trafficking or severe forms of trafficking in persons:
(A) "sex trafficking" means the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing, or soliciting of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act; and
(B) "severe forms of trafficking in persons" means:
(i) sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age; or
(ii) the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing, or soliciting of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.
"Transitional living program" means a residential program that may be attached to an existing facility or operated solely for the purpose of assisting children to develop the skills and abilities necessary for successful adult living. The program may include, but shall not be limited to, reduced staff supervision, vocational training, educational services, employment and employment training, and other appropriate independent living skills training as a part of the transitional living program.
"Young adult" means a person age 18 through 22 years of age who is eligible to participate in the Successful Adulthood program.
"Youth" means a child 13 through 17 years of age.
INSTRUCTIONS TO STAFF 340:75-6-4
Revised 4-9-19
1. The following words and terms when used in this Subchapter have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Alternate permanent plan" means a permanent living arrangement for a child in Oklahoma Department of Human Services (DHS) custody provided a child is 16 years of age and older, other than reunification with the parent(s), and requires an assessment of the child's needs and a treatment and service plan that addresses the child's permanent plan, per Oklahoma Administrative Code (OAC) 340:75-6-31.
"Case plan" means the overall plan for the placement of the child and treatment needs of the child and the child's family, per OAC 340:75-6-40.
"Closest geographic proximity as possible" means placement of a child in DHS custody in the nearest geographic location to the child's own home that will meet the child's needs.
"Family meeting" means a structured, facilitated meeting among all possible family members and a case-specific multidisciplinary team including tribes, as applicable, to collaboratively create plans that effectively address safety, permanency, and well-being; also referred to as family group decision-making, family group conferencing, or team decision-making.
"Initial meeting" means a meeting between foster and birth parents, occurring within 10-business days of placement, for the purpose of holding a facilitated discussion regarding the child's needs and to begin the process of creating a professional relationship between foster and birth parents per OAC 340:75-1-29.
"Least restrictive" means the placement of a child in DHS custody in the most home-like situation that meets the child's needs per OAC 340:75-6-85.
"Movement" means changing a child in DHS custody from one living arrangement to another.
"Out-of-home placement" means a living arrangement for a child other than the home of the child's parent(s), legal guardian, or legal custodian from whose custody the court has removed the child.
"Protective capacity" means a skill or resource that can be mobilized to contribute to the ongoing protection of a child.
"Reasonable efforts" means the reasonable exercise of diligence and care, with regard to a child who is in out-of-home placement or who is at imminent risk of harm, to:
(A) refer to, arrange for, or develop reasonable supportive and rehabilitative services for the child's family that are required both to prevent unnecessary placement of the child outside of the home and to foster, when appropriate, the safe reunification of the child with the child's own family; or
(B) place a child who cannot return home into a permanent placement in accord with the child's permanency plan.
"Reunification" means a permanent plan for the child that involves the return of the child to any person who retains parental or legal rights to the child after removal for child abuse, neglect, or both, regardless of the custody arrangement prior to the child entering out-of-home care per OAC 340:75-6-31.
