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600.020 Definitions for KRS Chapters 600 to 645.
As used in KRS Chapters 600 to 645, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1) "Abused or neglected child" means a child whose health or welfare is harmed
or threatened with harm when:
(a) His or her parent, guardian, person in a position of authority or special
trust, as defined in KRS 532.045, or other person exercising custodial
control or supervision of the child:
1.
Inflicts or allows to be inflicted upon the child physical or emotional
injury as defined in this section by other than accidental means;
2.
Creates or allows to be created a risk of physical or emotional injury
as defined in this section to the child by other than accidental
means;
3.
Engages in a pattern of conduct that renders the parent incapable of
caring for the immediate and ongoing needs of the child including,
but not limited to, parental incapacity due to alcohol and other drug
abuse as defined in KRS 222.005;
4.
Continuously or repeatedly fails or refuses to provide essential
parental care and protection for the child, considering the age of the
child;
5.
Commits or allows to be committed an act of sexual abuse, sexual
exploitation, or prostitution upon the child;
6.
Creates or allows to be created a risk that an act of sexual abuse,
sexual exploitation, or prostitution will be committed upon the child;
7.
Abandons or exploits the child;
8.
Does not provide the child with adequate care, supervision, food,
clothing, shelter, and education or medical care necessary for the
child's well-being. A parent or other person exercising custodial
control or supervision of the child legitimately practicing the person's
religious beliefs shall not be considered a negligent parent solely
because of failure to provide specified medical treatment for a child
for that reason alone. This exception shall not preclude a court from
ordering necessary medical services for a child;
9.
Fails to make sufficient progress toward identified goals as set forth
in the court-approved case plan to allow for the safe return of the
child to the parent that results in the child remaining committed to
the cabinet and remaining in foster care for fifteen (15) of the most
recent twenty-two (22) months; or
(b) A person twenty-one (21) years of age or older commits or allows to be
committed an act of sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, or prostitution
upon a child less than sixteen (16) years of age;
(2) "Aggravated circumstances" means the existence of one (1) or more of the
following conditions:
(a) The parent has not attempted or has not had contact with the child for a
period of not less than ninety (90) days;
(b) The parent is incarcerated and will be unavailable to care for the child for
a period of at least one (1) year from the date of the child's entry into
foster care and there is no appropriate relative placement available during
this period of time;
(c) The parent has sexually abused the child and has refused available
treatment;
(d) The parent has been found by the cabinet to have engaged in abuse of
the child that required removal from the parent's home two (2) or more
times in the past two (2) years; or
(e) The parent has caused the child serious physical injury;
(3) "Beyond the control of parents" means a child who has repeatedly failed to
follow the reasonable directives of his or her parents, legal guardian, or person
exercising custodial control or supervision other than a state agency, which
behavior results in danger to the child or others, and which behavior does not
constitute behavior that would warrant the filing of a petition under KRS
Chapter 645;
(4) "Beyond the control of school" means any child who has been found by the
court to have repeatedly violated the lawful regulations for the government of
the school as provided in KRS 158.150, and as documented in writing by the
school as a part of the school's petition or as an attachment to the school's
petition. The petition or attachment shall describe the student's behavior and all
intervention strategies attempted by the school;
(5) "Boarding home" means a privately owned and operated home for the
boarding and lodging of individuals which is approved by the Department of
Juvenile Justice or the cabinet for the placement of children committed to the
department or the cabinet;
(6) "Cabinet" means the Cabinet for Health and Family Services;
(7) "Certified juvenile facility staff" means individuals who meet the qualifications
of, and who have completed a course of education and training in juvenile
detention developed and approved by, the Department of Juvenile Justice after
consultation with other appropriate state agencies;
(8) "Child" means any person who has not reached his or her eighteenth birthday,
unless otherwise provided;
(9) "Child-caring facility" means any facility or group home other than a state
facility, Department of Juvenile Justice contract facility or group home, or one
certified by an appropriate agency as operated primarily for educational or
medical purposes, providing residential care on a twenty-four (24) hour basis to
children not related by blood, adoption, or marriage to the person maintaining
the facility;
(10) "Child-placing agency" means any agency, other than a state agency, which
supervises the placement of children in foster family homes or child-caring
facilities or which places children for adoption;
(11) "Clinical treatment facility" means a facility with more than eight (8) beds
designated by the Department of Juvenile Justice or the cabinet for the
treatment of mentally ill children. The treatment program of such facilities shall
be supervised by a qualified mental health professional;
(12) "Commitment" means an order of the court which places a child under the
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custodial control or supervision of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services,
Department of Juvenile Justice, or another facility or agency until the child
attains the age of eighteen (18) unless the commitment is discharged under
KRS Chapter 605 or the committing court terminates or extends the order;
"Community-based facility" means any nonsecure, homelike facility licensed,
operated, or permitted to operate by the Department of Juvenile Justice or the
cabinet, which is located within a reasonable proximity of the child's family and
home community, which affords the child the opportunity, if a Kentucky
resident, to continue family and community contact;
"Complaint" means a verified statement setting forth allegations in regard to
the child which contain sufficient facts for the formulation of a subsequent
petition;
"Court" means the juvenile session of District Court unless a statute specifies
the adult session of District Court or the Circuit Court;
"Court-designated worker" means that organization or individual delegated by
the Administrative Office of the Courts for the purposes of placing children in
alternative placements prior to arraignment, conducting preliminary
investigations, and formulating, entering into, and supervising diversion
agreements and performing such other functions as authorized by law or court
order;
"Deadly weapon" has the same meaning as it does in KRS 500.080;
"Department" means the Department for Community Based Services;
"Dependent child" means any child, other than an abused or neglected child,
who is under improper care, custody, control, or guardianship that is not due to
an intentional act of the parent, guardian, or person exercising custodial control
or supervision of the child;
"Detention" means the safe and temporary custody of a juvenile who is
accused of conduct subject to the jurisdiction of the court who requires a
restricted environment for his or her own or the community's protection;
"Detention hearing" means a hearing held by a judge or trial commissioner
within twenty-four (24) hours, exclusive of weekends and holidays, of the start
of any period of detention prior to adjudication;
"Diversion agreement" means an agreement entered into between a
court-designated worker and a child charged with the commission of offenses
set forth in KRS Chapters 630 and 635, the purpose of which is to serve the
best interest of the child and to provide redress for those offenses without court
action and without the creation of a formal court record;
"Eligible youth" means a person who:
(a) Is or has been committed to the cabinet as dependent, neglected, or
abused;
(b) Is eighteen (18) years of age to nineteen (19) years of age; and
(c) Is requesting to extend or reinstate his or her commitment to the cabinet
in order to participate in state or federal educational programs or to
establish independent living arrangements;
"Emergency shelter" is a group home, private residence, foster home, or
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similar homelike facility which provides temporary or emergency care of
children and adequate staff and services consistent with the needs of each
child;
"Emotional injury" means an injury to the mental or psychological capacity or
emotional stability of a child as evidenced by a substantial and observable
impairment in the child's ability to function within a normal range of
performance and behavior with due regard to his or her age, development,
culture, and environment as testified to by a qualified mental health
professional;
"Firearm" shall have the same meaning as in KRS 237.060 and 527.010;
"Foster family home" means a private home in which children are placed for
foster family care under supervision of the cabinet or a licensed child-placing
agency;
"Habitual runaway" means any child who has been found by the court to have
been absent from his or her place of lawful residence without the permission of
his or her custodian for at least three (3) days during a one (1) year period;
"Habitual truant" means any child who has been found by the court to have
been reported as a truant as defined in KRS 159.150(1) two (2) or more times
during a one (1) year period;
"Hospital" means, except for purposes of KRS Chapter 645, a licensed private
or public facility, health care facility, or part thereof, which is approved by the
cabinet to treat children;
"Independent living" means those activities necessary to assist a committed
child to establish independent living arrangements;
"Informal adjustment" means an agreement reached among the parties, with
consultation, but not the consent, of the victim of the crime or other persons
specified in KRS 610.070 if the victim chooses not to or is unable to participate,
after a petition has been filed, which is approved by the court, that the best
interest of the child would be served without formal adjudication and
disposition;
"Intentionally" means, with respect to a result or to conduct described by a
statute which defines an offense, that the actor's conscious objective is to
cause that result or to engage in that conduct;
"Intermittent holding facility" means a physically secure setting, which is
entirely separated from sight and sound from all other portions of a jail
containing adult prisoners, in which a child accused of a public offense may be
detained for a period not to exceed twenty-four (24) hours, exclusive of
weekends and holidays prior to a detention hearing as provided for in KRS
610.265, and in which children are supervised and observed on a regular basis
by certified juvenile facility staff;
"Juvenile holding facility" means a physically secure facility, approved by the
Department of Juvenile Justice, which is an entirely separate portion or wing of
a building containing an adult jail, which provides total sight and sound
separation between juvenile and adult facility spatial areas and which is staffed
by sufficient certified juvenile facility staff to provide twenty-four (24) hours per
day supervision;
(36) "Least restrictive alternative" means, except for purposes of KRS Chapter 645,
that the program developed on the child's behalf is no more harsh, hazardous,
or intrusive than necessary; or involves no restrictions on physical movements
nor requirements for residential care except as reasonably necessary for the
protection of the child from physical injury; or protection of the community, and
is conducted at the suitable available facility closest to the child's place of
residence;
(37) "Motor vehicle offense" means any violation of the nonfelony provisions of KRS
Chapters 186, 189, or 189A, KRS 177.300, 304.39-110, or 304.39-117;
(38) "Near fatality" means an injury that, as certified by a physician, places a child in
serious or critical condition;
(39) "Needs of the child" means necessary food, clothing, health, shelter, and
education;
(40) "Nonoffender" means a child alleged to be dependent, neglected, or abused
and who has not been otherwise charged with a status or public offense;
(41) "Nonsecure facility" means a facility which provides its residents access to the
surrounding community and which does not rely primarily on the use of
physically restricting construction and hardware to restrict freedom;
(42) "Nonsecure setting" means a nonsecure facility or a residential home, including
a child's own home, where a child may be temporarily placed pending further
court action. Children before the court in a county that is served by a state
operated secure detention facility, who are in the detention custody of the
Department of Juvenile Justice, and who are placed in a nonsecure alternative
by the Department of Juvenile Justice, shall be supervised by the Department
of Juvenile Justice;
(43) "Parent" means the biological or adoptive mother or father of a child;
(44) "Person exercising custodial control or supervision" means a person or agency
that has assumed the role and responsibility of a parent or guardian for the
child, but that does not necessarily have legal custody of the child;
(45) "Petition" means a verified statement, setting forth allegations in regard to the
child, which initiates formal court involvement in the child's case;
(46) "Physical injury" means substantial physical pain or any impairment of physical
condition;
(47) "Physically secure facility" means a facility that relies primarily on the use of
construction and hardware such as locks, bars, and fences to restrict freedom;
(48) "Public offense action" means an action, excluding contempt, brought in the
interest of a child who is accused of committing an offense under KRS Chapter
527 or a public offense which, if committed by an adult, would be a crime,
whether the same is a felony, misdemeanor, or violation, other than an action
alleging that a child sixteen (16) years of age or older has committed a motor
vehicle offense;
(49) "Qualified mental health professional" means:
(a) A physician licensed under the laws of Kentucky to practice medicine or
osteopathy, or a medical officer of the government of the United States
while engaged in the performance of official duties;
(b)
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A psychiatrist licensed under the laws of Kentucky to practice medicine or
osteopathy, or a medical officer of the government of the United States
while engaged in the practice of official duties, and who is certified or
eligible to apply for certification by the American Board of Psychiatry and
Neurology, Inc.;
(c) A psychologist with the health service provider designation, a
psychological practitioner, a certified psychologist, or a psychological
associate licensed under the provisions of KRS Chapter 319;
(d) A licensed registered nurse with a master's degree in psychiatric nursing
from an accredited institution and two (2) years of clinical experience with
mentally ill persons, or a licensed registered nurse with a bachelor's
degree in nursing from an accredited institution who is certified as a
psychiatric and mental health nurse by the American Nurses Association
and who has three (3) years of inpatient or outpatient clinical experience
in psychiatric nursing and who is currently employed by a hospital or
forensic psychiatric facility licensed by the Commonwealth or a psychiatric
unit of a general hospital or a regional comprehensive care center;
(e) A licensed clinical social worker licensed under the provisions of KRS
335.100, or a certified social worker licensed under the provisions of KRS
335.080 with three (3) years of inpatient or outpatient clinical experience
in psychiatric social work and currently employed by a hospital or forensic
psychiatric facility licensed by the Commonwealth or a psychiatric unit of
a general hospital or a regional comprehensive care center;
(f) A marriage and family therapist licensed under the provisions of KRS
335.300 to 335.399 with three (3) years of inpatient or outpatient clinical
experience in psychiatric mental health practice and currently employed
by a hospital or forensic psychiatric facility licensed by the
Commonwealth, a psychiatric unit of a general hospital, or a regional
comprehensive care center; or
(g) A professional counselor credentialed under the provisions of KRS
335.500 to 335.599 with three (3) years of inpatient or outpatient clinical
experience in psychiatric mental health practice and currently employed
by a hospital or forensic facility licensed by the Commonwealth, a
psychiatric unit of a general hospital, or a regional comprehensive care
center;
"Residential treatment facility" means a facility or group home with more than
eight (8) beds designated by the Department of Juvenile Justice or the cabinet
for the treatment of children;
"Retain in custody" means, after a child has been taken into custody, the
continued holding of the child by a peace officer for a period of time not to
exceed twelve (12) hours when authorized by the court or the court-designated
worker for the purpose of making preliminary inquiries;
"School personnel" means those certified persons under the supervision of the
local public or private education agency;
"Secretary" means the secretary of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services;
"Secure juvenile detention facility" means any physically secure facility used for
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the secure detention of children other than any facility in which adult prisoners
are confined;
"Serious physical injury" means physical injury which creates a substantial risk
of death or which causes serious and prolonged disfigurement, prolonged
impairment of health, or prolonged loss or impairment of the function of any
bodily member or organ;
"Sexual abuse" includes but is not necessarily limited to any contacts or
interactions in which the parent, guardian, person in a position of authority or
special trust, as defined in KRS 532.045, or other person having custodial
control or supervision of the child or responsibility for his or her welfare, uses or
allows, permits, or encourages the use of the child for the purposes of the
sexual stimulation of the perpetrator or another person;
"Sexual exploitation" includes but is not limited to a situation in which a parent,
guardian, person in a position of authority or special trust, as defined in KRS
532.045, or other person having custodial control or supervision of a child or
responsible for his or her welfare, allows, permits, or encourages the child to
engage in an act which constitutes prostitution under Kentucky law; or a
parent, guardian, person in a position of authority or special trust, as defined in
KRS 532.045, or other person having custodial control or supervision of a child
or responsible for his or her welfare, allows, permits, or encourages the child to
engage in an act of obscene or pornographic photographing, filming, or
depicting of a child as provided for under Kentucky law;
"Social service worker" means any employee of the cabinet or any private
agency designated as such by the secretary of the cabinet or a social worker
employed by a county or city who has been approved by the cabinet to provide,
under its supervision, services to families and children;
"Staff secure facility for residential treatment" means any setting which assures
that all entrances and exits are under the exclusive control of the facility staff,
and in which a child may reside for the purpose of receiving treatment;
(a) "Status offense action" is any action brought in the interest of a child who
is accused of committing acts, which if committed by an adult, would not
be a crime. Such behavior shall not be considered criminal or delinquent
and such children shall be termed status offenders. Status offenses shall
include:
1.
Beyond the control of school or beyond the control of parents;
2.
Habitual runaway;
3.
Habitual truant;
4.
Tobacco offenses as provided in KRS 438.305 to 438.340; and
5.
Alcohol offenses as provided in KRS 244.085.
(b) Status offenses shall not include violations of state or local ordinances
which may apply to children such as a violation of curfew;
"Take into custody" means the procedure by which a peace officer or other
authorized person initially assumes custody of a child. A child may be taken
into custody for a period of time not to exceed two (2) hours;
"Transitional living support" means all benefits to which an eligible youth is
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entitled upon being granted extended or reinstated commitment to the cabinet
by the court;
"Transition plan" means a plan that is personalized at the direction of the youth
that:
(a) Includes specific options on housing, health insurance, education, local
opportunities for mentors and continuing support services, and workforce
supports and employment services; and
(b) Is as detailed as the youth may elect;
"Valid court order" means a court order issued by a judge to a child alleged or
found to be a status offender:
(a) Who was brought before the court and made subject to the order;
(b) Whose future conduct was regulated by the order;
(c) Who was given written and verbal warning of the consequences of the
violation of the order at the time the order was issued and whose attorney
or parent or legal guardian was also provided with a written notice of the
consequences of violation of the order, which notification is reflected in
the record of the court proceedings; and
(d) Who received, before the issuance of the order, the full due process
rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States.
"Violation" means any offense, other than a traffic infraction, for which a
sentence of a fine only can be imposed;
"Youth alternative center" means a nonsecure facility, approved by the
Department of Juvenile Justice, for the detention of juveniles, both prior to
adjudication and after adjudication, which meets the criteria specified in KRS
15A.320; and
"Youthful offender" means any person regardless of age, transferred to Circuit
Court under the provisions of KRS Chapter 635 or 640 and who is
subsequently convicted in Circuit Court.
Effective:July 12, 2012
History: Amended 2012 Ky. Acts ch. 143, sec. 1, effective July 12, 2012; and ch.
148, sec. 1, effective July 12, 2012. -- Amended 2008 Ky. Acts ch. 87, sec. 1,
effective July 15, 2008. -- Amended 2005 Ky. Acts ch. 99, sec. 659, effective
June 20, 2005; and ch. 172, sec. 3, effective June 20, 2005. -- Amended 2004
Ky. Acts ch. 116, sec. 16, effective July 13, 2004. -- Amended 2002 Ky. Acts
ch. 99, sec. 4, effective March 28, 2002. -- Amended 2000 Ky. Acts ch. 14,
sec. 57, effective July 14, 2000; ch. 60, sec. 1, effective July 14, 2000; ch. 193,
sec. 1, effective July 14, 2000; and ch. 534, sec. 6, effective July 14, 2000. -Amended 1998 Ky. Acts ch. 57, sec. 2, effective March 17, 1998; ch. 303,
sec. 1, effective July 15, 1998; ch. 426, sec. 611, effective July 15, 1998; and
ch. 538, sec. 13, effective April 13, 1998. -- Amended 1996 Ky. Acts ch. 358,
sec. 9, effective in part July 1, 1997, and in part July 15, 1997; and ch. 369,
sec. 21, effective July 15, 1996. -- Amended 1994 Ky. Acts ch. 30, sec. 4,
effective July 15, 1994; ch. 368, sec. 2, effective July 15, 1994; and ch. 498,
sec. 15, effective July 15, 1994. -- Amended 1988 Ky. Acts ch. 350, sec. 1,
effective April 10, 1988. -- Created 1986 Ky. Acts ch. 423, sec. 2, effective July
1, 1987.
Legislative Research Commission Note (7/12/2012). This statute was amended
by 2012 Ky. Acts chs. 143 and 148, which do not appear to be in conflict and
have been codified together.
Legislative Research Commission Note (7/12/2012). Under the authority of KRS
7.136(1), the Reviser of Statutes has inserted paragraph designations into
subsections (23) and (63) of this statute. The words in the text were not
changed.
Legislative Research Commission Note (7/15/98). This section was amended by
1998 Ky. Acts chs. 57, 303, 426, and 538. Where these Acts are not in conflict,
they have been codified together. A conflict exists between ch. 538, which is
nonrevisory and substantive in nature, and ch. 426, which is a revisory
amendment to reflect an agency name change. In codification of this conflict,
ch. 538 has been allowed to prevail Cf. KRS 7.136(3).
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