2006 New Mexico Statutes - Section 32A-6-2 — Definitions.

32A-6-2. Definitions.

As used in the Children's Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Act [ 32A-6-1 NMSA 1978]:   

A.     "aversive stimuli" means anything that, because it is believed to be unreasonably unpleasant, uncomfortable or distasteful to the child, is administered or done to the child for the purpose of reducing the frequency of a behavior, but does not include verbal therapies, physical restrictions to prevent imminent harm to self or others or psychotropic medications that are not used for purposes of punishment;   

B.     "clinician" means a physician, licensed psychologist, licensed independent social worker or licensed professional clinical counselor;   

C.     "consistent with the least drastic means principle" means that the habilitation or treatment and the conditions of habilitation or treatment for the child, separately and in combination:   

(1)     are no more harsh, hazardous or intrusive than necessary to achieve acceptable treatment objectives for the child;   

(2)     involve no restrictions on physical movement and no requirement for residential care, except as reasonably necessary for the administration of treatment or for the protection of the child or others from physical injury; and   

(3)     are conducted at the suitable available facility closest to the child's place of residence;   

D.     "convulsive treatment" means any form of mental health treatment that depends upon creation of a convulsion by any means, including electroconvulsive treatment and insulin coma treatment;   

E.     "developmental disability" means a severe chronic disability that:   

(1)     is attributable to a mental or physical impairment or a combination of mental or physical impairments;   

(2)     is manifested before a person reaches twenty-two years of age;   

(3)     is expected to continue indefinitely;   

(4)     results in substantial functional limitations in three or more of the following areas of major life activities:   

(a)     self-care;   

(b)     receptive and expressive language;   

(c)     learning;   

(d)     mobility;   

(e)     self-direction;   

(f)     capacity for independent living; or   

(g)     economic self-sufficiency; and   

(5)     reflects a person's need for a combination and sequence of special, interdisciplinary or generic treatments or other supports and services that are of lifelong or extended duration and that are individually planned or coordinated;   

F.     "evaluation facility" means a community mental health or developmental disability program, a medical facility having psychiatric or developmental disability services available or, if none of the foregoing is reasonably available or appropriate, the office of a licensed physician or a licensed psychologist, any of which shall be capable of performing a mental status examination adequate to determine the need for involuntary treatment;   

G.     "experimental treatment" means any mental health or developmental disabilities treatment that presents significant risk of physical harm, but does not include accepted treatment used in the competent practice of medicine and psychology and supported by scientifically acceptable studies;   

H.     "grave passive neglect" means failure to provide for basic personal or medical needs or for one's own safety to such an extent that it is more likely than not that serious bodily harm will result in the near future;   

I.     "habilitation" means the process by which professional persons and their staff assist the developmentally disabled child in acquiring and maintaining those skills and behaviors that enable the child to cope more effectively with the demands of his own person and of his environment and to raise the level of his physical, mental and social efficiency. "Habilitation" includes programs of formal, structured education and treatment;   

J.     "likelihood of serious harm to oneself" means that it is more likely than not that in the near future the child will attempt to commit suicide or will cause serious bodily harm to himself by violent or other self-destructive means, including grave passive neglect;   

K.     "likelihood of serious harm to others" means that it is more likely than not that in the near future the child will inflict serious, unjustified bodily harm on another person or commit a criminal sexual offense, as evidenced by behavior causing, attempting or threatening such harm, which behavior gives rise to a reasonable fear of such harm from the child;   

L.     "mental disorder" means a substantial disorder of the child's emotional processes, thought or cognition that grossly impairs judgment, behavior or capacity to recognize reality, but does not mean developmental disability;   

M.     "mental health or developmental disabilities professional" means a physician or other professional who, by training or experience, is qualified to work with individuals with mental disorders or developmental disabilities;   

N.     "physician" or "licensed psychologist", when used for the purpose of hospital admittance or discharge, means a physician or licensed psychologist who has been granted admitting privileges at a hospital licensed by the department of health, if such privileges are required;   

O.     "psychosurgery" means those operations currently referred to as lobotomy, psychiatric surgery and behavioral surgery and all other forms of brain surgery if the surgery is performed for the following purposes:   

(1)     modification or control of thoughts, feelings, actions or behavior rather than the treatment of a known and diagnosed physical disease of the brain;   

(2)     treatment of abnormal brain function or normal brain tissue in order to control thoughts, feelings, actions or behavior; or   

(3)     treatment of abnormal brain function or abnormal brain tissue in order to modify thoughts, feelings, actions or behavior when the abnormality is not an established cause for those thoughts, feelings, actions or behavior.   

"Psychosurgery" does not include prefrontal sonic treatment in which there is no destruction of brain tissue;   

P.     "residential treatment or habilitation program means diagnosis, evaluation, care, treatment or habilitation rendered inside or on the premises of a mental health or developmental disabilities facility, hospital, clinic, institution, supervisory residence or nursing home when the individual resides on the premises and where one or more of the following measures is available for use:   

(1)     a mechanical device to restrain or restrict the child's movement;   

(2)     a secure seclusion area from which the child is unable to exit voluntarily;   

(3)     a facility or program designed for the purpose of restricting the child's ability to exit voluntarily; or   

(4)     the involuntary emergency administration of psychotropic medication; and   

Q.     "treatment" means any effort to accomplish a significant change in the mental or emotional condition or behavior of the child.