Definitions

All terms are defined in the context of Child Welfare and applicable Federal and State Law.  
Definitions may vary in another context.

A, B, C, D, E, F, G , H, I, J, K, L, M, N , O, P, Q, R, S, T, U , V, W, X, Y, Z

A

Abandoned Infant (Policy 4.34)
An abandoned infant is a child who is less than 12 months of age and whose parent, guardian, or custodian has knowingly or intentionally left the child in an environment that endangers the child’s life or health or at a hospital or medical facility and has no reasonable plan to assume the care, custody, and control of the child.

Abandonment
Act of a parent, guardian, or custodian leaving a child without adequate care, supervision, support, or parental contact for an excessive period of time and with no intention of returning. The age of the child is an important factor. In legal terminology, “abandonment cases” are suits calling for a Child in Need of Services (CHINS) or Termination of Parental Rights (TPR).

Absent Parent (AP)
A biological or legal parent who does not live in the same household as the child.

Academic Student (Policy GA-12)
An academic student is a DCS employee who is enrolled in one (1) or more academic course, and the academic schedule is approved by the employee’s supervisor and considered to be appropriate for this policy.

Acceptable Standards (Policy 8.49)
For the purpose of this policy, Acceptable Standards are basic funeral and burial or cremation services where surviving siblings, relatives, foster parents, DCS staff, service providers, school personnel, and any other pertinent individuals in the child’s life are given the opportunity to pay their respects and grieve the child’s death through any combination of the following services: a visitation/viewing, funeral/memorial services, burial or cremation services (including a headstone).

Accreditation
Accreditation is the acknowledgement and verification that an organization fulfills explicit specified standards. For example, public and private child and family service agencies may apply for accreditation with several accrediting bodies- including the Council on Accreditation of Services for Families and Children- conduct a self-assessment, and undergo periodic accreditation reviews to ensure that they meet quality standards.

Acculturation
Acculturation is the process whereby immigrants adapt to and integrate with the host society’s culture by modifying their own.

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)

Active Efforts (Policy 2.12)
In relation to ICWA, active efforts are affirmative, thorough, and timely efforts intended primarily to maintain or reunite an Indian child with the child’s family.

Additional Appropriation
Additional Appropriation is permission to spend specified amount approved by a legislative branch or governmental body in addition to a previously approved budget.

Adjudicate
Adjudicate is a finding of the court which shows that allegations made in a petition are substantiated or proved.

Adjudicated Father
An adjudicated father is a person not married to a child’s mother when the child was born, whose relationship to the child has been established by court order or paternity affidavit.

Adjusted Work Schedule (HR-2-11)
An adjusted work schedule is a temporary change in an employee’s established work schedule within the hours of 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, totaling 37.5 hours in a work week.

Administration for Children and Families (ACF)
The ACF is an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that provides national leadership and creates opportunities for families to lead economically and socially productive lives. ACF’s programs are designed to help children develop into healthy adults and to help communities become more prosperous and supportive of their members. ACF is responsible for Federal programs that promote the economic and social well-being of families, children, individuals, and communities.

Administrative Hearing Officer (Policies 2.05, 2.13,14.05, & 14.12)
Administrative Hearing Officer refers to an individual who presides over an administrative hearing. An Administrative Hearing Officer is also commonly referred to as an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ).

Administrative Reviewer (Policy 14.04)
The DCS Administrative Reviewer is a DCS attorney assigned by Legal Operations.

Adoption (Policy 10.24)
Adoption is the legal process of a child becoming the legal child of a person other than the child’s biological parents.

Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS)
AFCARS is a federally regulated system for collecting reliable information regarding children under the care and supervision of the State and are receiving Title IV-B and/or Title IV-E federal funds for placement and care.

Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA)
ASFA is federal legislation that was signed into law in 1997, which provides time limits and guidelines related to children’s permanency goals.

Adoption Assistance Agreement
An Adoption Assistance Agreement is a written agreement, binding on the parties to the agreement, between the State agency, other relevant agencies, and the prospective adoptive parents of a minor child, which at a minimum:

1. Specifies the nature, duration, and amount of any payments, services, and assistance to be provided under such agreement; and
2. Stipulates that the agreement shall remain in effect regardless of the State of which the adoptive parents are residents at any given time.

Adoption Assistance Program (AAP)
AAP is a federal program by which the local office, through the use of Title IV-E funds, provides financial assistance to parents who adopt or plan to adopt an eligible child.

Adoption Disruption
Adoption disruption is an adoption that is terminated prior to finalization, often after the child is placed in the adoptive home, necessitating in a new placement plan for the child.

Adoption Dissolution
Adoption dissolution is a term used to describe an adoption that ends after it is legally finalized, resulting in the child’s return to (or entry into) foster care or placement with new adoptive parents. This process requires court action.

Adoption Exchange Association (AEA)
AEA is an organization that provides adoption information to educate prospective adoptive parents and connect waiting families with waiting children. Often these organizations serve to promote the adoption of children. An adoption exchange may be local, State, regional, national, or international in scope.

Adoption Liaison (AL)

Adoption Petition
An adoption petition is the legal document through which prospective parents request the court’s permission to adopt a specific child.

Adoption Placement
Adoption placement is the point at which a child begins to live with a prospective adoptive parent, prior to finalization of the adoption.

Adoption Plan
Adoption plan is the birth parent’s decision to allow his or her biological child to be adopted into an adoptive family.

Adoption Proceedings
Adoption proceedings are those court proceedings leading to the adoption of a child by a qualified pre-adoptive parent. These proceedings require the filing of all mandated official documents that testify to the absence of any factors that would prohibit the adoption and the appropriateness of the placement for the specific child to be adopted. If there is no factor present that would indicate that the adoption should not be finalized, the court issues an official adoption decree.

Adoption Revocation
Adoption revocation is the legal withdrawal of an agreement to adoption by the birth parents. Circumstances and time limits for revocation are established by States.

Adoption Summary (Policies 10.01 & 10.24)
The Adoption Summary is a written report that is prepared for the court. The Adoption Summary provides the court with recommendations as to the advisability of the adoption.

Adoption Taxpayer Identification Number (ATIN)

Adoption Transition Plan (Policy 10.09)
The adoption transition plan documents how to meet the child’s needs when transitioning from a current caregiver to a prospective adoptive home and is developed using the Adoptive Placement Visitation and Transition Tool.

Adoption Worker (Policy 13.07)
For the purposes of this policy, an adoption worker is either the DCS or the LCPA worker who conducts the home study and completes the required background checks.

Adoptive Placement (Policy 2.12)
For the purpose of this policy, an adoptive placement is the permanent placement of an Indian child for adoption, including any action resulting in a final decree of adoption.

Adult Sibling
An adult sibling is any brother or sister by blood, half-blood, or adoption that is at least 18 years of age.

Advance Directives (Policies 5.14 & 11.06)
“Advance directives” is a term that refers to spoken and written instructions about an individual’s future medical care and treatment.

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE)
Per the Centers for Disease Control, ACEs are all potential traumatic experiences that occur to people under the age of 18, including all types CA/N and growing up in an environment of violence, substance abuse, or with a caregiver who is experiencing mental health issues. The more adverse experiences a child faces, the higher the likelihood the child will encounter issues with development, mental health, self-regulation, and chronic health conditions.

Affidavit of Diligent Inquiry (ADI) (Policy 6.02)
An ADI is a sworn statement that the individual made reasonable efforts to locate someone.

Aftercare Plan (Policy 5.12)
An aftercare plan is a plan which recognizes that services may continue to be needed to further support the child and/or permanent caregiver during the transition to case closure.

Agency-Based Field Instructor (Policies GA-9 & GA-14)
The Agency-Based Field Instructor is a DCS employee who provides weekly field instruction and practice supervision to the Scholar at the Scholar’s placement site; assists with planning and approving of the learning activities; and evaluates the student’s performance and level of competency on behaviors related to the planned learning activities. This individual must have a BSW Degree with two (2) or more years of professional experience or a Master of Social Work Degree to serve in this role and meet the university criteria to serve in this capacity.

Agreed Entry (Policy 6.01)
An agreed entry is an agreement by a child’s parent, based on factual information that a child is a CHINS. An agreed entry should not indicate an agreement that a child needs services without a factual basis.

Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)

Allegation
An allegation is a charge or complaint about an act or condition which needs to be proved at a hearing.

Alleged Father (Policies 4.03, 4.10, 4.28, 4.30 & 5.05)
An alleged (putative) father is a male who has asserted to be the father of a child, or who claims to be the father of a child but has not been adjudicated the father through a paternity action filed in court having jurisdiction, has not signed a paternity affidavit, and is not presumed to be a child’s father under IC 31-14-7 (1) or IC 31-14-7-1(2).

Alternate Work Schedule (Policy HR-2-11)
Alternate work schedule is a broad category of work schedules that afford full-time employees the opportunity to work non-traditional schedules. Alternate work schedules include fixed flexible schedules and compressed schedules. Such schedules offer employees flexibility in managing their work and personal needs:

1. Fixed Flexible Schedule: A work schedule that includes 75 hours worked in 10 days during a two (2) week pay period (37.5 hours per week) and includes consistently arriving earlier or leaving later than established DCS office business hours.
2. Compressed Schedule: A work schedule that includes a total of 75 hours worked in eight (8) days during the two (2) week pay period (37.5 hours per week) with one (1) weekday off each week. Employees consistently work the same four (4) day schedule during both weeks of the payroll period. Employees work three (3) 9.5 hour days and one (1) 9.0 hour day each week of the pay period.

American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP)

Another Planned Permanent Living Arrangement (APPLA) (Policies 11.21 & 11.29)
APPLA is only an option for youth 16 years of age and older when all other permanency plan options have been thoroughly exhausted and found to not be viable. APPLA refers to a situation in which DCS maintains care and custody responsibilities for the youth, and DCS places the youth in a setting in which the child is expected to remain until transitioning to adulthood, such as:

1. With resource parents who have made a commitment to care for the youth permanently, but are not moving toward adoption or guardianship, or
2. Other long-term placement setting that meets the youth’s needs as the youth transitions to adulthood, and
3. Receiving Older Youth Services (OYS) that will lead the youth to successful adulthood living after emancipation from the child welfare system.

Appellant (Policy 2.05)
An appellant is the person identified as a substantiated perpetrator of CA/N who has submitted a complete request for an Administrative Appeal Hearing timely.

Appellant for Administrative Appeals (Policies 14.05 & 14.12)
For the purposes of administrative appeals for GAP and adoption assistance, an appellant is a person aggrieved by the decision made in an administrative review by DCS who is either:

1. A prospective guardian or prospective adoptive parent, including the individual who has applied for GAP or AAP; or
2. An individual who is a party to a Guardianship Assistance Agreement or an Adoption Assistance Agreement.

Appropriation
Appropriation is permission by a legislative branch or governmental body to spend a specific amount for a certain purpose or purposes.

Appropriation Account
An appropriation account is an account used to keep track of appropriation used and amount of appropriation left.

Arrest (HR-2-2)
The taking of a person into custody, that the person may be held to answer for a criminal charge. Arrests noted on criminal history checks may be considered only if the charges are still pending at the time of the employment decision.

Assault: Resident on Resident (Policy 17.13)
A resident on resident assault is any action initiated by a youth upon another youth (also referred to as a resident) in which there was physical contact with an apparent intent to harm the other youth.

Assault: Resident on Staff (Policy 17.13)
An resident on staff assault is any action initiated by a youth upon a staff member in which there was physical contact with apparent intent to harm the staff member.

Assessment
An assessment is an evaluation of a report of Child Abuse and/or Neglect (CA/N). The process of gathering and analyzing information about the child, his or her family, and the circumstances that led to DCS involvement.

Assessment Decision
An assessment decision is the decision, based upon the assessment findings, as to whether the assessment should be classified as unsubstantiated or substantiated.

Assessment Findings
Assessment findings are the sum total of all the information compiled during the course of an assessment.

Assessment Status
Assessment status is the point at which the assessment is along the progression from start to finish (i.e., not yet started, not yet finished, incomplete due to circumstances that prevent completion, closed).

Assistance Group (AG) (Policy 15.05)
The assistance group includes members of the removal household whose income, resources, and needs are considered. The relationship between the child and the various household members will determine who should be included in the child’s assistance group.

Note: A child placed with a parent residing in a licensed residential family-based treatment facility for substance abuse may be eligible for Title IV-E regardless of whether the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) criteria are met.

Assistant Deputy Director (ADD)

Assistant Regional Director (ARD)

Assisted Guardianship (AG)

Attempted Suicide (Policy 17.13)
Attempted suicide is harming oneself with any intent to end one’s life, but without resulting in death.

Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Audit (Policy GA-21)
An audit is a physical count of assets to verify the accuracy of the perpetual count, the accuracy of the Agency Asset Management documents, and consistency of the procedures.

Authorized Access Escort (GA-23)
An authorized access escort is an authorized user who always accompanies a visitor while the visitor is within a physically secure location to ensure the protection and integrity of the physically secure location and any Criminal Justice Information (CJI).

Authorized Requestor (GA-23)
An authorized requestor is an individual granted permission by policy and law to request criminal history information from ISP. This includes Child Protective Service (CPS), Child Support Bureau (CSB), and Juvenile Justice workers; contract staff, and DCS embedded State Personnel Department (SPD) staff.

Authorized User (Policy GA-23)
An authorized user is an individual/group of individuals authorized to access CJI, as required by policy and permitted access by law. This includes CPS, CSB, and Juvenile Justice workers; contract staff, and DCS embedded SPD staff.

Autopsy Report (Policy 4.31)
An autopsy report is a clinical report issued by a medical doctor/pathologist.

Award Recommendation Letter (Policy GA-20)
An Award Recommendation Letter is the written notification from DCS of the results of the solicitation and recommendation regarding the proposed selected Bidder or Respondent.

Award Recommendation Protest (Policy GA-20)
An Award Recommendation Protest is a written request from a bid respondent that was not awarded under the bid to review and potentially overturn the award decision of the bid.

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B

Baby Doe
Baby Doe is a medically disabled infant with life-threatening conditions for whom medically indicated treatment is withheld. This is a federal statutory definition and does not apply to or mean an infant abandoned by the child’s parent.

Background Check Waiver Committee for the Department of Child Services (DCS) (13.16)
The members of the Background Check Waiver Committee for DCS vary depending upon the requested waiver:

1. DCS Contractor- committee members include:
   1. Deputy Director of Child Welfare Services,
   2. DCS Local Office Director (LOD),
   3. DCS Regional Director (RD), and
   4. The Central Office Background Check Unit (COBCU) Team Manager or designee.
2. DCS Licensed Agencies- committee members include:
   1. Residential Licensing Manager,
   2. DCS LOD,
   3. DCS RD, and
   4. The COBCU Team Manager or designee.
3. Adoptions- committee members include:
   1. Adoption and Youth Connections Programs Manager,
   2. DCS LOD,
   3. DCS RD, and
   4. The COBCU Team Manager or designee.
4. Foster Family Home Licensing- committee members include:
   1. Foster Family Home Licensing Programs Manager,
   2. DCS LOD,
   3. DCS RD, and
   4. The COBCU Team Manager or designee.
5. Unlicensed Placements- committee members include:
   1. DCS LOD,
   2. DCS RD, and
   3. The COBCU Team Manager or designee.

Note: Additional members may be consulted if needed.

Base Rate (Policies 17.04 & 18.12)
A base rate is defined by 465 IAC 2-16-4 as including the following components:

1. Maintenance payment;
2. Administrative payment; and
3. Payment for costs that are not eligible for Title IV-E reimbursement, if such costs are related to licensing requirements as established by 465 IAC 2-9 through 465 IAC 2-13, as amended, or written agreement between the department and residential treatment service providers. Such costs shall include but are not limited to on-site nursing staff; or transportation to medical appointments for the child.

Best Interest (BI)
BI is the Title IV-E court order language that indicates the removal of a child from the home is beneficial and necessary to protect the safety of the child. To decide something is in a child’s best interests means that all decisions about the child’s well-being regarding placement, visitation, services, etc. are made with the ultimate goal of encouraging the child’s security, mental health, emotional development, and happiness into young adulthood.

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
As a standard of proof, “beyond a reasonable doubt” is that quantum of evidence that is sufficiently conclusive and complete as to remove all reasonable doubt regarding the facts sought to be established. This is the standard required in criminal cases such as those that involve proving that a child is a delinquent.

Bid (Policy GA-20)
A bid includes all solicitation types (i.e., RFP, RFF, RFQ, RFS, RFI, and Negotiated Bids).

Bidder (Policies GA-19 & GA-20)
A bidder is a person or entity that is registered with the State of Indiana to receive information regarding active solicitations.

Birth Parent
A birth parent is an individual’s biological mother or father.

Birth Parent Advisory Board (BPAB)

Bonding
Bonding is the process of forming a psychological attachment between two (2) persons.

Burden of Proof (Policy 14.05)
In any Administrative Appeal Hearing conducted regarding eligibility for GAP, the appellant has the burden to prove the child meets all applicable eligibility requirements for GAP (see policy 14.01 Guardianship Assistance Program [GAP]).

Bureau of Disabilities Services (BDS)

Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV)

Business Hours (Policy HR-2-11)
Business hours are the established, uniform hours of service during which all DCS offices are to be open to the public.

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C

Call-Back Hours (Policy HR-2-7)
Call-back hours are the hours an employee performs work during the on-call period.

Campaign (Policy GA-22)
A campaign is an intentional DCS Communications initiative to engage DCS stakeholders in creative ways outside of their regular interactions with the agency for the purpose of building community.

Candidacy for Imminent Risk of Removal (Policy 7.01)
Candidacy for Imminent Risk of Removal (based on federal guidance) is defined as:

1. Substantiated assessment of CA/N;
2. Open Informal Adjustment (IA) or in-home CHINS; and
3. Child and/or family will receive or is currently receiving services to prevent the need for removal while the child is living in the child’s home.

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)

Caregiver
A caregiver is a person who provides for the physical, emotional, and social needs of a dependent person who cannot provide for his or her own needs. The term most often applies to parents or parent surrogates, daycare and nursery workers, health care specialists, and relatives caring for children, elderly, or ill family members.

Case File
A case file is a folder or other container holding documentation and a running record of DCS activities relating to a specific child.

Case Juncture (Policies 4.19, 5.07, 5.15, 5.19, 5.21, 7.03, 7.11, 8.10, 8.39, 8.50, & 11.26)
A case juncture is defined as a new awareness of significant information regarding the child or family’s strengths or needs, which may impact the Case Plan/Prevention Plan, Safety Plan, and/or the Plan of Safe Care. Case junctures may include, but are not limited to, transition planning and/or positive or negative changes in:

1. Placement;
2. Formal or informal supports;
3. Family involvement;
4. Visitation;
5. Behavior;
6. Diagnosis (mental or physical);
7. Sobriety;
8. Skills acquisition;
9. Education;
10. Court;
11. Trial Home Visit (THV); and
12. Change in household composition.

Case Management
Case management is services that include the assessment and identification of client needs, the identification of available resources to meet client needs, the development of an individualized service plan; the coordination, monitoring and evaluation of services for each client, and advocacy for a client to assure that services and resources are accessible and provided.

Case Plan
A case plan is a written document that follows a prescribed format and identifies specific information about the actions that will be taken and the outcomes that are to be achieved.

Case Plan Goal
A case plan goal is a statement of the desired primary outcome resulting from the involvement of DCS and other supporters of the family such as other family members, friends, neighbors and other providers of services required by the family. The case plan goals and the objectives and activities necessary to achieve them must be realistic and achievable for the family. They are to be developed in the course of a Child and Family Team (CFT) meeting which offers an opportunity for all participants to provide input. It is important to limit the number of goals the family needs to work on, making sure to include those goals that are critical to ensuring the safety of the child.

Case Records
Case records are written information and documentation of facts to be preserved as evidence either for service delivery, accountability for court proceedings, or both.

Case Staffing (Policies 2.18, 4.03, 4.09, 4.19, 4.22, 4.23, 4.26, 4.30, 4.38, 4.40, 4.42, 4.48, 5.02, 5.06, 5.07, 5.08, 5.20, 5.21, 5.23, 7.03, 7.04, 7.05, 7.11, 8.09, 8.10, 8.16, 8.21, 8.39, 8.43, 8.44, 8.48, 9.01, 10.02, 10.03, 10.04, 10.05, 10.06, 10.07, 10.09, 11.01, 11.06, 11.26, & 11.29)
Case staffing is a systematic and frequent review of all case information with safety and risk, stability, permanency, and well-being as driving forces for case activities.

Casey Life Skills Assessment (CLSA)

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Central Eligibility Unit (CEU)

Central Office Agency Security Officer (Policy GA-23)
A Central Office Agency Security Officer (Security Officer) is an individual designated by DCS to ensure DCS compliance with CJIS and Indiana Data and Communication System (IDACS) requirements.

Central Office Background Check Unit (COBCU)

Chemical Restraint (Policy 8.18)
A chemical restraint is a restraint of a child using medication to sedate the person or restrict the person’s movement. This may include the use of non-prescribed medication (e.g., Benadryl) to modify a child’s behavior.

Chief Financial Officer (CFO) (Policy GA-21)
The CFO is the Executive Director of the Administrative Services Divisions responsible for oversight of agency assets.

Child (Policy 4.31)
For purposes of IC 31-33, a “child” includes an individual who:

1. Is under the age of 18; or
2. Is 18 years of age and less than 21 years of age and resides, or has previously resided, at a residential facility licensed by DCS.

Child Abuse and/or Neglect (CA/N)
CA/N is the term used to refer to a child who is alleged to be in need of services, as defined in Indiana Code (IC) 31-34-1-1 through IC 31-34-1-11; i.e., the CHINS definitions.

Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA)

Child Advocacy Center (CAC) (Policies 2.06, 4.09, 4.31, & 4.47)
A CAC is a child focused, trauma-informed community-based organization that:

1. Is recognized by the Indiana Chapter of National Children’s Alliance and designed to collaborate on reports of CA/N;
2. Coordinates a multidisciplinary team; and
3. Facilitates forensic interviews.

Child and Family Services Review (CFSR)
The CFSR is the federal government’s review of how state child welfare systems perform, based on the outcomes that children and families experience. The CFSR examines the delivery of child welfare services and looks at the outcomes for children and families who receive services in the areas of safety, permanency, and child and family well-being.

Child and Family Team (CFT) (Policies 4.42, 5.19, 8.18, & 13.14)
The CFT is defined as a group of formal and informal supports, identified by the child and family, and convened by DCS, who work together to achieve positive outcomes with the DCS Practice Model by engaging in the CFT Meeting process.

Child and Family Team (CFT) Meeting(Policies 4.42, 5.03, 5.19, & 8.02)
The CFT Meeting is a process that brings together family, interested people including friends, neighbors, community members, and formal resources (e.g. child welfare, mental health, education and other agencies working with the family for the purpose of:

1. Learning what the family hopes to accomplish;
2. Setting reasonable and meaningful goals;
3. Recognizing and affirming the family strengths;
4. Assessing family needs;
5. Finding solutions to meet family needs;
6. Designing individualized supports and services that match the family’s needs and builds on their strengths;
7. Achieving clarity about who is responsible for agreed upon tasks; and
8. Agreeing on the next steps.

Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS)

Child Care Development Fund (CCDF)

Child Care Worker (CCW) (Policies 2.04, 2.05, 4.03, 4.11, 4.30, & 4.45)
DCS defines “Child Care Worker”, per IC 31-9-2-16.6, as a person who:

1. Is employed or actively seeking employment (other than self-employment as an owner/operator) at any of the following types of facilities:
   1. Childcare center,
   2. Childcare home (licensed or required to be licensed),
   3. Childcare ministry (registered or required to be registered),
   4. Residential group home,
   5. Child Caring Institution (CCI),
   6. School,
   7. Juvenile detention center; or
2. Is a child caregiver who:
   1. Provides or is responsible for providing care and supervision of a child to whom they are not a parent, stepparent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, sibling, or legal guardian or custodian with whom the person resides,
   2. Provides the care described in (a) at a residence that is not where the child lives and outside of the presence of the child’s parent, guardian, or a custodian with whom the child resides,
   3. Is not required to be licensed as a childcare home or foster family home, and
   4. Receives more than $2,000 a year for providing care and supervision for a child or children; or
3. Has or will have direct contact with children on a regular and continuing basis through employment (or through employment being actively sought) with any agency, facility, or home that provides the following to a child or children to whom the person is not related:
   1. A service that provides for the care, health, safety, and supervision of a child’s social, emotional, and educational growth; or
   2. Services to, or for the benefit of, children who are victims of child abuse or neglect (this includes but is not limited to agencies, facilities, and homes that have contracts with DCS to provide services).

Child Caring Institution (CCI) (Policies 8.04, 13.01, & 16.04)
A CCI is a residential treatment facility that provides childcare on a 24-hour basis for more than 10 children or a residential treatment facility with a capacity of not more than 10 children that does not meet the residential structure requirements of a group home.

Child Fatality Review Panel
The Child Fatality Review Panel is a multidisciplinary team whose specific task is to identify missed prevention opportunities in child fatalities. The goal of a child fatality review panel is to learn, through confidential case review, what could have or should have been done to prevent the deaths.

Child Focus Treatment Review (CFTR)

Child in Need of Services (CHINS)

Child in Need of Services (CHINS) Petition (Policy 6.01)
A CHINS petition is a written document that alleges a child is a CHINS and requests the court to adjudicate the child as such.

Child Placing Agency (CPA) (Policy 18.01)
As defined in IC 31-9-2-17.5 for the purposes of IC 31-27, a CPA means a person that provides child welfare services to children and families, including:

1. Home studies, investigation, and recommendation of families for the purpose of placing, arranging, or causing the placement of children for adoption, foster care, or residential care; and
2. Supervision of those placements.

Child Protection Index (CPI)
The CPI is a database that contains all information formerly stored in the Central Client Index and the notice requirements from the State Central Registry (SCR). Combining these elements into a single entity (the CPI) allows outside agencies conducting child protection services checks relative to their employees or volunteers to have access to all substantiated information instead of the limited information previously available in the SCR. All information formerly housed in the Central Client Index is accessible to DCS staff in the CPI.

Child Protection Services (CPS) History Check (Policy HR-2-2)
A CPS History Check is a thorough search, with the applicant’s consent, of an individual’s current or previous name, any alias, and/or nicknames in Casebook, or similar records in another state, in order to provide all information about whether that individual has been substantiated as a perpetrator of Child Abuse and/or Neglect (CA/N).

Child Protection Team (CPT)
The CPT is an interdisciplinary, community-wide group, the members of which are either specified by statute or appointed by the Local Office Director (LOD).

Child Protective Services (CPS)

Child Representatives (Policy 6.10)
Child representatives are selected by youth who are 14 years of age and older to advise the youth and advocate for/represent the child’s best interests. The child representatives must be at least 18 years of age, members of the CFT, and may not be a foster parent or FCM.

Child Sex Abuse Material (Policy 2.31)
Child sex abuse material is an obscene image or performance that depicts or portrays a child under 18 years of age engaged in sexual conduct or an image or performance depicting or portraying a child under 18 years of age created or possessed with the intent to arouse. An image or performance as described above may still be determined to be child sex abuse material if the image is digitized and/or if the child depicted in the image or performance does not actually exist (e.g., a hand-drawn cartoon).

Child Support Bureau (CSB)

Child Support Payments
Child support payments are court-ordered payments made to DCS by the parent or guardian for expenses incurred in the current month for children in out-of-home care. When voluntary child support is not forthcoming from the child’s parent or guardian and DCS believes the parent or guardian is capable of producing it, DCS refers the matter to the court to request support. See also Reimbursement Payments.

Child Welfare (CW)

Child Welfare Services
Child Welfare Services are a continuum of services, ranging from prevention to intervention to treatment, for the purpose of:

1. Protecting and promoting the welfare of all children;
2. Preventing the neglect, abuse, or exploitation of children;
3. Supporting at-risk families through services which allow children, where appropriate, to remain safely with their families or return to their families in a timely manner;
4. Promoting the safety, permanency, and well-being of children in care and adoptive homes; and
5. Providing training, professional development, and support to ensure a well-qualified child welfare workforce.

Child Welfare Policy and Practice Group (CWPPG)

Citizenship (Policy 2.22)
Citizenship is the position or status of being a citizen of a particular country.

CJIS System Agency (CSA) (Policy GA-23)
CSA is the state organization responsible for connecting agencies and users within the state systems managed by CJIS. ISP is the CSA for the State of Indiana.

Clear and Convincing
Clear and convincing is a level of proof required in civil cases for the plaintiff to prevail. It is a higher burden of proof than preponderance of evidence but less than beyond a reasonable doubt. This is the level of burden of proof that is required in termination of parental rights cases and in all CHINS proceedings involving Native American children (the burden of proof for TPR under ICWA is “beyond a reasonable doubt”).

Client (Policy GA-8)
A client is an individual who receives advice, care, treatment, or services which are managed by an individual or agency with the expectation that the communication will be held in confidence.

Clinical Services Specialist (CSS)

Close of Business (Policy GA-20)
Close of business is 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time (ET), Monday through Friday. This term excludes weekend days and State holidays.

Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
The CFR is the codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government.

Coercive Intervention (Policies 3.08 & 6.02)
Coercive intervention is the inability or unwillingness of the parent, guardian, or custodian to provide needed supervision and/or services for a child without a court order.

Co-facilitator
A co-facilitator is the person who mirrors and supports the facilitator.

Collaborative Care (CC) (Policies 2.20, 11.18, 13.09, 13.15)
CC is a voluntary program that DCS youth are allowed to begin transferring to at 17 ½ years of age. The program is for DCS and Juvenile Delinquent (JD) youth 18 to 21 years of age and allows them to remain in the care and placement of DCS in order to continue to receive services.

Collateral Information
Collateral information is secondary information gathered in the course of an investigation that tends to support or refute the primary allegations (i.e., information gathered from school teachers, neighbors). These sources of information cannot be approached until the decision to investigate is made.

Communicable Disease (Policy 8.31)
Per 410 IAC 1-2.5-14, a communicable disease is an illness due to a specific infectious agent or its toxic products that arises through transmissions of the agent or its toxic products from an infected person, animal, vector, plant, or inanimate environment to a susceptible host, either directly or indirectly. For a list of Reportable Communicable Diseases, see 410 IAC 1-2.5-75(d).

Community Resources (Policy 4.26)
Community resources can be essential in helping children and families access support and assistance to meet their unique needs. Community resources may include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Concrete support (e.g., public assistance, food pantries, utility assistance);
2. Housing assistance;
3. Child care;
4. Parenting education;
5. Child development activities;
6. Transportation; and
7. Access to mental health and substance abuse treatment.

Compensatory Time Off (Policy HR-2-3)
Compensatory time off is paid time off given in lieu of additional monetary pay. Compensatory time off may be used outside of the week in which it was earned. This is one of the ways in which compensatory time differs from a schedule adjustment (see policy HR-2-11 Work Hours and Schedules for more information).

Comprehensive Child Welfare Information System (CCWIS)
CCWIS is the case management information system developed by states and tribes to meet their child welfare program needs.

Computer Assisted Training (CAT)

Concrete Needs (Policy 16.02)
Concrete needs are goods and services that enable the kinship caregiver to provide for the family’s care, well-being, safety, and stability, which may include, but is not limited to food, housing, clothing, healthcare, childcare, and mental health as well as services identified for stabilization within the first 30 days of the child’s placement.

Concrete Services (Policy 15.11)
Concrete services are goods and services designed to help a family succeed by increasing safety, decreasing the time to permanency, and/or increasing child well-being. Examples of concrete services include payment of utility bills, vehicle repairs, summer camp fees, and school supplies.

Concurrent Planning (Policies 5.15 & 6.10)
Concurrent Planning requires the identification of two (2) court approved Permanency Plan goals and simultaneous reasonable efforts toward both goals with all participants. The intent of Concurrent Planning is that both plans will be pursued by making reasonable efforts toward both plans simultaneously.

Conditionally Safe
Conditionally safe indicates one (1) or more safety factors were identified, and the child can be protected by the voluntary interventions identified in the safety response.

Confidentiality
Confidentiality is the legally required process and ethical practice of not disclosing private information about a client without the client’s consent, as well as, not soliciting private information from a client unless it is essential in assuring safety, providing services, or achieving permanency for children. In specific circumstances, professionals may be compelled by law to reveal some information, such as a threat of harm, to designated authorities.

Conflict Resolution (Policy GA-8)
Conflict resolution is an alternative method to participate in an internship or practicum which prevents ethical conflicts.

Consent Decree
A consent decree is a court approval to put an agreement between disputing parties into the form of a binding judgment or contract.

Constituent (Policy EA-5)
A constituent is any individual who is not a DCS employee and who communicates an inquiry or concern to the DCS Director, Central Office Constituent Services Liaison, Child Support Bureau (CSB) Constituent Services Liaison, other government agency, or the Governor’s Office.

Note: This does not include public records requests. Public records requests should be sent to DCSPublic.RecordsRequest@dcs.in.gov.

Constituent Services Liaison (Policy EA-5)
Constituent Services Liaisons are DCS employees who oversee the process of responding to constituent correspondence. Constituent Services Liaisons are located at the DCS Central Office and the CSB.

Constructive Removal (Policy 15.02)
A constructive removal occurs when:

1. A child is currently living with a caregiver (who is not the specified relative);
2. The court removes the child from the specified relative; and
3. DCS allows the child to remain with the caregiver as a placement.

Contact (Policy 8.11)
A contact is any communication or an in-person observation. A contact includes, but is not limited to:

1. Face-to-face communication in the home, office, or other location;
2. Use of virtual technology;
3. Telephone call;
4. Fax;
5. Email;
6. Voice Mail; and
7. Correspondence.

Continued Absence (Policy 15.06)
For Title IV-E eligibility, continued absence is defined as one (1) or both parents continually being absent from the home, prior to the child’s removal from the home. Examples include:

1. The parent has been physically absent from the home for an undefined period of time and the absence is expected to exceed 30 calendar days into the future;
2. The parent’s absence interrupts or terminates the parent's ability to care for the child; or
3. The absence of the parent precludes him or her from providing support or care for the child.

Reasons for continued absence may include, but are not limited to:

1. The parent is living at a separate address;

   Exception: The child would not be deprived if the parent is absent from the home due solely to active duty in a uniformed service of the United States, school attendance, or employment.

2. The parent was incarcerated prior to removal and for reasons unrelated to the child’s removal;
3. The parent has abandoned the child;
4. The child was adopted by a single parent; or
5. The child was conceived using artificial insemination (donor unknown).

A special circumstance in which a child is considered deprived by continued absence occurs when a parent is released from a correctional institution to the child’s home while serving a court-imposed sentence, performing unpaid public work, or community service.

Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI)

Contractor (Policies 13.15 & GA-19)
A contractor (or vendor) is person or company that has an agreement with the State to provide materials or labor to perform a service or do a job.

Contrary to Welfare (CTW)
CTW is a phrase meaning opposition of the welfare or wellbeing. Title IV-E requires this language. Title IV-E court order language requirement that indicates the removal of a child from the home is beneficial and necessary to protect the safety of the child.

Controlled Substance (Policy 3.08)
As defined in IC 31-9-2-24, a controlled substance is generally a drug or chemical whose manufacture, possession, and use is regulated by a government, such as illicitly used drugs or prescription medications that are designated by law. These substances are listed on Schedules I-V (IC 35-48-2).

Conviction (Policy HR-2-2)
A judgment on a verdict or a plea of guilty or nolo contendere, and/or a finding of guilt substantiated by the evidence which results in the payment of fines, forfeiture of collateral or bond, restitution, deferred adjudication or sentencing, probation, confinement, suspended sentence, pre-trial diversion agreement, or any other penalty imposed by a court of law or agreed upon by the accused for a crime (i.e., a felony or misdemeanor for which a person might be imprisoned).

Coroner’s Report (Policy 4.31)
A coroner’s report is a document issued by an elected official (coroner), usually based on the findings in an autopsy report.

Corporal Punishment (Policy 8.18)
Corporal punishment is physical hitting, or any type of physical punishment inflicted in any manner upon the child’s body.

Correspondence (EA-5)
Correspondence is any non-routine business communication addressed to or received by DCS. Correspondence may come from the Governor’s Office, a Legislator, another State or non-governmental agency, or a constituent. Correspondence may be in the form of a letter, fax, telephone call, or an email.

Correctional Facilities for Juveniles
Correctional Facilities for Juveniles are operated by the Department of Corrections (DOC) to serve adjudicated delinquent juveniles who have been made wards of the DOC by a juvenile court.

Cost Report (Policies 17.04 & 18.12)
A cost report is defined by 465 IAC 2-16-5 as a report that DCS requires each residential treatment services provider to complete for each residential program that the residential treatment services provider operates. Each cost report shall include budgeted cost data.

Council on Social Work Education (CSWE)

Countable Resources (Policy 15.08)
Examples of countable resources for Title IV-E include, but are not limited to:

1. Cash on hand or cash savings;
2. Current balance of a savings account in a bank, savings and loan, credit union, or other financial institution;
3. Checking accounts excluding any monthly income deposited in the removal month;
4. Stocks, bonds, mutual fund shares, revocable retirement plans, and trust funds;
5. Equity value of items offered for sale (this does not include the primary residence of the assistance group); s
6. Equity value of motor vehicles;
7. Equity value of farm or business equipment;
8. Cash surrender value of life insurance policies; and
9. Property settlements which are part of a legal action in the dissolution of a marriage.

County Adoption Subsidy (CAS)

Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA)
A CASA is a community volunteer who has completed a training program approved by the court; and who has been appointed by a court to protect the interests of a child and to provide that child with services requested by the court.

Covered Personnel (Policies 13.03, 13.15, & 13.16)
Covered personnel is any person that is required by a contract or DCS policy to have some level or type of a background check as a DCS contractor, subcontractor, administrator, employee, and/or volunteer. The two (2) levels of covered personnel are:

1. A-1 Level Covered Personnel: Personnel employed or volunteering in a capacity in which the subject of the check has the expectation of direct contact with children, in connection with performance of any services or activities pursuant to the contract with DCS; and

   Note: Personnel designated as A-2 Level Covered Personnel could become A-1 Level Covered Personnel at any time as duties or responsibilities change to include A-1 Level Covered duties, services, or activities.

2. A-2 Level Covered Personnel: Personnel employed or volunteering in a capacity in which the subject of the check has the expectation of electronic or other access to children’s child welfare or DCS information, in connection with performance of any services or activities pursuant to the contract with DCS.

For purposes of the A-2 Level covered personnel definition, other access to a child’s child welfare or DCS information includes both access to physical records and access to overhear information about a child’s child welfare or DCS information.

For purposes of A-1 and A-2 Level covered personnel definitions, direct contact with children means any direct contact with a child, regardless of whether another adult or a parent is present.

Credible Evidence (Policy 4.22)
Credible evidence is evidence that is believable.

Credible, Immediate Threat (Policy HR-3-8)
A credible, immediate threat is a verbal or written threat, including that communicated by means of an electronic communication device, a threat implied by a pattern of conduct, or a combination of verbal, written, or electronically communicated statements and conduct. These threats are made with the intent and apparent ability to carry out the threat so as to cause those who are the target of the threat to reasonably fear for their immediate safety.

Credit Reporting Agencies (CRA)

Credit Reports (Policy 11.01)
A credit report is a record of a person’s credit activities. It lists any credit card accounts or loans the person has, the balances, and how regularly payments are made, as well as, identifying information.

Criminal Background Check (Policy HR-2-2)
A criminal background check may include, but is not limited to the following checks (as defined below):

1. Child Protection Services (CPS) History Check;
2. Fingerprint Based Criminal History Records Information (CHRI) Check;
3. Indiana Criminal History Check (see Criminal History Check);
4. National Sex Offender Registry Check;

Criminal History Check (Policy HR-2-2)
A Criminal History Check is a review of any charges filed, arrests, or criminal convictions that have been provided by local law enforcement agencies. For especially sensitive positions (e.g., access to Federal Tax Information [FTI]), records may be checked in every jurisdiction where the individual has lived, worked, or attended school.

Criminal History Record (CHR) (Policy GA-23)
CHR is a non-public record entered by ISP Criminal Justice Information Center and contains information about a person’s criminal history.

Criminal History Record Information (CHRI) (Policy GA-23)
CHRI is background information obtained from the criminal history record.

Criminal Justice Agency (CJA) (Policy GA-23)
CJA is an agency that is either a court, governmental agency, or a subunit of a governmental agency that performs administrative activities of criminal justice pursuant to a statute or executive order and allocates a substantial part of its annual budget to the administration of criminal justice.

Criminal Justice Information (CJI) (Policy GA-23)
CJI is data (electronic or hardcopy) collected by criminal justice agencies for the purpose authorized or required by law.

Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS) (Policy GA-23)
CJIS is the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division, being the repository for criminal justice information services in the FBI. The National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and Interstate Identification Index (III/Triple I) are systems managed by CJIS.

Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT)

Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) (Policy GA-17)
CISM is an intervention developed specifically for processing traumatic events. CISM is a formal, highly structured, and professionally recognized process for helping those involved in a critical incident to share their experiences, vent emotions, learn about stress reactions and symptoms, and receive referrals for further assistance, if necessary. It is not psychotherapy. It is a confidential, voluntary, and educational process, sometimes called “psychological first aid” (https://www.icisf.org/).

Cultural Humility (Policy 5.03)
Cultural humility is an ongoing process that demonstrates the ability to collaboratively work alongside the family to deliver appropriate services while promoting their specific cultural strengths and needs. Agencies and practitioners who practice cultural humility recognize they are not the expert in their client’s cultural experiences. Instead, the value is placed on the family’s own cultural expressions.

Culture
Culture is all things in human society which are transmitted socially rather than biologically; the symbolic and learned aspects of human society; a learned complex of knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, and custom.

Custodial Parent
The custodial parent is the parent who has been awarded physical custody of a child by a court.

Custodian (Policies 2.15, 3.08, 4.05)
A custodian is any person with whom a child resides or any of the following:

1. A license applicant or licensee of:
   1. A foster home or residential child care facility that is required to be licensed or is licensed under IC-31-27,
   2. A child care center that is required to be licensed or is licensed under IC 12-17.2-4, or
   3. A child care home that is required to be licensed or is licensed under IC 12-17.2-5.
2. A person who is responsible for the care, supervision, or welfare of children while providing services as an owner, director, manager, supervisor, employee, or volunteer at:
   1. A home, center, or facility described in one (1) above,
   2. A child care ministry, as defined in IC 12-7-2-28.8, that is exempt from licensing requirements and is registered or required to be registered under IC 12-17.2-6,
   3. A home, center, or facility of a child care provider, as defined in IC 12-7-2-149.1(4), or
   4. A home, center, or facility which is the location of a program that provides child care, as defined in section 16.3 of this Indiana Code, to serve migrant children and is exempt from licensing under IC 12-17.2-2-8(6), whether or not the program is certified as described in IC 12-17.2-2-9.
3. A school;
4. A child caregiver who is a person who provides, or is responsible for providing, care and supervision of a child (other than a child of whom the person is a parent, stepparent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, sibling, legal guardian or custodian with whom the person resides) at a residential property that is not the child's place of residence, if the person is not required to be licensed and cares for the child without the presence of the child’s parent, guardian, or custodian and receives more than $2,000 annually in compensation for supervising children;
5. A member of the household of the child's noncustodial parent; or
6. An individual who has or intends to have direct contact, on a regular and continuing basis, with a child for whom the individual provides care and supervision.

Custodian (for Fixed Asset) (Policy GA-21)
For purposes of this policy, a custodian is the DCS employee who is responsible for a fixed asset.

Custodian (for Interviewing Children) (Policy 4.05)
For the purposes of interviewing children during an assessment of CA/N, a custodian is defined in IC 31-9-2-31(a) as a person with whom the child resides.

Custody Study
A custody study is an investigation into the personal lives of parties seeking custody of children that determines the parties’ overall ability to properly care for the child in an environment that will serve the child’s best interests. Most of these investigations that are conducted by DCS are specifically ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction. The court names the parties to be investigated and the person, or agency, or both, to complete the investigation.

Cyber Bullying (Policy 8.14)
Cyber bullying refers to the use of information and communication technologies to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behavior by an individual or group that is intended to harm others.

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D

Data Assessment Registry Mental Health and Addiction (DARMHA)

Database Registration of Indiana’s Vital Events (DRIVE) (Policy 5.05)
DRIVE is a search tool used by IDOH to access paternity affidavits and is available for use by DCS legal staff.

Date of Removal (Policy 15.02)
The date of removal is the date of the child’s placement in out-of-home care.

Death (Policy 15.06)
For Title IV-E, death is defined as either parent being deceased, prior to removal of the child from the specified relative’s home.

Debrief (Policy 2.16)
Debrief is the process in which the reviewers engage the FCM and FCM Supervisor in conversation by providing information acquired during the review in a thoughtful, transparent, and respectable way. It requires the reviewers to be precise about the information that they obtained through interviews and case documentation providing specific strengths and areas of opportunities in the case.

Decree of Adoption
A Decree of Adoption is the document signed by a judge to finalize an adoption. It formally creates and legalizes the parent-child relationship between the adoptive parents and the adopted child, as though the child were a biological child. It places full responsibility for the child on the new parents.

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)

Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA)

Department of Child Services (DCS)

Department of Child Services (DCS) Investigator (Policies 5.04, 5.06, 5.22, & 8.01)
A DCS Investigator is an employee of DCS who is responsible for assisting FCMs in locating absent parents, relatives, and/or other identified persons of interest to the case and/or assessment.

Department of Corrections (DOC)

Department of Education (DOE)

Department of Natural Resources (DNR)

Department of Revenue (DOR)

Department of Workforce Development (DWD)

Dependent Agency (Policy GA-23)
The agency utilizing CJIS is the dependent agency, which for purposes of this policy is DCS.

Deputy Director (DD)

Detention (Policy 6.01)
Detention is an action taken by DCS that:

1. Restricts a parent’s access to the child;
2. Removes a child from the child’s parent, guardian, or custodian; or
3. Alters the composition household of a child for more than five (5) days.

Detention Hearing
A detention hearing is a court hearing required within 48 hours after detention.

Developmental Delay (Policy 7.07)
A developmental delay is defined by 511 IAC 7-41-6 as a condition occurring in children who are at least three (3) years of age and less than nine (9) years of age and means a delay in one or more of the following areas of childhood development including:

1. Cognitive development;
2. Physical development (i.e., vision and hearing);
3. Communication development;
4. Social and/or emotional development; and
5. Adaptive development (i.e., eating skills, dressing, toileting skills and other areas of personal responsibility).

Diagnostic and Evaluation (D&E)

Diligent Search (Policies 2.12, 4.03, 4.11, 4.28, 4.34, 5.02, 5.04, 5.06, 5.23, 8.48, 10.01, & 10.24)
Efforts made to locate or identify the parents, relatives, non-relative kin, and case participants of a child, initiated at the outset of a case, with updates provided in court reports until the permanency goal is achieved or the court excuses further search.

Disaster
A disaster is a sudden, unplanned event that causes great damage or serious loss to an organization. It results in an organization failing to provide critical business functions for some predetermined minimum period of time.

Discharge Against Placing Agency Recommendation (Policy 17.13)
Any instance where a youth is removed from the facility against the Placing Agency’s recommendations.

Discipline (Policy 8.18)
Discipline involves teaching children that their behavior will result in certain consequences.

Disposition
A disposition is a decision by a judge regarding:

1. A child’s care, treatment, rehabilitation;
2. Participation by the parent, guardian, or custodian in the plan of care for the child;
3. Efforts made, if the child is a child in need of services, to prevent the child’s removal from the parent, guardian, or custodian; or
4. Efforts made, if the child has already been removed, to reunite the child with the parent, guardian, or custodian in accordance with federal law; and
5. Family services that were offered and provided to a child in need of services or the child’s parent, guardian, or custodian in accordance with federal law.

Disposition Agent (Policy GA-21)
The Disposition Agent is the Administrative Services position designated by the CFO to manage the process of surplus equipment and fixed assets.

Dispositional Hearing
A dispositional hearing is a hearing held by the juvenile or family courts to determine the legal resolution of a case after adjudication. Dispositional hearings may determine where the child will live for the time being, who will have legal custody, and what services the child and family need to reduce the risk and address the effects of maltreatment.

Division (Policy EA-5)
A division is an organizational unit within DCS (e.g., Strategic Initiatives [SI] is a division within DCS).

Division of Disability and Rehabilitation Services (DDRS)

Division of Family Resources (DFR)

Division of Mental Health and Addiction (DMHA)

Division Manager (DM)

Documentation (Policy 2.13)
For purposes of expungement, documentation includes all files and records created or maintained by DCS. The term includes the original and copies of documents, correspondence, messages, photographs, videotapes, audio recordings, audiovisual recordings, and any other material contained in electronic, paper, or digital format, or in other media.

Domestic Relations (DR)

Domestic Violence (DV) (Policy 2.30)
DV involves a pattern of assaultive and coercive behaviors that an individual uses against the intimate partner with the intent to degrade, humiliate, or instill fear. These behaviors typically fall into five (5) general categories:

1. Physical assaults;
2. Sexual assaults;
3. Psychological assaults;
4. Economic coercion; and/or
5. The use of a child to control the adult victim.

Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) Order (Policy 5.14)
A DNR is a medical order to provide no resuscitation to individuals for whom resuscitation is judged to be of no medical benefit. This specifically refers to Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR). There are circumstances when CPR might seem to lack benefit for a child whose quality of life is so poor that no meaningful survival is expected even if CPR were successful in restoring circulatory stability. A DNR Order may also be used to withhold life-sustaining treatment (to refrain from using life support to artificially prolong a child’s life).

Drug Endangered Children (DEC)
DEC are children who are at risk of suffering physical or emotional harm as a result of illegal drug use, possession, manufacturing, cultivation, or distribution. They may also be children whose caretaker’s substance misuse interferes with the caretaker’s ability to parent and provide a safe and nurturing environment.

Dually Adjudicated (Dual Status) (Policies 2.25, 4.47, & 6.09)
A dually adjudicated case is defined in 31-41-1-2 as “a child who is alleged to be or is presently adjudicated to be a child in need of services under IC 31-34-10 or IC 31-34-11 and is alleged to be or is presently adjudicated to be a delinquent child under IC 31-37-12 or IC 31-37-13”.

Dually Identified Youth (Policy 2.25)
A dually identified youth is a youth who is involved with juvenile justice system/probation and has history in the child welfare system but not current involvement with DCS.

Dually Involved Youth (Policy 2.25)
A dually involved youth is a youth who has current involvement with both the juvenile justice system/probation and DCS (may not yet be adjudicated as either a JD or a CHINS).

Dually Licensed Home
A dually licensed home is a home that is licensed to provide both foster care and licensed child care.

Dual National/Citizen (Policy 2.22)
A dual national/citizen is a person who holds or shares two (2) or more nationalities. If one (1) of the child’s parents is born in a different country, the child may be a dual national.

Dual Status Assessment Team (DSAT)

Due Process
Due process is the principle that every person has the legal protection of a day in court, notice of the Court date and the allegations, representation by an attorney, and the benefit of procedures that are speedy, fair, and impartial.

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E

Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment (EPSDT) Program
The EPSDT Program is a Medicaid program that requires all states to evaluate, treat, and ameliorate any physical or mental conditions found in eligible children under age 21. State programs are required to inform all eligible persons and their families of the benefits available and help them obtain appropriate treatment.

Earned Income (Policy 15.07)
Earned income is income received through a person’s work or efforts. Examples of countable earned income (the gross amount) include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Wages, salaries, and tips;
2. Commissions;
3. Bonuses;
4. Sick pay;
5. Vacation pay;
6. Severance pay;
7. Rental income from property;
8. In-kind earnings (i.e., the dollar value of the work performed as established by the employer); and
9. Wages from self-employment (e.g., farming, babysitting, and house cleaning).

Ecomap
An ecomap is a graphic representation of a family in relation to their environment.

Educational Conference
An educational conference is a conference called by a local school corporation to determine if the corporation has exhausted all local options for providing the special education and related services required by a special needs child.

Educational Neglect
Educational neglect is the failure to ensure that a child’s educational needs are met. Such neglect may involve permitting chronic truancy, failure to enroll a child in school, or inattention to special education needs.

Educational Surrogate Parent (ESP) (Policies 8.20 & 8.21)
An ESP is a specially appointed advocate who has been trained to assume the responsibility of representing the child in the special education decision-making process.

Education and Training Voucher (ETV)

Education Liaison (EL)

Education Records (Policies 7.06 & 8.20)
Education records are documents and information about a student which are maintained by the school (e.g., date and place of birth; Social Security Number [SSN]; pictures; address of the parent, guardian, or custodian; emergency contact information; grades; test scores; special education records; disciplinary records; medical and health records the school creates/collects and maintains; documentation of attendance, awards, and conferred, degrees earned).

Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT)

Eligible Child
An eligible child is a child who meets the criteria for receiving funds or services under various entitlement programs.

Eligible Placement (Policy 15.13)
In order to claim Title IV-E, the child must reside in an eligible licensed foster care setting, which may include:

1. Relative homes;
2. Foster family homes;
3. CCI:
   1. Private CCIs,
   2. Public CCIs with a licensed capacity of 25 or fewer children,
   3. Emergency shelters, and
   4. Group homes.

4. Licensed residential family-based treatment facilities for substance abuse in which a child is residing with a parent for up to 12 months, if the requirements for an eligible placement are met. In order for the placement to be eligible, the treatment facility must:
5. Provide parenting skills training, parent education, and individual and family counseling, and
6. Provide substance abuse treatment, parenting skills training, parent education, and individual and family counseling. These services must be provided under an organizational structure and treatment framework that involves understanding, recognizing, and responding to the effects of all types of trauma and in accordance with recognized principles of a trauma informed approach and trauma-specific interventions to address the consequences of trauma to facilitate healing.

Note: A licensed residential family-based treatment facility for substance abuse is not considered a CCI for the purposes of Title IV-E; therefore, the costs of administration and operation of the facility cannot be included in the Title IV-E foster care maintenance payment. For youth age 18 and older, supervised independent living settings (i.e., host home, college dorm, shared housing, and apartment) are considered eligible placements.

Eligible Population (Policy GA-3)
An eligible population is all individuals who may be served or are likely to be directly affected by a DCS program or activity.

Elopement (Policy 17.13)
Any instance in which a youth leaves the facility property (including transport vehicles) and is without staff supervision (for any length of time) without permission.

Emancipation
Emancipation is the release of a child fully or partially by a juvenile court from the control of the person or agency having legal responsibility for the child. The court will specify the terms of the emancipation.

Emancipation Goods and Services (EG&S)

Emergency
An emergency is a sudden, unexpected event requiring immediate action due to its potential threat to health, safety, the environment, or property.

Emergency Assistance (EA)

Emergency Medical Services Provider (Policy 4.49)
IC 16-41-10-1 defines an emergency medical services provider as:

1. Firefighter;
2. Law Enforcement Officer;
3. Paramedic;
4. Emergency Medical Technician;
5. Physician;
6. Nurse; or
7. Other person who provides emergency medical services in the course of their employment.

Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)

Emergency Removal
An emergency removal is an involuntary removal of a child that is required to protect the immediate health and safety of the child. These removals generally occur with little or no preparation.

Emergency Shelter Care (ESC) (Policies 8.04 & 16.04)
For purposes of IC 31-27, ESC means a short-term place of residence, other than a private secure facility, that:

1. Is not locked to prevent a child’s departure unless the administrator determines that locking is necessary to protect the child’s health; and
2. Provides 24-hour a day temporary care for not more than 60 consecutive days to a child who is admitted on an emergency basis.

Emergency Unlicensed Placement (Policies 13.05, 13.06, 13.11, 13.12, & 13.15)
Emergency unlicensed placement is defined as placement in a kinship or relative home (not a biological or adoptive parent’s home) when a child must be placed in out-of-home care, but due to the urgent nature of the need for this placement, there is not enough time to wait for those in the home to be fingerprinted and for fingerprint results to be returned.

Emergent Needs (Policy 16.02)
Emergent needs are goods and services needed to ensure the child’s basic needs and safety are met to place the child in the unlicensed relative/kinship placement.

Emotional Injury (Policies 3.08 & 4.22)
Emotional injury occurs when a child has an observable, identifiable, and substantial impairment of the mental or psychological ability to function as a result of an act or failure to act by a parent, caregiver, or household or family member. See the SDM Tool for additional information on emotional injury. These acts may include, but are not limited to the following:

1. Implied or overt threats of death or serious injury of the child or others;
2. Implied or overt threats in the form of pet or animal torture; and/or
3. Constant denigration.

Emotionally Abused Child
An emotionally abused child is a child whose health or welfare is harmed or threatened with harm, when his or her parent, guardian, custodian inflicts or allows to be inflicted an emotional injury or creates or allows to be created a risk of emotional injury upon the child.

Emotional Neglect
Emotional neglect is the failure to provide adequate nurturing and affection or the refusal/delay in ensuring a child receives needed treatment for emotional or behavioral problems. Emotional neglect may also involve exposure to chronic or extreme domestic violence. A finding of emotional neglect must be supported by documentation from a Qualified Mental Health Professional (QMHP).

Energy Assistance Program (EAP)

Engagement (Policy 5.03)
Engagement is the skill of effectively establishing a relationship with children, parents, and essential individuals, including CFT members, for the purpose of sustaining the work that is to be accomplished together.

Equipment (Policy GA-21)
Equipment is any item that was purchased by any method, transferred from an agency, or donated from the public for the State’s use.

Equity Value of the Resource (Policy 15.08)
Equity value is used to determine the value of a resource. The equity value is the fair market value of the item, less any lien or amount owed on the item.

Ethical Practice
Ethical practice is behavior or professional conduct that meets the system of moral principles and perceptions about right versus wrong, developed and guided by the profession’s standards of conduct or code of ethics.

Ethics (Policy HR-3-9)
Ethics (ethics rules) include the Indiana Code of Ethics (42 IAC 1-5) and any part of the Indiana Code related to ethics.

Ethics Officer (Policy GA-8)
An ethics officer is a DCS employee who helps to foster positive ethical values and standards by aligning the practice, mission, vision, and values of DCS with ethics as established by the State of Indiana.

Ethnic
Ethnic means of or pertaining to a group of people recognized as a class on the basis of certain distinctive characteristics (e.g., religion, language, ancestry, culture, national origin, rites and rituals, and food).

Ethnicity
Ethnicity is the condition of belonging to a particular ethnic group.

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) (Policies 8.20 & 8.21)
ESSA is a federal law which, as it pertains to foster children, was implemented in 2016. ESSA requires local education agencies’ POCs and child welfare agencies’ POCs to collaborate on determining educational best interests for foster children when their home placement change causes the potential for their education placement to change. ESSA also requires collaboration between the POCs on providing transportation for foster children who attend their school of origin but have been placed outside of the district. Questions regarding ESSA may be directed to the DCS Education Services Team.

Evidence (Policy HR-3-9)
Evidence includes, but is not limited to, audio or video recordings, photographs, notes, and other investigative material.

Evidence-Based Practice
Evidence-based practice involves identifying, assessing, and implementing strategies that are supported by scientific research as being effective in improving outcomes for children and families. In child welfare practice, evidence- based practices are those that have strong research design, evidence of significant positive effects, sustained effects, and capacity for replication.

Exempt (Overtime Exempt) Employee (Policies HR-2-3 & HR-2-11)
An exempt employee is an employee who is not covered by the overtime pay provisions of the FLSA and/or applicable state rules and policies on premium overtime pay.

Exempt Income (Policy 15.07)
Exempt income is not counted in the income calculation. Examples of exempt earned and unearned income include, but are not limited to:

1. Earned income of a dependent child who is a full-time student or a part-time student and a part-time employee;
2. Need-based assistance (e.g., Temporary Assistance for Needy Families [TANF] and Food Stamps);
3. Foster Care payments;
4. Adoption Assistance Program (AAP) or State Adoption Subsidy (SAS) payments;
5. Guardianship Assistance Program (GAP) or State Guardianship Assistance Program (SGAP) payments;
6. A child’s earned income received from participation in employment programs established under the Workforce Investment Act (previously the Job Training Partnership Act);
7. Section 8 and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) subsidies;
8. Earned income tax credits or income tax refunds; and
9. Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

Note: SSI and RSDI are both Social Security benefits and classified as unearned income. However, these benefits are treated differently in determining Title IV-E eligibility. An individual in receipt of SSI is excluded from the assistance group and the income calculation when determining financial need. RSDI is included in the assistance group’s income when determining financial need. It is important to carefully verify and document the type of Social Security benefits received by any assistance group member.

Exempt Resources (Policy 15.08)
Examples of exempt resources (i.e., not counted in the calculation of resources) include, but are not limited to:

1. Primary residence in which the child and his or her family reside;
2. Household items and personal effects (e.g., furniture, television, food, clothing, and jewelry);
3. Proceeds or interest earned from proceeds of casualty insurance received as the result of damage, loss, or theft of exempt property if it is demonstrated the proceeds are being used to replace the property;
4. Funds in an irrevocable retirement plan;
5. Funds in an irrevocable burial trust;
6. Property involved in litigation; and
7. Property jointly owned with someone outside the assistance group (with the exception of bank accounts).

Exigent Circumstances (Policy 4.05)
Exigent circumstances exist when:

1. DCS has definite and explainable evidence giving rise to a reasonable suspicion that the child or any child residing in the home with the child has been or is in imminent danger of being physically abused, sexually abused, or is being neglected such that the child’s physical safety is seriously endangered;
2. There is no less intrusive alternative to the department's action that would reasonably and sufficiently protect the child's imminent health or safety; and
3. One (1) or more of the following applies:
   1. The parent, guardian, or custodian of the child is the alleged perpetrator of the abuse or neglect of the child; or is allegedly aware of the abuse or neglect of the child and has allegedly not ensured the child's safety.
   2. There is reason to believe that the safety of the child might be jeopardized; or essential evidence regarding signs or symptoms of abuse or neglect on or in the child's body might not be available; if the department's action is delayed or the child's parent, guardian, or custodian is notified before the department's action.
   3. The child is a homeless unaccompanied minor and is voluntarily receiving services at an emergency shelter or shelter care facility without the presence or consent of the child's parent, guardian, or custodian.

Note: An allegation of educational neglect, with no additional allegations, does not qualify as an exigent circumstance.

Ex Parte Communication (Policy 6.03)
Ex parte communication is any written or verbal communication about the case between a judge and any persons interested in the outcome of a case, including placement and/or relatives, which occurs outside of the presence of the other parties or attorneys on a case.

Expunge
Expunge means to destroy all records, reports, photographs, x-rays and other materials.

External Publications (Policy EA-6)
External publications are materials intended to be distributed to or viewed by clients, the general public, legislators and/or other organizations that summarize or explain DCS programs, services, activities, or processes or represent DCS activities in the context of government initiatives. This includes, but is not limited to, agency annual reports, reports to the legislature, newsletters, brochures, pamphlets, flyers, state plans, press releases, videos, web pages, and articles written for outside professional or industry publications that reference the employee’s work or relationship with DCS.

External Training (Policy GA-11)
Any job-related training that is held outside of the Indiana Child Welfare Education and Training Partnership.

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F

Facilitator
A facilitator is the person responsible for leading and directing the process and resolving differences.

Facility (Policies 4.08 & 15.10)
For the purpose of this policy, “facility” refers to a facility or institution, including, but not limited to a:

1. School;
2. Child care center;
3. Registered child care ministry;
4. Group home;
5. Inpatient (residential) treatment center;
6. Hospital;
7. Emergency shelter;
8. Shelter care facility;
9. Juvenile detention center; and
10. Indiana Department of Corrections (DOC) facility.

Fact-Finding (FF)

Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another
Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another is a syndrome, previously known as Munchausen by proxy syndrome, in which a parent or caregiver deliberately makes a child sick or convinces others that the child is sick by misleading (i.e., lying, exaggerating, or reporting fictitious episodes) others into thinking that the child has a medical problem.

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)

Family
Family is the nuclear unit of parent and child regardless of their physical location or legal status.

Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA)

Family Case Manager (FCM)

Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA)

Family Functional Assessment (FFA)

Family Functioning
Family functioning is the family’s capacity, availability, and willingness to meet the child’s basic care and developmental needs reliably on a daily basis.

Family Network Diagram
A family network diagram is a pictorial representation of a family’s connections to their extended family, persons, and/or systems in their environment, which combines the Genogram and the Ecomap.

Family Preservation Services
Family Preservation Services are services provided to prevent a child from being removed from their parent, guardian, custodian and/or to reunite the child with their parent, guardian, or custodian when removal has occurred.

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

Federal Parent Locater Services (FPLS)

Felony
A felony is an offense defined in criminal law for which a convicted person could be imprisoned for more than one (1) year.

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)
FAS refers to a set of physical and mental birth defects found in those whose parent drank alcohol regularly and heavily prior to and/or during pregnancy.

Fictive Kin (Policy 17.03)
Fictive kin means an individual who is not related by birth, adoption, or marriage to a child, but who has an emotionally significant relationship with the child.

Field Coordinator (Policies GA-9 & GA-14)
The Field Coordinator is the person at the Scholar’s university who works with the Scholar to locate and approve an appropriate field placement. The Field Coordinator is the academic institution’s point of contact for all matters related to the practicum.

Field Liaison (Policies GA-9 & GA-14)
The Field Liaison is the practicum course instructor of record who serves as the point of contact between DCS and the university when issues arise in the field. The Field Liaison provides consultation to the Agency-Based Field Instructor and the Scholar to ensure integration between classroom knowledge and field practice. The Field Liaison oversees the progression of learning throughout the practicum, reviews and approves planned learning activities developed by the Scholar and Agency-Based Field Instructor, plans and facilitates routine seminars, and plans and facilitates course evaluations in conjunction with the Scholar and Agency-Based Field Instructor to assign the course grade. The Field Liaison also addresses performance concerns and is the academic institution’s point of contact for the practicum course.

Field Quality Assurance (QA) (Policy 2.16)
A Field QA is an experienced PMR reviewer who assists the QSA team in ensuring the reviewers fidelity to scoring within the protocol.

Final Agency Action (Policies 14.05 & 14.12)
Final agency action means, with respect to an administrative action taken by the department, the issuance of an order by the ultimate authority of the department that:

1. Disposes of all issues for all parties to an administrative proceeding regarding the action after the parties to the administrative proceeding have exhausted all administrative remedies concerning the action; and
2. Is designated as a final order by the ultimate authority of the department.

Final Agency Authority (FAA) (Policies 14.05, 14.12, 17.07, & 18.05)
The final agency authority (also known as ultimate authority) is the director or the director’s designee.

Final Offer Letter (Policies 14.02 & 14.08)
The final offer letter is a letter sent by the DCS Negotiations Attorney that states the final offer of DCS for the amount of the periodic payment under a guardianship assistance agreement or adoption assistance agreement. The letter will include information about the availability of an administrative review process and the Request for Administrative Review-Indiana Guardianship Assistance Program form or the Request for Administrative Review- Indiana Adoption Program form.

Five-Year Child and Family Services Plan (CFSP)
The CFSP is a strategic plan that sets forth a state’s or tribe’s vision and goals to strengthen its child welfare system. It outlines initiatives and activities that the state or tribe will carry out over the next 5 years to administer and integrate programs and services to promote the safety, permanency, and well-being of children and families.

Fixed Asset (Policy GA-21)
A fixed asset is any equipment, land, building, or land and building improvements purchased or obtained in any manner for State use that has an original cost of $500 or more (excluding building construction that is in progress) and has an estimated life of more than one (1) year.

Fixed Asset Manager (Policy GA-21)
A Fixed Asset Manager is the Administrative Services position designated by the CFO to manage the Agency Fixed Asset Management Program.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

Foreign National (Policies 2.09, 2.22, 4.28, 7.09, & 8.24)
A foreign national is any person (adult or child) who is born outside of the U.S. and has not become a U.S. citizen.

Forensic Interview (Policies 2.06, 4.09, 4.31, & 4.47)
A forensic interview is an interview in response to a report of CA/N conducted by a professional specially trained in a nationally recognized model using a multidisciplinary team approach.

Formal Supports (Policies 4.19, 5.07, & 5.21)
A formal support is any support that has a professional relationship with the child and/or family.

Foster Care (Policies 2.25, 8.16, 9.01, 11.01, 11.02, 11.04, 11.08, 11.17, & 11.29)
Foster care is 24-hour substitute care for children placed away from their parent, guardian, or custodian and for whom the State agency has placement and care responsibility.

Foster Care Adoption
Foster Care Adoption is the adoption of a child from the foster care system, after a determination has been made that reunification cannot occur, and the parental rights of the birth parents have been terminated.

Foster Care Maintenance Payment (FCMP)

Foster Care Placement (Policy 2.12)
A foster care placement is any action removing a child from the child’s parent or Indian custodian for temporary placement in a foster home, institution, or the home of a guardian or conservator where the parent or Indian custodian cannot have the child returned upon demand, although parental rights have not been terminated (see Guidelines for Implementing the Indian Child Welfare Act).

Foster Child
A foster child is a child who has been placed in the State’s legal custody because the child’s custodial parent or guardian is unable to provide a safe family home due to abuse, neglect, or an inability to care for the child.

Foster Family Home (FFH)
A foster family home is a place where an individual resides and provides licensed care and supervision on a 24-hour basis to a child.

Foster Parent
A foster parent is an adult who is licensed to provide a temporary home and everyday nurturing and support for children who have been removed from their homes.

Fraud (Policy HR-3-6)
Fraud is false representation of a matter of fact, by words, conduct, or concealment of that which should have been disclosed.

Fraud Investigation Unit (Policy HR-3-6)
The Fraud Investigation Unit is the unit within DCS which ensures DCS providers are making appropriate use of the intended services offered to Indiana children and families.

Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)

Full Practice Model Review (PMR) (Policy 2.16)
A Full PMR will has a larger case selection and reviewers come from outside the region to complete the review.

Functional Strengths (Policies 4.26, 5.02, 5.03, 5.07, 5.10, 5.15, 7.05, & 8.43)
Functional strengths are “the buildable” strengths of our families, which help build toward goal achievement.

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G

General Education Diploma (GED)

Genogram
A genogram is a family diagram used to identify significant family members that may be of support and family patterns such as alcoholism, domestic violence, mental illness, and physical illnesses.

Grade Point Average (GPA)

Grief
Grief is an emotional reaction to a significant loss. For children and families in the child welfare system, it can be the acutely sad and painful emotions experienced when they are separated from each other.

Group Home (GH) (Policies 8.04 & 16.04)
A GH is a residential structure in which care is provided on a 24-hour basis for not more than 10 children.

Guardian (GU) (Policies 3.08, 10.04, & 10.06)
A guardian is a person appointed by a court to have the care and custody of a child or the child’s estate.

Guardian ad Litem (GAL)
A GAL is a person appointed by a court to represent and protect the best interests of a child and to provide the child with services requested by the court.

Guardianship
Guardianship is the transfer of parental responsibility and legal authority for a minor child to an adult caregiver who intends to provide permanent care for the child. This can be done without terminating the parental rights of the child’s parents. Transferring legal responsibility removes the child from the child welfare system, allows the caregiver to make important decisions on the child’s behalf, and establishes a long-term caregiver for the child.

Guardianship Assistance Program (GAP)
Through GAP, the guardian is provided with a monthly subsidy for the care and support of the child.

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H

Hague Convention
The Hague Convention is a multinational agreement (The Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Inter-Country Adoption) that sets out internationally agreed-upon rules and procedures for adoptions between countries that have a treaty relationship under the Convention. It provides a framework for member countries to work together to ensure that adoptions take place in the best interests of children and to prevent the abduction, sale, or trafficking of children. The Convention also establishes a central authority in each country to ensure that one (1) authoritative source of information and point of contact exists for prospective adoptive parents to receive reliable and accurate information.

Hatch Act (Policy HR-3-3)
The Hatch Act is a federal statute that restricts the political activity of an individual whose principal employment is in connection with an activity which is funded completely by federal funds or grants.

Health Care Provider
A health care provider is any person who is:

1. A licensed physician, intern, or resident;
2. An osteopath, a chiropractor, a dentist, a podiatrist;
3. A registered nurse or other licensed nurse;
4. A mental health professional;
5. A paramedic or emergency medical technician;
6. A social worker, x-ray technician, or laboratory technician employed by a hospital; or
7. Any person working under the direction of any of the practitioners listed.

Health and Human Services (HHS)

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
HIPAA is federal legislation primarily concerning transactions that generally involve submitting health claims for payment and transmitting insurance information. The legislation applies to “covered entities” which include health plans, health care clearing houses, or health care providers who transmit any health information in electronic form in connection with a transaction within the scope of HIPAA. The principal purpose of local DCS offices is not to provide for the provision or payment of health care related services. Therefore, local offices are not considered covered entities subject to HIPAA regulations. However, local offices continue to have the same duties and obligations to safeguard identifying information concerning clients in these programs.

Healthy Families Indiana (HFI)

Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC)

Hepatitis B Virus (HBV)

Hepatitis C Virus (HCV)

High School Equivalency (HSE) (Policies 7.06 & 8.20)
An HSE is an exam, which measures an examinee’s levels of achievement relative to that of a graduating high school senior. The HSE is equivalent to the exam or qualification which was formerly known as a General Educational Diploma (GED).

Home (Policy 4.08)
For the purpose of this policy, “home” refers to a home, foster home, relative/kinship home, or licensed childcare home.

Home-Based Services
Home-based services are services provided primarily to families in their homes.

Homeless Unaccompanied Minor (Policies 3.02, 3.05, 3.06, 4.01, 4.06, 4.12, & 4.22)
A homeless unaccompanied minor is an individual who is under 18 years of age and is receiving shelter without a parent, guardian, or custodian present.

Home Study
Home study is the process of mutually assessing and preparing prospective foster, adoptive, or kinship families to determine their suitability to foster or adopt and determine the type of child whose needs would best be met by them. A home study may include a range of evaluative activities, visits to the family’s residence, and educational activities.

Honorarium (Policy EA-7)
An honorarium is a payment for a public speaking engagement, a speech, or an article.

Host Home (Policy 11.25)
A Host Home setting is one where a youth resides in the home of a family or a single, related, or unrelated adult. The youth shares basic facilities and agrees to expectations as established by both the Host Home and Voluntary Collaborative Care Agreement Between Older Youth and the Department of Child Services.

Host Home Adults (Policy 11.25)
Host Home adults are mentors to youth who practice healthy youth-adult partnerships.

Household Member Staying in the Home (Policy 13.10)
For purposes of DCS policy, “staying” in the home means to be in the home for 21 days or more, within a 12-month period. The days do not have to be consecutive.

Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)

Human Resources (HR)

Human Trafficking (HT) (Policies 2.09, 4.47, & 5.22)
The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 defines human trafficking as:

1. Sex trafficking- The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act where the commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or the person being induced to perform such act is under 18 years of age.
2. Labor trafficking- The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining 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.

Indiana Code (IC 31-9-2-133.1) defines human or sexual trafficking of children to include a child who is recruited, harbored, transported, or engaged in forced labor, involuntary servitude, prostitution, juvenile prostitution (IC 35-31.5-2-178.5), child exploitation (IC 35-42-4-4(b)), marriage, unless authorized by a court (IC 31-11-1-7), trafficking for the purpose of prostitution, juvenile prostitution, or participation in sexual conduct (IC 35-42-4-4(a)), or human trafficking (IC 35-42-3.5-0.5).

Human Trafficking (HT) Regional Field Lead (Policy 4.47)
HT Regional Field Leads (see Human Trafficking Response System) are individuals identified within their region who are trained to assist with the following:

1. Recognizing potential indicators of HT;
2. Providing resources available to assist in assessing HT; and
3. Assisting field staff to complete a thorough HT assessment.

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I

Immediate Family (Policy 4.39)
Immediate family is a term for the closest members of a person’s family unit: spouse, children, parents, and siblings.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)

Imminent Risk of Removal (Policies 2.30 & 7.01)
Indiana Code defines a child at imminent risk of removal (placement) as a child less than 18 years of age who reasonably may be expected to face out-of-home placement in the near future as a result of at least one (1) of the following:

1. Dependency, abuse, or neglect;
2. Emotional disturbance;
3. Family conflict so extensive that reasonable control of the child is not exercised; or
4. Delinquency adjudication.

Immunity
Immunity is legal protection from civil or criminal liability provided to a person making a report of CA/N.

Implied
Implied is suggested, indicated, or understood although not clearly or openly expressed.

Inappropriate Sexual Behavior (Policy 17.13)
Any confirmed sexual behavior by a youth or staff member, involving another youth, consensual or otherwise same or opposite sex.

Incapacitation (Policy 9.05)
Incapacitation means a parent or guardian is unable to care for a child due to a medical, mental, or physical condition of a parent or guardian.

Incapacity (Policy 4.33)
An incapacitated person is an individual who:

1. Cannot be located upon reasonable inquiry; or
2. Is unable to:
   1. Manage in whole or in part of the individual’s property,
   2. Provide self-care, or
   3. Both due to:
      1. Insanity, mental illness, mental deficiency, physical illness, infirmity, habitual drunkenness, excessive use of drugs, incarceration confinement, detention, duress, fraud, undue influences of others on the individual, or other incapacity; or
      2. Having a developmental disability (as defined in IC 12-7-2-61).

Incest
Incest is sexual intercourse between persons who are closely related by blood. In the United States, incest is prohibited by many State laws and cultural tradition.

Incident
Incident is an occurrence by chance or due to a combination of unforeseen circumstances, which, if not handled in an appropriate manner, may escalate into an emergency, disaster, or even a crisis.

Independent Contractor (Policies HR-3-2 & HR-3-6)
Independent contractors are individuals who, in exercising independent employment, contract to do certain work according to their own methods and without being subject to control of the employer except as to the product of their work. The employer prescribes what is to be done, but not how it is to be done or who is to do it.

Independent Living (IL)

Independent Organ Procurement Agency (IOPA)

Independent Student Status (Policy 11.15)
Independent Student Status means that a student is a ‘family of one (1)’ and only the student’s individual income is considered when determining how much federal and state aid the student needs.

Indiana Administrative Code (IAC)

Indiana Adoption Program (IAP)
The IAP is a state program designed to assist in securing permanency for children through adoption.

Indiana Archives and Records Administration (IARA)

Indiana Association of Residential Child Care Agencies (IARCCA)

Indiana Code (IC)
IC is Indiana statutory law.

Indiana Data and Communication System (IDACS)

Indiana Department of Administration (IDOA)

Indiana Department of Health (IDOH)

Indiana Eligibility Determination Services System (IEDSS)

Indiana Foster Care and Adoption Association (IFCAA)

Indiana Foster Youth Alliance (IFYA)

Indiana Foster Youth Alliance (IFYA) Adult Facilitator (Policy 11.04)
The IFYA Adult Facilitator is an individual from an outside agency with whom DCS has a contract to facilitate all aspects of the IFYA, which includes collecting the Indiana Youth Advisory Board Application forms and assisting the IFYA members in developing the skills necessary to successfully oversee the activities of the IFYA.

Note: IFYA members will be a part of the selection and interview process for the Adult Facilitator.

Indiana Office of Technology (IOT)

Indiana Reading Evaluation and Determination (IREAD)

Indiana’s Learning Evaluation and Assessment Readiness Network (ILEARN)

Indiana Support Enforcement Tracking System (ISETS)

Indiana State Police (ISP)

Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM)

Indian Child (Policy 2.12)
An Indian child is any unmarried person who is under 18 years of age and is either:

1. A member of an Indian tribe; or
2. Eligible for membership in an Indian tribe and the biological child of a member of an Indian tribe.

Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA)
ICWA is federal law that regulates placement proceedings involving Indian (Native American) children. If the child is a member of a tribe or eligible for membership in a tribe, the family has the right to protection under the ICWA. These rights apply to any child protective case, adoption, guardianship, termination of parental rights action, runaway or truancy matter or voluntary placement of children.

Indian Tribe (Policy 2.12)
An Indian tribe is any tribe, band, nation, or other organized group or community of Indians who are recognized by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior because of their status as Indians, including any Alaska Native villages.

Individual Child Placement Agreement (ICPA)

Individual Child Placement Referral (ICPR)

Individual Development Accounts (IDA) (Policies 7.06 & 8.20)
An IDA is a matched savings account program designed to assist individuals in achieving self-sufficiency through financial literacy and asset generation.

Individualized Education Program (IEP) (Policies 7.06, 8.20, 8.21, & 8.22)
An IEP is a written statement developed for a child that describes:

1. How a student will access the general education curriculum, if appropriate; and
2. The special education and related services needed to participate in the educational environment.

Individuals Excluded from the Title IV-A/Emergency Assistance (EA) Assistance Group (Policy 15.11)
The following individuals are not eligible for EA services, and should also be excluded from the EA assistance group:

1. Illegal aliens;
2. Recipients of adoption subsidy, which includes Title IV-E Adoption Assistance (AAP) County Adoption Subsidy (CAS), or State Adoption Subsidy (SAS);
3. Recipients of Guardianship Assistance Program (GAP) funding, which includes Title IV- E GAP and State GAP (SGAP); and
4. Recipients of Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) (Policies 7.06 & 8.21)
IDEA guarantees that persons between three (3) and 22 years of age with disabilities receive appropriate public education through the development and implementation of an IEP.

Informal Adjustment (IA)
IA is a program of care, treatment, and rehabilitation established without involving the formal procedures of the juvenile court.

Informal Supports (Policies 4.19, 5.07, & 5.21)
Informal supports refer to connections, such as family members, friends, or neighbors, in the home or in the community that may provide support, assistance, or care to the family and/or child and could serve in this capacity in a sustainable way once the DCS case is closed.

Information and Referral (I&R)

Information Resources User Agreement (IRUA)

Information Security Officer (ISO)

Informed Consent (Policy 8.31)
“Informed Consent”, as defined in IC 16-41-6-2, means authorization for a physical examination made without undue inducement or any form of force, fraud, constraint, deceit, duress, or coercion after the following:

1. A fair explanation of the examination, including the purpose, potential uses, limitations, and the fair meaning of the examination results; and
2. A fair explanation of the procedures to be followed, including:
   1. The voluntary nature of the examination,
   2. The right to withdraw consent to the examination process at any time, and
   3. The right to anonymity to the extent provided by law with respect to participation in the examination and disclosure of examination results.

In-Home Child in Need of Services (CHINS) (Policy 6.02)
A child determined to be a CHINS who remains in the child’s home is referred to as an “In-Home CHINS.”

Institution (Policy 4.30)
An institution is defined as one (1) of the following:

1. Residential Facility (e.g., Indiana Department of Child Services [DCS] licensed Child Care Institution, Group Home, or Private Secure Facility );
2. School;
3. Hospital;
4. Juvenile Correctional Facility;
5. Adult Correctional Facility that houses juvenile offenders;
6. Bureau of Disabilities (BDS) Certified Group Home;
7. Licensed Child Care Home or Center;
8. Unlicensed Registered Child Care Ministry; or
9. Unlicensed Child Care Home or Center that cares for more than five (5) unrelated children.

Institutional Child Protection Services (ICPS)

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

Intake Specialist (IS)

Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) (Policy 7.07)
IDD is a joint term referring to an intellectual disability, developmental disability, or both, and are usually present at birth which can affect the trajectory of the child’s physical, intellectual, and/or emotional development.

Intelligence Quotient (IQ)

Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP)

Internal Publications (Policy EA-6)
Internal publications are materials intended to be distributed to and/or viewed only by DCS staff.

Internal Training (Policy GA-10)
Internal training is required internal instruction for DCS employees to enhance their professional development and improve their skills to better serve children and families. DCS is responsible for the development and/or delivery of the content of internal trainings (e.g., trainings in the Catalog, the Child Welfare Management Innovations Institute, and Local Office Director [LOD] and Supervisor Workshops).

International and Cultural Affairs (ICA)

Internship(Policy GA-2)
An internship is a structured job shadowing experience that serves as a bridge between classroom studies and professional work.

Interpretation (GA-3)
Interpretation is language services involving oral interpretation either in person or via telephone or other electronic means.

Interstate Compact on Adoption and Medical Assistance (ICAMA)

Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC)
ICPC is federal law which governs movement of children between states.

Interstate Identification Index (III/Triple I) (Policy GA-23)
Triple I is a cooperative state-federal system for the electronic exchange of criminal history record information for authorized purposes, as specified by local, state, and federal laws.

Irrevocable
Irrevocable is impossible to retract or revoke.

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J

Jurisdiction
Jurisdiction of a court is the specific type of case a court is designated to hear. For example, criminal courts hear criminal cases, and civil courts often hear adoption cases. Geographical factors also have implications for a court’s jurisdiction.

Juvenile and Family Court
Juvenile and family court is a court that specializes in areas such as child maltreatment, domestic violence, juvenile delinquency, divorce, child custody, and child support. These courts were established in most States to resolve conflict and to intervene in the lives of families in a manner that promotes the best interest of children.

Juvenile CHINS (JC)

Juvenile Delinquency
Juvenile delinquency is antisocial or criminal behavior by children or adolescents.

Juvenile Delinquent/Juvenile Status (JD/JS)

Juvenile Paternity (JP)

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K

Kinship Navigator (KN)

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L

Law Enforcement Agency/Law Enforcement Authority (LEA)
LEA is an agency that has jurisdiction where CA/N occurred. LEA may investigate a report in coordination with DCS.

Learning Disabled/Learning Disorder (LD)

Learning Disability
A learning disability is a lifelong neurological disorder resulting in a child having difficulty reading, writing, spelling, reasoning, and/or recalling or organizing information. Children with learning disabilities have normal or above normal intelligence.

Legal Counsel
Legal counsel is another term for a lawyer or attorney. A legal counsel advises clients about their legal rights and obligations and represents clients in legal proceedings.

Legally Free (Policy 10.07)
“Legally Free” means the parental rights have been terminated and all appeal rights have been exhausted. The child is legally free to be adopted.

Legal Guardianship (Policies 10.23, 10.24, & 14.01)
Legal guardianship is the transfer of parental responsibility and legal authority for a minor child to an adult caregiver who intends to provide permanent care for the child. Guardianship may be established with or without termination of parental rights (TPR).

Legal Permanency (Policies 11.18 & 11.27)
Permanency, as defined by Child Welfare Systems, is a safe, stable, secure home, and family. There are five (5) federal Permanency Goals:

1. Reunification;
2. Adoption;
3. Guardianship;
4. Fit & Willing Relative; and
5. Another Planned Permanent Living Arrangement (APPLA).

Note: APPLA is only an option for youth 16 years of age and older. DCS must document why every other permanency plan option is not in the best interest of the child, as well as, document continuous diligent efforts made to locate adult relatives of the youth.

Legal Permanency Review Team (LPRT)

Legal Settlement (Policy 8.22)
Legal settlement defines which school corporation has responsibility for payment of education costs and is determined by where the student’s parents reside. Legal settlement of a student means the student’s status with respect to the school corporation that has the responsibility to allow the student to attend its local public schools without the payment of tuition or to pay transfer tuition under IC 20-26-11 if the student attends school in a local public school of another school corporation.

Legend Drug (Policy 3.08)
As defined in IC 31-9-2-76, a legend drug is a drug approved by the United States (U.S.) Food and Drug Administration that can be dispensed to the public only with a prescription from a medical doctor or other licensed practitioner.

Legislative Inquiry (Policy EA-2)
A legislative inquiry is a request for information made to DCS by a Legislator or a staff member speaking on behalf of a Legislator.

Legislator (Policy EA-2)
A legislator is any member of the Indiana General Assembly, the United States (U.S.) House of Representatives, or the U.S. Senate.

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning/Queer, Intersex, Asexual and more (LGBTQIA+)

License
A license, including a license for foster homes, therapeutic foster homes, and special needs foster homes may be issued to any foster family home applicant or licensee by DCS upon completion and approval of the application process.

Licensed Child Placing Agency (LCPA)
An LCPA is a private agency that is licensed by the State of Indiana through DCS. LCPAs provide training and recommend individuals for special needs and therapeutic foster home licenses. LCPAs also conduct adoption home studies and make recommendations regarding the readiness of the child and adoptive family in the preparation for adoption. DCS Central Office licenses the child placing agencies, but DCS does not manage or operate the LCPAs.

Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW)

Licensed Professional (Policy 8.30)
As defined in Indiana Code (IC) 31-27-9, a licensed professional is any of the following:

1. A physician licensed under IC 25-22.5;
2. An advanced practice registered nurse licensed under IC 25-23; or
3. A physician assistant licensed under IC 25-27.5.

Licensing Worker (Policies 8.16, 8.17, 13.09, & 13.10)
The licensing worker refers to the DCS Regional Foster Care Specialist (RFCS) or the Licensed Child Placing Agency (LCPA) worker.

Life Book
A Life Book is a type of book designed for developing a record of the life of a child who is in out-of-home care. The book may contain items such photographs, narration, and artwork the child has done. There are many such specialty products available for recording the life of a child.

Limited Criminal History (LCH)

List of Accounts (Policy EA-8)
The list of accounts are DCS-sponsored social media accounts, which include Twitter (X), Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

Litigation
Litigation is legal proceedings.

Local Office Director (LOD)

Long Arm Draw (Policy 5.05)
A long arm draw is a process used for a parent or alleged father that lives outside of Indiana and is unable to come to the DCS local office to submit to genetic testing. When using a long arm draw, the FCM arranges for the person to submit to genetic testing at the designated vendor testing site in the area where the individual lives.

Long-Term Foster Parent (Policies 6.04, 6.08, 6.09, 6.11, 8.01, & 8.48)
A long-term foster parent is a resource parent who has provided care and supervision for a child for at least:

1. The 12 most recent months;
2. Fifteen (15) months of the most recent 22 months; or
3. Six (6) months, if the child is less than 12 months of age.

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M

Management Gateway for Indiana’s Kids (MaGIK)

Mandated Reporter (Policies 3.01 & 5.26)
A mandated reporter is any person who has reason to believe a child is a victim of CA/N. All mandated reporters must report the incident to the Hotline.

Mandatory Members Excluded from the Child’s Assistance Group (Policy 15.05)
Title IV-E defines the following mandatory members as being excluded from the child’s assistance group:

1. Recipients of Supplemental Security Income (SSI);
2. Recipients of Adoption Assistance periodic payments;
3. Recipients of a Foster Care per diem;
4. Recipients of Guardianship Assistance Program (GAP) periodic payments;
5. Unqualified aliens (see policy 2.23 Verifying Citizenship or Immigration Status);
6. The focus child’s half sibling who is not deprived of parental support by the noncommon parent; and
7. The non-common parent of the excluded half sibling.

Mandatory Members of the Child’s Assistance Group (Policy 15.05)
Title IV-E defines the following individuals as mandatory members of the child’s assistance group:

1. The child for whom eligibility is being determined;
2. The child’s whole, half, or adoptive siblings who are under the age of 18 and deprived (see policy 15.06 Deprivation Criteria for Title IV-E Eligibility); and
3. The biological or adoptive parents of any child included in the assistance group.

Mandatory Members of the Title IV-A/Emergency Assistance (EA) Assistance Group (Policy 15.11)
Mandatory members of the EA assistance group include:

1. The child;
2. The child’s minor siblings living in the household (including half and adoptive);
3. The child’s parents (biological and adoptive); and/or
4. Non-parent/non-sibling relatives and non-related persons living in the household who agreed to participate in services.

Note: Step-parents and step-siblings are mandatory assistance group members if they are participating in services.

The following individuals should be included in the EA assistance group; however, they are not eligible for EA and services should not be shared with them due to their active involvement with DCS:

1. A child who is a DCS ward or Juvenile Delinquent/Juvenile Status (JD/JS) who is in the home on a trial home visit (THV); and
2. A child with a JD/JS status who is involved with services through Probation.

Master of Social Work (MSW)

Maternal and Child Health (MCH)

Mechanical Restraint (Policy 8.18)
A mechanical restraint is a restraint of a person by the application of a device or object to the person’s body or a limb of the person to restrict the person’s movement.

Media (Policy EA-3)
Media is any means of mass communication including, but not limited to, the internet, newspapers, magazines, radio, podcasts, and television. Media may refer to a group of journalists and others who work in the communications industry and includes student journalists, bloggers, creators, influencers, and others seeking information for the purposes of publication.

Mediation
Mediation is the practice of involving trained, neutral, third-party mediators in child welfare cases as a means of resolving disputes and expediting permanency for children in foster care. This process may involve birth parents, kin, and foster or adoptive parents in planning by engaging them in an inclusive, confidential, and nonjudgmental process in which their wishes are considered and respected.

Medicaid Enrollment Unit (MEU)

Medicaid Reimbursement Option (MRO)

Medically Fragile (Policies 4.28, 8.01, & 8.09)
A child who has a medically diagnosed immunocompromised condition (chronic or acute) or dependence on specialized care or equipment for life or health sustaining function. Conditions that may qualify a child as medically fragile may include cancer, transplant care, and cystic fibrosis.

Medical Neglect
Medical neglect is the denial or deprivation by those responsible for the care, custody, and control of the child, of medical or surgical treatment or intervention which is necessary to remedy or ameliorate a medical condition which is life threatening or causes injury. Medical neglect includes not only serious, but mild and moderate medical neglect as well.

Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT)

Medication Error (Policy 17.13)
Any event that may cause or lead to inappropriate or inaccurate medication use. Medication errors may include the following: incorrect medication, incorrect youth, incorrect dosage, administration errors, incorrect time, omission (confirmed or suspected due to missing documentation), a youth with a known allergy to ordered medication, failure to document a medication refused by a youth, or transcription error.

Memorandum of Agreement (MOA)

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)

Mini Practice Model Review (PMR) (Policy 2.16)
A Mini PMR will has a reduced number of selected cases and reviewers are from within the region completing the review.

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Mexican Consulates (Policy 2.22)
The MOU with the Mexican Consulates serves to notify the Mexican Consulates of the detention of a child who is a Mexican National or whose parents are Mexican Nationals.

Modification letter (Policy GA-18)
A modification letter is signed and issued by the Director of DCS (Director) or designee, which details the unilateral changes in the work (services, prices, and/or rates) within the scope of a contract for the procurement of social services and is made available for public inspection.

Multiethnic Placement Act (MEPA) and Interethnic Placement Act (IEPA)
MEPA and IEPA are federal requirements established to prohibit discrimination, whether directed at children in need of appropriate, safe homes, at prospective parents, or at previously "underutilized” communities who could be resources for placing children. The three (3) basic mandates include:

1. Prohibiting the delay or denial of a child’s foster care or adoptive placement on the basis of the child’s or the prospective parent’s race, color, or national origin;
2. Prohibiting the denial to an individual of the opportunity to become a foster or adoptive parent on the basis of the prospective parent’s or the child’s race, color, or national origin; and
3. Requiring diligent recruitment of foster and adoptive parents who reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of the children in the state who need foster and adoptive homes.

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N

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC)

National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS)
NCANDS is a voluntary national data collection and analysis system created in response to the requirements of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA).

National Crime Information Center (NCIC) (Policy GA-23)
NCIC is a nationwide computerized information system that helps the criminal justice community perform its duties by providing accurate and timely documented criminal justice information, which includes restricted and non-restricted interface files. Restricted and non-restricted files are differentiated by the policies governing their access and use.

National Electronic Interstate Compact Enterprise (NEICE) (Policies 9.01 & 9.05)
NEICE is a national electronic system for exchanging all the data and documents required by the ICPC to place children across state lines (see policy 9.13 National Electronic Interstate Compact Enterprise [NEICE]).

National Sex Offender Registry Check (Policy HR-2-2)
The National Sex Offender Registry Check is a review of the National Sex Offender Registry to ensure the applicant has not been convicted of certain sex crimes nationwide.

Natural Consequences
Discipline that occurs as a result of circumstances brought about by a child’s actions rather than any intervention by a substitute caregiver.

Near Fatality (Policy 4.31)
A near fatality is defined by Indiana Code as a severe childhood injury or condition that is certified by a physician as being life threatening. Life threatening is further defined as an injury or condition that is categorized as “serious” or “critical” in-patient hospital records.

Near Miss Occurrence (Policies 17.10 & 17.13)
A near miss is an occurrence that would have resulted in a sentinel event, but for timely intervention (e.g., attempted suicide or attempted rape).

Neglect
Neglect is the inability or refusal by those responsible for the care, custody, and control of a child to provide necessary food, clothing, shelter, medical care, education, or supervision necessary for the child’s well-being.

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)

New Child (3.08 Practice SOP)
A new child may include:

1. A newborn,
2. A child that has moved into the home, or
3. A child who regularly or continually visits the home.

Noncriminal Justice Agency (NCJA) (Policy GA-23)
NCJA is any court, governmental agency, or a subunit of a government agency that performs administrative activities other than the administration of criminal justice.

Noncustodial Parent (Policies 4.10, 4.28, & 5.04)
A noncustodial parent is a mother, father, or alleged father (biological or adoptive) who does not have legal or primary physical custody of the child.

Non-Emergency Removal
A non-emergency removal is a voluntary or involuntary removal of a child under circumstances that do not require immediate protection of the health and safety of the child. In such circumstances, appropriate planning can be done.

Non-Emergency Unlicensed Placement (Policies 13.05, 13.06, 13.11, 13.12 & 13.15)
Non-emergency unlicensed placement is defined as placement in a kinship or relative home (not a biological or adoptive parent’s home) when a child will be placed in out-of-home care, but the nature of the situation allows the child to remain in the current placement for a period of time.

Non-Recurring Adoption Expenses (NRAE)

Non-Recurring Expenses (NRE)

Non-Routine, Non-Emergency Care (Policy 8.26)
Non-routine, non-emergency care (also known as extraordinary health care or major treatments) includes any major treatment or procedure that is non-emergency in nature but may be beneficial, necessary, or cosmetic in nature. This includes but is not limited to surgeries that require general anesthesia and/or blood transfusions and procedures that might be dangerous given the child’s medical history.

Examples of non-routine, non-emergency care include, but are not limited to:

1. Medical: tonsillectomies (in certain circumstances, this could be a life-threatening emergency, but in most cases, this is a planned surgery);
2. Dental: braces and other corrective orthodontic treatments;
3. Vision: LASIK surgery to reduce nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism; and
4. Cosmetic: tattoo removal.

Notice of Availability (NOA)

Nurturance
Nurturance is behaviors and activities that further the growth and development of another person, family, group, or community.

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O

Office of Administrative Law Proceedings (OALP)

Office of Data Management (ODM)

Office of General Counsel (OGC)

Off-site Field Instructor (Policies GA-9 & GA-14)
The Off-site Field Instructor provides educational supervision to the Scholar when there is not an Agency-Based Field Instructor available.

Older Youth Case Division Manager (OYC DM)

Older Youth Case Management (Policy 11.29)
Older Youth Case Management is DCS’ extended foster care program that allows eligible young adults who are or were in the foster care system to voluntarily remain under the care and placement of DCS in order to continue to finalize their transition plan and independent living goals. The program is for DCS and Juvenile Delinquent (JD) youth 18 to 21 years of age and allows them to continue receiving services (see policy 11.18 Eligibility to Participate in Collaborative Care).

Older Youth Case Manager (OYCM)

Older Youth Services (OYS) (Policies 2.18, 11.01, 11.02, 11.04, 11.05, 11.06, 11.07, 11.08, 11.17, 11.21, 11.28 & 11.29)
The purpose of OYS is to:

1. Assist identified youth who are expected to remain in foster care until their 18th birthday or after in making the transition to self-sufficiency;
2. Help identified youth receive the necessary education, training, and services to overcome potential barriers to employment;
3. Help youth prepare for and enter post-secondary education and/or training programs;
4. Provide personal and emotional support for youth aging out of foster care;
5. Assist youth in locating and identifying community resources that will be available to the youth after DCS involvement has ended; and
6. Encourage positive personal growth in older youth through “teachable moments”.

Older Youth Services (OYS) Provider (Policy 11.29)
The OYS Provider has a contract with DCS and coordinates services with the youth and evaluates progress with the youth by tracking and adjusting independent living service needs.

Omission
An omission is an occurrence, in the context of child protection service, in which the parent, guardian, or custodian allowed that person’s child to receive any injury that the parent, guardian, or custodian had a reasonable opportunity to prevent or mitigate.

On-Call (Policy HR-2-7)
On-call is the period during which an employee is away from the worksite but must be available to return to work within a relatively short period of time, specifically: Monday through Friday (from 4:30pm to 8:00am), Saturdays and Sundays (a 24-hour period starting at 8:00am), State holidays (a 24-hour period starting at 8:00am).

Online Training (GA-10)
Online training consists of DCS Computer Aided Trainings (CATs) and webinars.

Optional Members of a Child’s Assistance Group (Policy 15.05)
Title IV-E defines the following individuals as optional members of the child’s assistance group and should only be included when it is advantageous for Title IV-E eligibility:

1. The spouse of the focus child’s physically or mentally incapacitated parent;
2. A relative caretaker, other than a parent; and

Note: In instances where a relative caretaker, who has the responsibility for care and control of the child, and the parent live in the same household as the child, both the parent and the relative caretaker may be included in the child’s assistance group.

3. The child of a minor parent.

Organ Donation (Policy 5.14)
Organ donation is the decision to make an anatomical gift of a deceased individual’s body or parts of the body. This gift may be made for the purpose of transplantation, therapy, research, or education.

Originating Agency Identifier (ORI) (Policy GA-23)
The ORI is provided to a governmental agency or subunit defined as either a CJA or NCJA to identify each unit/agency. Each transaction made from that unit/agency includes the assigned ORI.

Other Relative (Policies 8.48, 10.23, & 14.01)
“Other relative” is an individual who is not related by blood, marriage, or adoption (as indicated in #12 of the definition of relative) may be considered a relative for purposes of placement and the Guardianship Assistance Program (GAP) when the individual has an established and significant relationship with the child.

The relationship with the child will be other relative and must meet the following three (3) criteria:

1. Have the characteristics of a family relationship. The relationship should have the same characteristics or be similar to the relationship that the child has with an individual related by blood, marriage, or adoption;
2. Be verified through the following:
   1. Interviews,
   2. Attested by the Statement of Attestation Regarding Relationship form, or
   3. Oral designation of the child or of another person, including other relatives related to the child by blood, marriage, or adoption.
3. Be described by the child, if age appropriate, as someone with whom the child has developed a significant emotional relationship (this may include a resource parent).

Note: If the individual is a resource parent with whom the child currently resides, the child must have resided in the home for a minimum of 12 months. The resource parent will be designated as “other relative” through approval by local office management upon determination that guardianship is in the best interest of the child.

Credible evidence showing that the individual performs or has performed a substantial role in the upbringing or material support of the child should be documented in the case management system. If the individual is a resource parent, DCS must seek a court order acknowledging the foster parent as a relative following the court’s approval of the permanency plan change to guardianship, if it is determined that a child is eligible for GAP.

Note: Placement with a suitable and willing relative related by blood, marriage, or adoption must be ruled out before considering any other out-of-home placement, with first consideration being given to a suitable and willing non-custodial parent.

Out-of-Home Care
Out-of-home care is an array of services, including family foster care, kinship care, and residential treatment, for children who have been placed in the custody of the State and who must reside temporarily away from their families.

Out-of-Home Child in Need of Services (CHINS) (Policy 6.02)
A child determined to be a CHINS placed in out-of-home placement is referred to as an “Out-of-Home CHINS.”

Outside Internship (Policy GA-8)
An outside internship is a structured job shadowing that serves as a bridge between classroom studies and professional work.

Outside Practicum (Policy GA-8)
An outside practicum is a course of study designed for the supervision of practical application of a previously studied theory.

Overtime (Policy HR-2-7)
Overtime is the hours worked in excess of 40 hours in a calendar week by an overtime-eligible employee.

Overtime-Eligible (Non-Exempt) Employee (HR-2-3 & HR-2-11)
An overtime-eligible employee is an employee who is covered by the overtime pay provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and/or applicable state rules and policies on premium overtime pay.

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P

Parens Patriae
Parens Patriea legal term referring to the State’s power to act for or on behalf of children who cannot act on their own behalf, in their best interest.

Parent (Policies 3.08, 4.10, & 4.28)
A parent is a child’s biological or adoptive parent, including an alleged father.

Parental Participation Decree (PPD)

Parental Rights
Parental rights are the legal rights and corresponding legal obligations that go along with being the parent of a child.

Paternity Affidavit
Paternity affidavit is the official document that a putative father signs in order to legally declare that he is the father of a child.

Payment Request Information (PRI)

Pediatric Evaluation and Diagnostic Services (PEDS)

Pending Criminal Charges (Policy HR-2-2)
For the purposes of this policy, pending criminal charges are criminal charges against an employee, whether arrested or not, and may be considered when making a decision regarding employment and/or formal discipline. Pending criminal charges must be reported by the employee to DCS within five (5) business days.

Pending Termination of Parental Rights (TPR) (Policy 10.07)
“Pending TPR” means the child has a case plan goal of adoption but the legal proceedings to terminate parental rights has not been initiated, has not been completed, or the court order terminating parental rights is under appeal by a higher court.

PeopleSoft Asset Management (Policy GA-21)
PeopleSoft Asset Management is a computerized database program, designated by the Indiana Auditor of State, as the official fixed asset listing for the State of Indiana.

Per Diem Rate
The per diem rate is the amount that foster parents are paid per day for the care of children in their homes.

Periodic Case Review
A periodic case review is a scheduled case review of each child who is placed in the child’s own home or in out-of-home care under a dispositional decree. This review is to be conducted no less frequently than once every six (6) months by a court.

Periodic Payment (Policies 14.02 & 14.08)
A periodic payment is a per diem amount, paid monthly, based on an approved agreement.

Period Under Review (PUR) (Policy 2.16)
The PUR is the timeframe for which a particular case is reviewed. The PUR for the legal system review looks back over the previous 12 months from the date of the review. The PUR for all other items is the previous six (6) months from the date of the review.

Note: The only requirement for a case to be selected for review is that the case must have an “open” status on the day the case is pulled for the PMR, which is 45 days prior to the review. If the case is closed following the case pull, the case may still be reviewed.

Permanency Goal
A permanency goal is the desired outcome of intervention and service, which is determined to be consistent with the health, safety, well-being, and best interests of the child.

Permanency Plan (Policies5.08, 5.15, & 6.10)
The Permanency Plan is the intended permanent or long-term arrangement for care and custody of the child. The Permanency Plan options are:

1. Reunification – the process by which a child returns to live with a legal parent, guardian, or custodian without continued supervision and/or intervention by DCS;
2. Adoption – the legal process when a child becomes the legal child of a person other than the child’s biological parents;
3. Legal Guardianship – the transfer of parental responsibility and legal authority for a minor child to an adult caregiver who intends to provide permanent care for the child. Guardianship may be established with or without Termination of Parental Rights (TPR). It must be established through a formal court order. Transferring legal responsibility removes the child from the child welfare system, allows the caregiver to make important decisions on the child’s behalf, and establishes a long-term caregiver for the child;
4. Fit and Willing Relative – a permanent placement who adequately provides for the child’s needs and is willing to care for the child long-term. When a child is placed with a fit and willing relative, the CHINS case will remain open, typically until the child reaches the age of majority, or legal permanency for the child is reached through adoption, third party custody, or guardianship; and
5. APPLA is only an option for youth 16 years of age and older and refers to a situation in which DCS maintains care and custody responsibilities for the youth, and DCS places the youth in a setting in which the child is expected to remain until transitioning to adulthood, such as:
   1. With resource parents who have made a commitment to care for the youth permanently, but are not moving toward adoption, or
   2. Receiving Older Youth Services (OYS) that will lead the youth to successful adulthood living after emancipation from the child welfare system.

Permanent Status (Policy HR-2-11)
An employee with permanent status has successfully completed their working test period.

Perpetrator (Policies 2.04, 4.03, 4.45, & HR-2-2)
Per 465 IAC 3-1-11, “perpetrator” means a person who, by an act or an omission, has been identified in a report concluding a child abuse and neglect assessment to have committed child abuse or neglect.

Perpetual Count (Policy GA-21)
Perpetual count is the tracking of additions to and removal of assets from an assigned location to maintain a current balance and keep PeopleSoft updated.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

Personal Use (Policy GA-1)
Personal use is any use of State property that is not required to accomplish State business.

Person Query (Policy GA-23)
A person query (III/Triple I name-based check) is a way to look up criminal justice information available using non-Fingerprint-Based Checks. Queried information requires the same privacy and protections outlined in this policy and the Criminal Justice Information Systems (CJIS) Security Policy.

Persons with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) (Policy GA-3)
Persons with LEP are individuals who do not speak English as their primary language and who have a limited ability to read, write, speak, or understand English resulting in an inability to effectively communicate.

Petition
A petition is a written request or plea in which a specific court action is requested.

Petition for Compliance (Policy 5.09)
A petition for compliance is a document that may be filed with the court by the local DCS office if the parent, guardian, or custodian has not substantially compiled with the terms of the IA.

Petition for Parental Participation (PPP)

Physical Abuse
Physical abuse is child abuse that results in physical injury to a child. This may include burning, hitting, punching, shaking, kicking, beating, or otherwise harming a child. Although an injury resulting from physical abuse is not accidental, the parent or caregiver may not have intended to hurt the child. The injury may have resulted from severe discipline, including injurious spanking or physical punishment that is inappropriate to the child’s age or condition. The injury may be the result of a single episode or of repeated episodes and may range in severity from minor marks and bruising to death.

Physical Count (Policy GA-21)
Physical count is the process of counting the actual amount of assets.

Physical Illness (Policy 17.13)
Any serious physical illness is any illness that requires outside medical intervention. This definition does not include common childhood illnesses (e.g., colds, flu, diarrhea, vomiting). This definition does include symptoms like serious allergic reactions, seizures, persistent diarrhea or vomiting, failure to gain weight, infectious conditions (e.g., pink eye), or other conditions that precipitate referral to a medical provider.

Physical Neglect
Physical neglect is the failure to provide for a child’s basic survival needs, such as nutrition, clothing, shelter, hygiene, and medical care. Physical neglect may also involve inadequate supervision of a child and other forms of reckless disregard of the child’s safety and welfare.

Physical or Mental Incapacity (Policy 15.06)
For Title IV-E eligibility, physical or mental incapacity is defined as a parent having a physical or mental impairment, prior to the child’s removal from the home, that is expected to last at least 30 days and substantially reduces or eliminates the parent’s ability to support and care for their child. Although a parent may not be receiving a formal source of income for a disability, the parent may still be considered incapacitated for the purposes of deprivation, based on available documentation.

Note: A parent receiving Supplemental Social Security Income (SSI) or Retirement, Survivors, Disability Insurance (RSDI) from the Social Security Administration for their own disability is considered an incapacitated parent.

Physical Removal (Policy 15.02)
Physical removal occurs when DCS physically removes a child from the person identified in the court order authorizing removal.

Physical Restraint (Policy 8.18)
Physical restraint is a protective hold. This does not include mechanical restraint.

Placement
Placement is the arrangement for the care of a child in a relative home, foster home, group home, CCI, shelter care facility, or a medical facility; or the process of moving a child from one home to another.

Placement and Care (PC)

Placement Disruption (Policy 8.38)
A Placement Disruption is a change in a child’s placement from one out-of-home placement to another (e.g., moving from an emergency shelter to a relative resource home or from one resource home to another).

Plan of Correction (POC)

Plan of Safe Care (POSC)

Point of Contact (POC)

Policy (Policy HR-3-9)
Policy is any document produced or adopted by DCS or the State that sets forth standards, expectations, procedures, requirements, or duties of staff.

Post-Adoption Services (PAS) (Policy 10.01)
PAS are available to Indiana adoptive families and provide services to adopted children and their families. PAS provide a comprehensive system of care that allows families to find support after adoption.

Poverty
Poverty is a lack of financial resources. While someone may have a lack of resources due to poverty, this does not automatically mean they are unable to meet the needs of the child.

Power of Attorney (POA)

Practice Model Review (PMR) Reviewer (Policy 2.16)
A PMR Reviewer is a DCS employee who is trained in applying the PMR protocol to selected cases for review.

Practice Model Review (PMR) Round (Policy 2.16)
A PMR Round is the completion of the Full PMR in every region. The PMR Round takes two (2) calendar years to complete. A PMR will be conducted in each region at least one (1) time every calendar year, alternating between a Mini PMR and a Full PMR.

Practicum (Policies GA-2, GA-9, & GA-14)
Practicum is a school or college course in a specialized field of study that is designed to give students supervised practical application of previously studied theory.

Pre-adoptive Home
A pre-adoptive home is a resource family home that has been approved to adopt a specific child at an adoption staffing.

Pre-adoptive Placement (Policy 2.12)
For the purpose of this policy, a pre-adoptive placement is the temporary placement of an Indian child in a foster home or institution after TPR, but prior to or in lieu of an adoptive placement.

Pre-Dispositional Report (PDR)
A PDR is a report that is prepared by the FCM to aid the court in arriving at a disposition regarding the case. This contains a statement of the needs of the child for care, treatment, rehabilitation, or placement. It also includes a recommendation for the care, treatment, rehabilitation, or placement of the child.

Preliminary Inquiry (PI) (Policies 2.05, 2.25, 5.09, 6.01, & 6.02)
A PI is a written report prepared by DCS, which includes the child’s background, current status, and school performance. The report relates the facts and circumstances that establish the reason for DCS involvement in both CHINS and IA cases.

Premium Overtime (Policies HR-2-3 & HR-2-11)
Premium overtime is actual time worked by a overtime-eligible (non-exempt) employee in excess of 40 hours per work week for which compensation is at a time and one-half rate.

Prenatal Substance Exposure
Prenatal substance exposure is fetal exposure to maternal drug and alcohol use that may significantly increase the risk for developmental and neurological disabilities in the child. The effects may cause severe neurological damage and growth retardation in the substance exposed newborn.

Preponderance of the Evidence (Policy 4.22)
Preponderance of the evidence is an evidentiary standard used in a burden of proof analysis. The preponderance standard applies to the quality and weight of the evidence and is not specifically related to the quantity of evidence. Under the preponderance of the evidence standard, the burden of proof is met when the fact finder is convinced that a fact is more likely true than not true.

Private Adoption Agency
Any Indiana-licensed child placing agency which provides adoption services.

Private Secure Facility (PSF) (Policies 8.04 & 16.04)
A PSF with or without PRTF is a locked living unit of an institution for children six (6) years of age or older with chronic behavior that endangers themselves or others.

Probable Cause
Probable cause is the existence of facts and circumstances within one’s knowledge and of which one has reasonable, trustworthy information, which are sufficient in themselves, in the context of child welfare, to warrant someone to believe a child is a CHINS.

Procurement (Policy GA-19)
Refers to all aspects of the sourcing activities, including drafting and issuing the solicitation, evaluation of responses, selection of successful respondents, the negotiation of contracts, and the actual purchasing of goods or services.

Professional Service Request (PSR) (Policy 3.01, 3.03, & 4.48)
A PSR is a request from a designated professional reporter, as defined by Indiana law (IC 31- 33-5-2), as members of the staff of a medical or other public or private institution, school, facility, or agency, including a request for information from an out-of-state child service agency, where there is no allegation of CA/N. A professional reporter, other than a member of the staff of a hospital licensed under IC 16-21-2, is legally obligated to report the alleged CA/N to DCS first, and then to the person in charge of the organization for which they work or volunteer. See IC 31-33-5-2.5 for guidance on hospital staff reporting requirements.

Program (Policy EA-5)
Program is a specialty unit within a division (e.g., Focused Needs and International and Cultural Affairs is a program within the Strategic Initiatives division).

Program Improvement Plan (PIP)
The PIP is a plan that is created by an entity such as a government agency or corporate enterprise that is designed to improve a component of their operations. For DCS, this is based on outcomes from the Child and Family Services Review (CFSR).

Progress Report
A progress report is a report on the status of dispositional decree implementation and the resulting outcome relative to a child who is the subject of the decree. DCS will prepare the report and submit to the court every three (3) months after the dispositional decree, or at any time after the date of the original dispositional decree when ordered by the court to file a report.

Proof Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
Proof beyond a reasonable doubt is all the evidence must point to one (1) conclusion, without reasonable question or doubt. This is the standard used in criminal or delinquency cases.

Pro Re Nata (PRN) (As Needed) Order for Psychotropic Medication (Policy 17.13)
A PRN order is any instance when a youth is given psychotropic medication on an as needed basis, per the contractual requirements.

Prospective Adoptive Parent (Policies 10.04, 10.06, 10.10, & 10.22)
A prospective adoptive parent is an individual who has been selected by DCS as the preadoptive placement for the child or has recorded an adoption petition with the court to adopt a child who is legally available for adoption.

Protective Custody
Protective custody is when a child is taken into custody by a law enforcement officer under an order of the court. If a law enforcement officer’s action will not adequately protect the safety of the child, the child may be taken into custody by a law enforcement officer, probation officer, or caseworker acting with probable cause to believe the child is a CHINS if:

1. It appears the child’s physical or mental condition will be seriously impaired or seriously endangered if the child is not immediately taken into custody;
2. There is not a reasonable opportunity to obtain an order of the court; and
3. Consideration for the safety of the child precludes the immediate use of family services to prevent removal of the child.

Protective Factors (Policies 4.18, 4.19, 4.26, 4.42, 4.50, 5.02, 5.03, 5.07, 5.20, 5.21, 5.25, 7.11, & 8.43)
Protective factors are conditions or attributes in individuals, families, and communities that promote the safety, stability, permanency, and well-being of children and families.

Provider (Policy GA-19)
Purchasing is the technical or administrative process of how goods and services are ordered.

Proxy (Policy 2.28)
A proxy is an individual selected by a member of the judiciary, prosecuting attorney, or a DCS employee who is to represent the RSC member during a meeting.

Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility (PRTF)

Psychological First Aid (Policy GA-17)
The National Traumatic Stress Network (https://www.nctsn.org) defines psychological first aid as “an evidence-informed modular approach to help children, adolescents, adults, and families in the immediate aftermath of disaster and terrorism”.

Psychological Maltreatment
Psychological maltreatment is a pattern of caregiver behavior or extreme incidents that convey to children that they are worthless, flawed, unloved, unwanted, endangered, or only of value in meeting another’s needs. This maltreatment may be perpetrated by parents or caretakers using extreme or bizarre forms of punishment or threatening or terrorizing a child. The term is also known as emotional abuse or neglect, verbal abuse, or mental abuse.

Psychological Safety (Policy HR-3-8)
Psychological safety is the shared belief held by members of a team that the team will not embarrass, reject, or punish an individual for speaking up (Edmundson, 1999, p. 350). The four (4) stages of psychological safety (Clark, 2020) are:

1. Inclusion safety: The stage of psychological safety that satisfies the basic human need to connect and belong. A person feels safe to be and is accepted for being oneself, including the person’s unique attributes and defining characteristics;
2. Learner safety: The stage of psychological safety that satisfies the need to learn and grow. A person feels safe to exchange in the learning process by asking questions, giving and receiving feedback, experimenting, and making mistakes;
3. Contributor Safety: The stage of psychological safety that satisfies the need to make a difference. A person feels safe to use one’s skills and abilities to make a meaningful contribution; and
4. Challenger Safety: The stage of psychological safety that satisfies the need to make things better. A person feels safe to speak up and challenge the status quo when there’s an opportunity for change or improvement.

Psychotropic Medication (Policy 8.30)
Psychotropic medications are those prescription drugs used to control and/or stabilize mood, mental status, behavior, and/or mental health. Psychotropic medication generally fall into one (1) of the following categories:

1. Antidepressant/Antianxiety (e.g., Prozac, Zoloft, or Paxil);
2. Antipsychotic (e.g., Haldol, Risperdal, or Zyprexa);
3. Psychostimulants (e.g., Ritalin or Adderall); and
4. Mood Stabilizers (e.g., Lithium).

Psychotropic Medication Advisory Committee (PMAC)

Public Defender (PD)

Public Mass Media (Policy 8.14)
Public mass media refers collectively to all media technologies, including the Internet, television, newspapers, YouTube, and the radio which are used for mass communications.

Public Speaking Engagement (Policy EA-7)
A public speaking engagement is a presentation or speech to external audiences, including, but not limited to, legislators, constituents, or partner organizations and the public, including at conferences or other child welfare gatherings, delivered both in-person or virtually. This excludes events and trainings solely for internal staff.

Purchasing (Policy GA-19)
The technical or administrative process of how goods and services are ordered.

Putative Father
A putative father is a man, regardless of age, who is commonly accepted or supposed to be a child's father and who has signed a paternity affidavit to legally declare that he is, in fact, the father of a child. A putative father was not married to the child's mother on or before the date that the child was or is to be born nor has his paternity of the child been established in a court proceeding.

Putative Father Registry
The Putative Father Registry is the system that serves to ensure that birth fathers’ rights are protected. Some States require that birth fathers register, while other States presume that the father does not wish to pursue paternity rights if he does not initiate any legal action.

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Q

Qualified Expert Witness (QEW) (Policy 2.12)
A QEW is an individual who is able to testify as to whether the Indian child’s continued custody by the parents is likely to result in serious emotional or physical damage to the Indian child and should be qualified to testify to the prevailing social and cultural standards of the Indian child’s tribe.

Qualified Mental Health Provider (QMHP) (Policy 7.07)
A QMHP is defined as a licensed psychiatrist, licensed physician, or licensed psychologist or psychologist endorsed as a Health Service Provider in Psychology (HSPP). An individual who has had at least two (2) years of clinical experience, under the supervision of a mental health professional, with persons with serious mental illness. Such experience must have occurred after the completion of a master’s degree, doctoral degree, or both from an accredited university, and the individual must possess one (1) of the following credentials:

1. In nursing (plus a license as a registered nurse in Indiana);
2. In social work (from a university accredited by the Council on Social Work Education [CSWE]);
3. In psychology (and who meets the Indiana requirements for the practice of psychology);
4. In counseling and guidance, pastoral counseling, or rehabilitation counseling; or
5. A mental health professional who has a documented equivalence in education, training, and/or experience approved by the supervising physician.

Qualified Residential Treatment Program (QRTP) (Policies 5.07, 5.24, 6.06, 6.07, 6.08, 6.09, 6.10, 6.11, & 6.15)
A QRTP is a designation for a Child Caring Institution (CCI), Group Home (GH), or Private Secure Facility (PSF) which meets requirements specified by the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA). Requirements a program must meet for this designation may be found in policy 17.03 Verification of QRTP Designation. A program which receives this designation may continue to qualify for federal Title IV-E matching payments after a child’s first two (2) weeks in the program (see policy 15.13 Title IV-E Eligible Placements).

Quality Assurance/Quality Improvement
Quality assurance/quality improvement is the process and measures an organization uses to determine how its products or services measure up to the standards established for them. All State child welfare agencies are required to develop and implement standards to ensure that children in foster care are provided quality services that protect the safety and health of the children. They are also required to operate an identifiable quality assurance system that evaluates the quality of services, identifies strengths and needs of the service delivery system, provides relevant reports, and evaluates implemented program improvement measures. In child welfare agencies, quality assurance programs may contain one (1) or more of the following components:

1. A client information/data system;
2. A peer review system; and
3. A case record review system.

Quality Assurance Review (QAR)

Quality Service Assurance (QSA) Lead (Policy 2.16)
The QSA Lead is a Quality Assurance Analyst within the SSAT division.

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R

Rapid Improvement Event (RIE)

Reasonability Test (Policies 17.04 & 18.12)
For purposes of DCS, a reasonability test is an evaluation performed by the DCS Rate Setting Team and is based on what a reasonable person would pay in the same or similar circumstances for the same or similar item or service.

Reasonable and Prudent Parent Standard (Policies 8.16 & 8.23)
The Reasonable and Prudent Parent Standard is the standard a caregiver shall use when determining whether to allow a child in foster care, who is under the responsibility of the State, to participate in extracurricular, enrichment, cultural, and social activities. The Reasonable and Prudent Parent Standard is 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 (see 8.F Tool: Reasonable and Prudent Parent Standard).

Reasonable Efforts (RE)
Reasonable efforts are the exercise of ordinary diligence and care by DCS to utilize all family preservation services available to:

1. Enable the child to live at home safely;
2. Effect the safe reunification of the child and family when it has been necessary to remove a child from the home to ensure immediate safety; or
3. Make and finalize alternate permanency plans in a timely manner when reunification is not appropriate or possible.

Reasonable Efforts - Detention/Initial Hearing (Policy 6.01)
Reasonable Efforts is the exercise of ordinary diligence and care by DCS to utilize all services available to preserve the family to enable the child to live at home safely.

Reasonable Efforts to Finalize the Permanency Plan (REPP)

Rebuttable Presumption (Policies 3.08 & 6.02)
A rebuttable presumption is an assumption made by a court, one that is taken to be true unless someone comes forward to contest it and prove otherwise.

Recipient Identification Number (RID)

Receiver (Policy GA-21)
A Receiver is the Administrative Services position responsible for processing invoices for qualifying items through PeopleSoft and creating an asset in PeopleSoft Asset Management.

Redaction (Policy 6.08)
Redaction is the process of removing or concealing confidential or sensitive information from a document prior to release of the document. Redacted documents should be thoroughly reviewed by a DCS attorney prior to disclosure.

Referral Hold (Policy 17.15)
A referral hold is a process by which an agency may not accept any new referrals from DCS until all identified noncompliance is corrected, including but not limited to child safety, statutory noncompliance, code violation, and/or contract noncompliance.

Reflective Practice Survey (RPS)

Refugee (Policy 2.22)
A person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster.

Regional Director (RD)

Regional Finance Manager (RFM)

Regional Foster Care Specialist (RFCS)

Regional Services Council (RSC)
All 5 regions have an RSC. Many of the community partners are represented on these councils including judges, foster parents, GAL/CASA, and DCS staff. The purpose of these councils is to:

1. Assess the services available in communities;
2. Identify needed services for families and children; and
3. Ensure the needed services are available in communities.

Rehabilitative Services
Rehabilitative services are provided to the child and/or family to address issues identified as leading to involvement with DCS. These services include but are not limited to parenting classes, drug and alcohol treatment, and psychological assessment.

Reimbursement Payments
Reimbursement payments are court-ordered payments made to DCS by the parent or guardian that are applied to expenses incurred by the Family & Children Fund for the care of a child in out-of-home care. These payments may be applied to expenses incurred over the entire placement period or any portion of the placement period.

Relational Permanency (Policies 11.18 & 11.27)
Relational permanency is a concept that defines familial relationships beyond biological connections, including familial ties formed during care and after exiting out-of-home placement.

Relative (Policies 8.48, 10.23, 14.01, & 15.10)
A relative is defined in IC 31-9-2-107(c) as any of the following in relation to a child:

1. A parent;
2. A grandparent;
3. A brother;
4. A sister;
5. A stepparent;
6. A stepgrandparent;
7. A stepbrother;
8. A stepsister;
9. A first cousin;
10. An uncle;
11. An aunt; or
12. Any other individual with whom a child has an established and significant relationship.

Relative Placement
A relative placement is a placement, licensed or unlicensed, in which a qualified adult (e.g., a grandparent, aunt, uncle, or adult sibling) provides care for a related child. By law, a court must consider placement in the home of any willing relative of a child in need of out-of-home care before considering placement elsewhere.

Relative Support Specialist (RSS)

Relinquishment of Parental Rights
Relinquishment of parental rights is a voluntary termination of parental rights (TPR).

Removal Household (Policy 15.01)
The removal household is the home of the specified relative (i.e., the person from whom the child is considered legally removed).

Removal of Life Support (Policy 5.14)
Removal of life support means to remove all medical procedures or interventions that serve only to prolong the process of dying or maintain the individual in a condition of persistent unconsciousness. This does not include the administration of medication or performance of medical treatments deemed necessary to alleviate pain or provide for the normal consumption of food and water.

Repatriation (Policy 2.22)
Repatriation is the process of permanently placing a child with the child’s parent or relatives. The child and/or the child's parent is known to be a national of the other country. The child may be a dual citizen (citizen of the U.S. and a citizen of the other country) and still be considered for reunification through repatriation procedures.

Report Source (RS)

Requested Custody Study
A requested custody study is an investigation not ordered by a court, but rather requested by either an out-of-state court or agency or by an attorney representing a person seeking custody whose purpose is to substantiate, prior to court action, a person’s ability to properly care for child whose custody is being sought.

Request for Proposal (RFP)

Residential Licensing Unit (RLU)

Residential Treatment Center (RTC)

Resource Home
“Resource home” is a term applied to foster homes, pre-adoptive homes, and relative homes that serve or may serve as resources for children in need of out-of-home placement.

Resource Parent (Policies 2.15, 5.07, 5.19, 6.04, 6.09, 6.11, 8.02, 8.09, 8.14, 8.15, 8.16, 8.18, 8.48, 10.04, & 10.06)
For the purposes of DCS policy, a resource parent includes a foster parent, licensed and unlicensed relative or kinship caregiver, and a pre-adoptive parent.

Respite Care (Policies 8.17)
DCS defines respite care as a temporary transfer of caregiving responsibilities with the specific intent of providing support to the resource parent.

Respondent(Policies GA-19 & GA-20)
A respondent is a person or entity that is participating in a procurement process but may or may not currently do business with the State.

Response to Intervention (RTI)

Responsibility
Responsibility is the state, quality, or fact of being responsible; a thing or person that someone is answerable for; a duty, obligation or burden.

Restraint (Policy 17.13)
A special treatment, procedure, or intervention in an emergency situation that uses physical, personal, or mechanical measures to limit or restrict movement of a youth for any length of time. A restraint is used only as a last resort when there is imminent risk of a youth physically harming themself or others and after all nonphysical interventions have failed, or when safety issues demand an immediate physical response (e.g., youth running into a busy street).

This definition does not apply to common physical interactions with a youth that are brief; and intent on redirection or hands-on intervention to cease fighting; or holding a youth’s hand to safely escort away from a scene of disruption.

Retirement, Survivors, Title II Disability Insurance (RSDI) (Policy 15.12)
RSDI is a federal program, which provides benefits to persons who are retired or disabled. The program also provides survivor benefits to certain individuals including:

1. Widows or widowers;
2. Divorced spouses;
3. Unmarried or disabled children; and
4. Dependent parties.

Right to be Heard
“Right to be Heard” means resource parents of a child in foster care who are required to be notified, also have been given the right to be heard in all court proceedings pertaining to a child in their care.

Risk (Policies 4.18, 4.22, 4.23, 4.50, 5.09, 5.12 & 7.01)
Risk is the likelihood that a child may experience abuse and/or neglect based on vulnerabilities and exposure to harm (see Risk and Safety Visual Aid).

Risk Assessment
The risk assessment is a measure of the likelihood that a child will be maltreated in the future, frequently through the use of checklists, matrices, scales, and other methods of measurement.

Risk Factor
A risk factor is a behavior or condition present in the child, parent, or family that will likely contribute to child maltreatment occurring in the future. Major risk factors include substance abuse, domestic/family violence, and mental health problems.

Risk Reassessment (Policy 5.12)
The risk reassessment is an assessment tool used by the FCM throughout the life of the case to determine the presence of risk factors that indicate the likelihood of future child maltreatment. The Risk Reassessment also assists FCMs in evaluating whether risk levels have increased, decreased, or remained the same since the completion of the Initial Family Risk Assessment.

Role
A role is a function or position. With respect to child welfare, many entities (e.g., parent, guardian, or custodian; DCS; and service providers) play a specific role in the life of the child.

Root Cause (Policy 17.10)
The root cause is a factor, which by removal, would prevent the occurrence of the adverse event.

Root Cause Analysis (Policies 17.10 & 17.13)
Root cause analysis is a collaborative process undertaken to understand the underlying factors that led to a sentinel event or near miss and the development of strategies to help avoid similar occurrences in the future.

Routine Health Care (Policy 8.26)
Examples of routine health care include, but are not limited to:

1. Medical: physical examinations, well-child care, immunizations, and visits to the doctor for cold or flu;
2. Dental: cleanings, examinations, cavity fillings, and x-rays;
3. Mental health services prescribed in the child’s Case Plan/Prevention Plan;
4. Vision: visual exams, glasses, and/or contact lens fittings; and
5. Auditory screenings.

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S

Safe Assessment Closure Team (SafeACT) (Policy 4.22)
SafeACT is a process for closing out specific assessments of CA/N when it is determined all children are safe and the assessment finding is “unsubstantiated”.

Safe Haven Infant (Policy 4.49)
Per IC 31-9-2-113.1, a safe haven infant is a child:

1. Who is, or appears to be, not more than 30 days old; and
2. Who has been voluntarily left:
   1. By a parent with an emergency medical services provider, or
   2. In a newborn safety device.

Safe System Review (SSR)

Safety (Policies 4.18, 4.22, 4.23, 4.50, 5.09, 5.12, & 7.01)
Safety is protection from immediate harm due to caregiver’s abilities to address all known threats (see Risk and Safety Visual Aid).

Safety Assessment
The safety assessment is a part of the child protective services case process in which available information is analyzed to identify whether a child is in immediate danger of moderate or serious harm. Safety assessments also are conducted throughout the life of a case, including while in-home services are provided, when a child is in out-of-home care, preceding and during family visitation, and throughout the process of achieving permanency for the child.

Safety Plan (Policies 2.30, 4.03, 4.09, 4.13, 4.18, 4.19, 4.26, 4.30, 4.36, 4.42, 4.50, 5.02, 5.07, 5.08, 5.09, 5.12, 5.19, 5.21, 7.03, 7.04, 7.05, 8.09, 8.10, 8.11, 8.39, & 8.43)
A Safety Plan is a voluntary, non-legally binding written agreement with the family, which identifies interventions to address the safety of the child and specifies family supports and/or community services that will be utilized.

Scholar (Policies GA-9 & GA-14)
A scholar is a student that has been selected to participate in the Title IV-E Scholars program.

School of Origin (Policies 8.20 & 8.22)
A school of origin is the school that a student in foster care attended when the student last had a permanent residence or the school in which a student in foster care was last enrolled. If the child has not previously attended school or is not of school age, the school where the child would have attended is the school of origin.

Seclusion (Policy 17.13)
A special treatment procedure or intervention that confines a youth to a safe, monitored room or area from which a youth is physically prevented from leaving, in order to prevent injury to self or others.

Section 504 (504 Plan) (Policies 7.06, 8.20, 8.21, & 8.22)
The 504 Plan is a Federal law that prohibits disability discrimination by recipients of Federal financial assistance. The qualified student is entitled to receive regular or special education and related aids and services that are designed to meet their individual educational needs as adequately as the needs of students without disabilities are met. The 504 Plan requires, among other things, that a student with a disability receives an equal opportunity to participate in athletics and extracurricular activities and to be free from bullying and harassment based on disability.

Secure Facility
A secure facility is a place of residence other than a shelter care facility, that prohibits the departure of the child.

Security Deposit Agreement (Policy 16.03)
The Security Deposit Agreement is an agreement between the landlord and DCS in which the landlord agrees that any refundable portion of the security deposit will be refunded to DCS when the tenant leaves.

Self-Inflicted Injury (Policy 17.13)
Any action initiated by a youth to harm themself which results in injury, regardless of severity, but without the intent to commit suicide.

Sending State
A sending state is a party state of the ICPC that arranges with another (receiving) party state for the receipt of any child into the state for placement with state or local public authorities or with private agencies or persons.

Sentinel Event (Policies 17.10 & 17.13)
A sentinel event is any unanticipated event in an Emergency Shelter or Child Caring Institution that results in the death or serious physical or psychological injury to a child, not related to the natural course of the child’s illness.

Service Region (Policy 2.28)
A service region is an area of Indiana consisting of one (1) or more counties.

Severe Impairment Determination (Policy 14.10)
A Severe Impairment Determination is a process utilized when determining whether:

1. A child under the age of two (2), who is not a member of a sibling group, is eligible for adoption assistance;
2. An eligible child under age 13 is eligible for guardianship assistance (GAP); or
3. A youth is eligible for continuation of AAP or Title IVE-GAP at the age of 18 years old.

Sex Offender Registry (SOR)

Sexual Abuse
According to CAPTA, sexual abuse is the employment, use, persuasion, inducement, enticement, or coercion of any child to engage in, or assist any other person to engage in, any sexually explicit conduct or simulation of such conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct; or the rape, and in cases of caretaker or interfamilial relationships, statutory rape, molestation, prostitution, or other form of sexual exploitation of children, or incest with children.

Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) or Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) (Policy 8.31) Per 410 IAC 1-2.5-66, an STD, also referred to as an STI, is a local or systemic communicable disease due to infectious agents, generally transmitted person-to-person by sexual intercourse or genital mucosal contact, including, but not limited to, the following:

1. HIV;
2. Hepatitis B Virus (HBV);
3. Hepatitis C Virus (HCV);
4. Gonorrhea;
5. Chlamydia;
6. Syphilis;
7. Chancroid; and
8. Granuloma inguinale.

Shaken Baby Syndrome
Shaken Baby Syndrome is an injury to an infant or child resulting from the child’s having been shaken, usually as a misguided means of discipline. The most common symptoms, which can be inflicted by seemingly harmless shakings, are bleeding and/or detached retinas and other bleeding inside the head. Repeated instances of shaking and resultant injuries may eventually cause mental and developmental disabilities.

Shelter Care Facility
A shelter care facility is a place of residence licensed under the laws of any state, other than a secure facility, which is not locked to prevent a child’s departure unless the administrator determines that locking is necessary to protect the child’s health.

Sibling (Policies 4.28 & 5.23)
A sibling is defined as:

1. A brother or sister by blood or adoption, half-sibling by blood or adoption, or step-sibling; and
2. Any other individual who would be considered a sibling if parental rights had not been terminated.

Sidebar (Policies 6.02 & 6.03)
A sidebar is a conversation held outside of the hearing of the other persons present in the court. It usually includes the attorneys for the parties, Guardian ad Litem (GAL)/Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA), the judge, and the court reporter.

Social Media (Policy EA-8)
Social media is websites and applications that enable users to create and share content and participate in conversations online with other users.

Social Networking (Policy 8.14)
Social networking refers to online communities of individuals who share interests and/or activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. This may include but is not limited to Facebook, Twitter (X), LinkedIn, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, Discord, and TikTok.

Social Security Act
The Social Security Act is federal legislation enacted in 1935, which created the public welfare system. In its current amended form, it now includes, under the welfare umbrella, public assistance (Title IV-A which is the AFDC program), child welfare services (Title IV-B), child support (Title IV-D), foster care and adoption assistance (Title IV-E), Medicaid (Title XIX) and Social Services Block Grant (Title XX).

Social Security Administration (SSA)

Social Security Number (SSN)

Social Security Unit (SSU)

Social Service Block Grant (SSBG)
SSBG is a federally funded social services program under Title XX of the Social Security Act, which provides reimbursement for social services. DCS, other state agencies, and private providers are reimbursed for social services provided to eligible recipients.

Solution-Focused Questions
Solution-focused questions are used with clients to get to the underlying needs of the family. These questions help family members define the who, what, why, where, when, and how of the problem and the solution. It helps to identify the nature of the problem and the solutions, as well as who else is interested in this problem or has information that might be helpful in solving the problem.

Special Immigration Juvenile Status (SIJS)

Special Needs Children
Special needs children are children in out-of-home care who meet certain criteria related to greater challenges in securing adoptive families for them. This most frequently refers to children who are at least 2 years of age; part of a sibling group; children of color; or those with special physical, emotional, or developmental needs. There is no federal definition of special needs and guidelines for classifying a child as special needs vary by State.

Specification Protest (Policy GA-20)
A specification protest is a written request of a potential bidder that the documented requirements within a bid, which are to be satisfied by material, design, product, or service under the bid, are believed to be ambiguous or biased toward a particular product, service, or potential respondent.

Specified Relative (Policies 15.01 & 15.02)
Specified relatives include the following:

1. Mother (biological, adoptive, or step);
2. Father (biological, adoptive, or step);
3. Grandmother (including great, great-great, great-great-great);
4. Grandfather (including great, great-great, great-great-great);
5. Sister (including step and in-law);
6. Brother (including step and in-law);
7. Aunt (including great, great-great, and in-law);
8. Uncle (including great, great-great, and in-law);
9. Niece (including great and great-great);
10. Nephew (including great and great-great);
11. First cousin; and
12. First cousin once removed (e.g., great aunt or uncle’s child or the focus child’s cousin’s child).

Note: If parental rights of either the biological or adoptive parent have been terminated, this person cannot be considered the child’s specified relative as a parent. Non-related legal guardians do not meet the definition of a specified relative.

Stakeholders (Policy GA-22)
Stakeholders are employees, resource families, older youth, provider partners, and others who interact with DCS.

Standard of Evidence (Policy 6.02)
Standard of evidence includes:

1. Preponderance of the Evidence: Having the greater weight of the evidence; the superiority in weight of the evidence is more convincing (even if minimally) than the evidence presented by the other party (i.e., more than 50% of the evidence) the CHINS standard is “preponderance of the evidence.”
2. Clear and Convincing Evidence: A standard of proof requiring the existence of a fact “to be highly probable.” This is the standard of proof used in Termination of Parental Rights cases.

Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)

Standard Work Schedule (Policy HR-2-11)
The standard work schedule requires DCS employees to work 7.5 hours each weekday, to total 75 hours in a bi-weekly pay period, unless otherwise authorized by the State Personnel Director and State Budget Agency.

Standby Guardian (Policy 4.33)
A Standby Guardian is a person designated in writing by the parent or guardian of a minor to assume legal custody of a child when that parent or guardian is no longer able to care for the child as a result of a triggering event (e.g., incapacity or death).

State Adoption Subsidy (SAS)

State Budget Agency (SBA)

State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)
SCHIP (Title XXI of the Social Security Act) is jointly financed by the Federal and State governments and administered by the States. This national program is designed for families who earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid, yet cannot afford to buy private health insurance. Within broad Federal guidelines, each State determines the design of its program, eligibility groups, benefit packages, payment levels for coverage, and administrative and operating procedures.

State Personnel Department (SPD)

State Property (Policies HR-3-5, HR-3-10, GA-1, & GA-4)
State property includes materials, supplies, equipment, funds, and facilities that are owned by the State of Indiana.

Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS)
SACWIS is a comprehensive automated case management tool that supports social workers’ foster care and adoption assistance case management practice.

Stat Order (On an Emergency Basis) for Psychotropic Medication (Policy 17.13)
Any instance when a youth is given a psychotropic medication on an emergency basis, ordered for one-time administration, as per the facility’s contractual requirements.

Status Offense
A status offense is an act of delinquency that is not crimes for adults. The status offenses under the Juvenile Code include:

1. Running away;
2. Truancy;
3. Habitual disobedience;
4. Curfew violations; and
5. Underage drinking.

Strengths-Based
Strengths-based is a perspective that emphasizes an individual or family’s capabilities, support system, and motivation to meet challenges.

Subgrantee (Policy HR-3-6)
A subgrantee is a legal entity that collects monies from grants through a secondary grant source.

Subject Matter Expert (SME) (Policy EA-5)
An SME is a staff person identified as being knowledgeable of a specific DCS program and/or procedure.

Subject of a Background Check (Policies 13.05 & 13.06)
For the purposes of this policy, the subject of a background check is defined as an individual who would stay, work, or volunteer in a non-emergency unlicensed placement.

Subpoena
A subpoena is a document requiring a person to appear at a certain court on a certain day to give testimony in a specified case.

Substantial Relationship (Policy 9.05)
Substantial relationship means the proposed placement has a familial or mentoring role with the child, has spent more than cursory time with the child, and has established more than a minimal bond with the child.

Substantiated (Policies 2.04, 4.03, 4.22, & 4.45)
Per IC 31-9-2-123, “substantiated”, when used in reference to a child abuse or neglect report made under IC 31-33, means a determination regarding the status of the report whenever facts obtained during an assessment of the report provide a preponderance of evidence that child abuse and neglect has occurred.

Successful Adulthood Learning Plan (Learning Plan) (Policy 11.29)
The Learning Plan is an individualized plan based on the Life Skills Assessment results and strongly driven by the youth's input. Unlike the Transition Plan for Successful Adulthood, the youth and the contracted OYS Provider develop the learning plan. The Learning Plan must include specific tasks that would aid the youth in meeting their independent living goals.

Sudden Unexplained Infant Death (SUID) (Policy 4.31)
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), sudden unexpected infant deaths are defined as infant deaths that occur suddenly and unexpectedly, and whose manner and cause of death are not immediately obvious prior to investigation.

Suicide (Policy 17.13)
Any action initiated by a person resulting in self-inflicted death.

Suicide and Overdose Fatality Review (SOFR)

Summary Recording
A summary recording is a digest of factual information relevant and material to the agency’s service delivery and the client’s response to the same.

Summons (Policy 6.01)
A summons is a document notifying a person of the filing of a court case against the person. In CHINS cases, a summons is served to the parent, guardian, or custodian of the child alleged to be a CHINS if that parent, guardian, or custodian is named in the petition.

Supplemental Employment (Policy HR-3-5)
Supplemental employment is outside employment where a DCS employee receivins compensation for services rendered from an employer other than the DCS.

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) (Policy 15.12)
SSI is a federally funded, needs-based disability program for adults and children that provides monthly cash benefits and Medicaid eligibility.

Supply Chain Registry (SCR)

Surrogate Parent Program
The surrogate parent program is a program in which a person is assigned to monitor the educational needs and rights of special needs children whose parents are unknown or unavailable. The administrator of the special education program that an eligible child attends makes the assignment. An FCM cannot serve as a surrogate. Special training is required before persons who qualify to be surrogates can accept an assignment.

Systems Team (Policy GA-19)
Systems Team is a term used for procurement purposes to collectively refer to all teams in the DCS Information Technology (IT) division.

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T

Teaming, Engaging, Assessing, Planning, and Intervening (TEAPI)
TEAPI is a social work practice methodology designed to:

1. Protect children from abuse and neglect;
2. Support families in identifying and using their inherent strengths and the resources in their community to resolve the conditions that led to abuse and neglect;
3. Effect permanent change that enhances the safety, permanency, and well-being of children and families;
4. Maintain and develop essential connections with family when children are unable to remain in their homes; and
5. Ensure that all children have the opportunity to achieve swift permanency through family preservation, family reunification, adoption or independent living.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
TANF is a program that provides assistance and work opportunities to needy families by granting States the Federal funds and wide flexibility to develop and implement their own welfare programs. The focus of the program is to help move recipients into work and to turn welfare into a program of temporary assistance.

Temporary Caregiver (Policy 4.18)
A temporary caregiver is someone providing short-term care for a child who is the alleged victim in a DCS assessment. Temporary care for the child is arranged by the custodial parent and should provide a safe, nurturing, and stable environment for the child while the parent remedies the concern for child safety.

Terminal Agency (Policy GA-23)
For this policy, the terminal agency is the Indiana State Police (ISP).

Termination of Parental Rights (TPR) (Policy 2.12)
TPR is any action resulting in the termination of the parent-child relationship.

Testimony
Testimony is verified evidence given by a competent witness under oath or affirmation as distinguished from evidence derived from writing other sources.

Therapeutic Foster Care (TFC)
TFC is care provided by foster parents who have received special training to care for a wide variety of children and adolescents, usually those with significant emotional or behavioral problems. Therapeutic foster parents typically receive additional supports and services.

Title IV-B of the Social Security Act
Title IV-B is a section under the federal Social Security Act that provides grants to states for the purpose of enabling the federal government, through the US Department of Health and Human Services, to cooperate with state agencies in establishing, extending, and strengthening child welfare services.

Title IV-E of the Social Security Act
Title IV-E is a section under the federal Social Security Act legislation which concerns the:

1. Foster care maintenance assistance (Title IV-E-FC) program;
2. Adoption Assistance Program (Title IVE-AAP);
3. Guardianship assistance; and
4. Prevention services.

Transition Individualized Education Program (IEP) (Policies 7.06 & 8.21)
The Transition IEP is a transition plan that begins at the start of ninth (9th) grade or 14 years of age, whichever comes first (or earlier if determined appropriate). The Transition IEP identifies annual goals and services for a student and helps the student prepare for the transition from school to adult life.

Transition Plan for Successful Adulthood (Policy 11.29)
A Transition Plan for Successful Adulthood is a plan that details what services and supports youth and young adults need to transition into adulthood successfully. It is a comprehensive and personalized plan federally required to be completed once a youth turns 14 in foster care and is updated every six (6) months.

Transition Services (Policy 8.41)
Transition services are designed to help the child, the child’s family, or other permanent caregiver adjust to the child’s permanent placement.

Transitional Services Plan (TSP) (Policy 11.29)
The TSP defines what services are needed for a youth/young adult to transition into adulthood successfully. The transitional service plan is federally required to be completed 90 days before the youth's 18th birthday.

Translation (Policy GA-3)
Translation is language services involving written translation.

Trial Home Visit (THV)

Trauma
Trauma is an internal or external injury or wound brought about by an outside force.

Trauma Informed Care
Trauma Informed Care takes into account the whole person (physical, emotional, and mental), and recognizes the symptoms of trauma and acknowledges the role the trauma has played in the person’s life.

Tuition Transfers
Tuition transfers are payments to be made by the school corporation having legal settlement when a child is placed out of the school corporation.

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U

Underlying Needs (Policies 4.26, 4.50, 5.02, 5.03, 5.07, 5.10, 5.13, 5.15, 5.25, 7.05, & 8.43)
Underlying needs are the root source of an individual and/or family’s challenges, which determines the appropriate use of services or interventions.

Unearned Income (Policy 15.07)
Unearned income is any income received by or available to the assistance group that is not gained through the provision of labor or service. Examples of countable unearned income include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Child support;
2. Disability benefits;
3. Retirement, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (RSDI) benefits;
4. Retirement benefits;
5. Pensions;
6. Veteran’s benefits;
7. Unemployment insurance/benefits;
8. A portion of the income from excluded assistance group members;
9. Worker’s compensation;
10. Investment income, such as dividends or interest from stocks, bonds, or savings accounts;
11. Alimony; and
12. Cash contributions or gifts (e.g., cash from relatives, churches, friends, gambling winnings, or charitable organizations).

Unemployment/Under Employment (Policy 15.06)
For Title IV-E eligibility, unemployment/under employment is defined as assistance group with income that is less than the standards of need. See policy 15.05 Determining a Child’s Assistance Group for Title IV-E Initial Eligibility for additional information about the determination of the size of the assistance group and policy 15.07 Income Requirements for Title IV-E Initial Eligibility for additional information on the standards of need.

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)

United States Code (USC)
USC is federal statutory law.

Universal Precautions (Policies 5.05 & 8.31)
Universal Precautions are infection control guidelines designed to protect the body from exposure to disease spread by blood and certain body fluids. Universal precautions include the use of hand washing and appropriate personal protective equipment such as gloves, gowns, and masks whenever touching or exposure to client’s body fluids (e.g., blood; body fluids, secretions, and excretions; non-intact skin; and mucous membranes) is anticipated.

Unsubstantiated (Policy 4.22)
According to IC 31-9-2-132, “unsubstantiated, for purposes of IC 31-33 and IC 31-39-8-4, means a determination regarding the status of a report made under IC 31-33 whenever facts obtained during an assessment of the report provide credible evidence that child abuse or neglect has not occurred”.

Unwritten Language (Policy GA-3)
Unwritten language is a language that is not recorded in writing.

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V

Variance (Policy 17.05)
A variance is official permission granted by DCS to meet the intent of a specific rule in a way other than specified by the rule.

Victim
A victim is someone who is harmed by or made to suffer from an act, circumstance, agency or condition. A person who is deceived, swindled, taken advantage of, or duped.

Victim of Child Abuse or Neglect (Policy 4.30)
For purposes of IC 31-33, a “victim of child abuse or neglect” includes an individual who:

1. Is under the age of 18; or
2. Is 18 years of age and less than 21 years of age and resides, or has previously resided, at a residential facility licensed by DCS and is harmed or threatened with harm due to a battery offense or sexual activity committed by a member of staff at the residential facility.

Visa (Policy 2.22)
An endorsement on a passport indicating that the holder is allowed to enter, leave, or stay for a specified period of time in a country.

Visitation
Visitation is a fundamental right of children in placement to visit with their parents, siblings, grandparents and/or significant others. The purpose of visitation is to maintain family attachments, reduce the sense of abandonment that children may experience during placement, and prepare for permanency.

Vital Record
Vital records are official records usually maintained by States that document births, deaths, marriages, divorces, naturalization, and adoption.

Vital Written Documents (GA-3)
Vital written documents are documents or portions of documents of high importance and potential consequence to the LEP person with respect to a DCS program, activity, or service.

Voluntary Placement Agreement
A Voluntary Placement Agreement is an agreement between the parent, guardian, custodian and DCS concerning a child with an emotional, behavioral, or mental disorder or a developmental or physical disability who is voluntarily placed out of the home for special treatment or care, solely because the parent, guardian, or custodian is unable to provide the treatment or care.

Voluntary Services Host Home (Policy 11.09)
A voluntary services host home is a living arrangement where a youth rents a room in a family or single adult’s home (related or unrelated), shares basic facilities and utilities, and agrees to basic rules, but the youth is not under the supervision of the adults in the home.

Volunteer Activity (Policy HR-3-10)
Volunteer activity is an unpaid volunteer opportunity outside of the employee’s work schedule.

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W

Waiting to Engage (WTE) (Policy HR-2-7)
Waiting to engage is the time during an assigned on-call shift when a worker is not actively working or called back.

Waiver (Policy 17.05)
A waiver is official permission granted by DCS not to meet a specific regulation.

Women, Infants and Children (WIC)

Work Environment (Policy HR-3-8)
Work environment includes all locations where DCS job-related duties are performed. This includes, but is not limited to, DCS offices, courts, and in-home visits.

Work Schedule (Policy HR-2-11)
A work schedule is a schedule of days and times in each pay period constituting the assigned hours of work for each employee.

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X

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Y

Youth Connections Program (YCP)

Youth Development
Youth development is a process that prepares young people to meet the challenges of adolescence and adulthood through a coordinated, progressive series of activities and experiences that help them to become socially, morally, emotionally, physically, and cognitively competent. Positive youth development addresses the broader developmental needs of youth. In contrast to deficit-based models that focus solely on youth problems.

Youth Involvement/Engagement
Youth involvement/engagement is a component of family-centered practice that centers on recognizing youth as experts in determining what is best for themselves and engaging youth in the development of policy, program, and service design and in decision making, implementation, and evaluation.

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Z

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