Connecticut General Statutes
Chapter 319 - Department of Children and Families
Section 17a-1. (Formerly Sec. 17-410). - Definitions.

As used in sections 17a-1 to 17a-26, inclusive, 17a-28 to 17a-49, inclusive, 17a-127 and 46b-120, unless otherwise provided in said sections:

(1) “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Children and Families;
(2) “Council” means the State Advisory Council on Children and Families;
(3) “Advisory committee” means the Children's Behavioral Health Advisory Committee;
(4) “Department” means the Department of Children and Families;
(5) “Child” means a child, as defined in section 46b-120;
(6) “Youth” means any person sixteen or seventeen years of age who has not been legally emancipated;
(7) “Delinquent child” means a child convicted of a delinquent act, as defined in section 46b-120;
(8) “Child or youth with behavioral health needs” means a child or youth who is suffering from one or more mental disorders as defined in the most recent edition of the American Psychiatric Association's “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders”;
(9) “Individual service plan” means a written plan to access specialized, coordinated and integrated care for a child or youth with complex behavioral health service needs that is designed to meet the needs of the child or youth and his or her family and may include, when appropriate (A) an assessment of the individual needs of the child or youth, (B) an identification of service needs, (C) an identification of services that are currently being provided, (D) an identification of opportunities for full participation by parents or emancipated minors, (E) a reintegration plan when an out-of-home placement is made or recommended, (F) an identification of criteria for evaluating the effectiveness and appropriateness of such plan, and (G) coordination of the individual service plan with any educational services provided to the child or youth. The plan shall be subject to review at least every six months or upon reasonable request by the parent based on a changed circumstance, and be approved, in writing, by the parents, guardian of a child or youth and emancipated minors;
(10) “Family” means a child or youth with behavioral health needs and (A) one or more biological or adoptive parents, except for a parent whose parental rights have been terminated, (B) one or more persons to whom legal custody or guardianship has been given, or (C) one or more adults who have a primary responsibility for providing continuous care to such child or youth;
(11) “Parent” means a biological or adoptive parent, except a parent whose parental rights have been terminated;
(12) “Guardian” means a person who has a judicially created relationship between a child or youth and such person that is intended to be permanent and self-sustaining as evidenced by the transfer to such person of the following parental rights with respect to the child or youth: (A) The obligation of care and control; (B) the authority to make major decisions affecting the child's or youth's welfare, including, but not limited to, consent determinations regarding marriage, enlistment in the armed forces and major medical, psychiatric or surgical treatment; (C) the obligation of protection of the child or youth; (D) the obligation to provide access to education; and (E) custody of the child or youth;
(13) “Serious emotional disturbance” and “seriously emotionally disturbed” means, with regard to a child or youth, that the child or youth (A) has a range of diagnosable mental, behavioral or emotional disorders of sufficient duration to meet diagnostic criteria specified in the most recent edition of the American Psychiatric Association's “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders”, and (B) exhibits behaviors that substantially interfere with or limit the child's or youth's ability to function in the family, school or community and are not a temporary response to a stressful situation;
(14) “Child or youth with complex behavioral health service needs” means a child or youth with behavioral health needs who needs specialized, coordinated behavioral health services;
(15) “Transition services” means services in the areas of education, employment, housing and community living designed to assist a youth with a serious emotional disturbance who is transitioning into adulthood; and
(16) “Community collaborative” means a local consortium of public and private health care providers, parents and guardians of children with behavioral health needs and service and education agencies that have organized to develop coordinated comprehensive community resources for children or youths with complex behavioral health service needs and their families in accordance with principles and goals of Connecticut Community KidCare.
(1969, P.A. 664, S. 3; 1971, P.A. 818, S. 1; 1972, P.A. 127, S. 32; P.A. 75-524, S. 1, 30; P.A. 93-91, S. 1, 2; P.A. 97-272, S. 1; P.A. 98-241, S. 1, 18; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 00-2, S. 6, 53; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-2, S. 42, 69; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-9, S. 129, 131; P.A. 02-109, S. 3; P.A. 06-196, S. 100, 101; P.A. 11-157, S. 3; P.A. 12-82, S. 1; P.A. 18-31, S. 15.)
History: 1971 act redefined “child” and “youth”; 1972 act again redefined “youth” to reflect changed age of majority; P.A. 75-524 specified “council” to be state advisory council; Sec. 17-410 transferred to Sec. 17a-1 in 1991; P.A. 93-91 substituted commissioner and department of children and families for commissioner and department of children and youth services and council on children and families for council on children and youth services, effective July 1, 1993 (Revisor's note: Reference in opening sentence to section “17a-51” was deleted editorially by the Revisors to reflect the repeal of that section by P.A. 93-216, S. 8); P.A. 97-272 replaced alphabetic Subdiv. indicators with numeric indicators and added definitions of “child or youth with mental illness”, “child or youth with emotional disturbance”, “individual system of care plan”, “family”, “child or youth at placement risk” and “parent”; P.A. 98-241 added Subdiv. (13) defining “guardian”, effective July 1, 1998; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 00-2 added Subdiv. (14) defining “serious emotional disturbance” and “seriously emotionally disturbed”, and amended Subdivs. (9), (10) and (11) to add “seriously emotionally disturbed” in reference to a child or youth, effective July 1, 2000; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-2 made substantial revisions to section, adding definitions of “advisory committee”, “child or youth with complex behavioral health service needs”, “transition services” and “community collaborative”, deleting definitions of “child or youth with emotional disturbance” and “child or youth at placement risk”, redefining “youth”, “individual service plan” and “family”, inserting in definition of “guardian” references to youth, deleting in definition of “parent” word “biological”, substituting in definition of “child or youth with mental illness” “behavioral health needs” for “mental illness”, defining “individual service plan” in lieu of “individual system of care plan”, making technical changes and renumbering Subdivs. accordingly, effective July 1, 2001; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-9 revised effective date of June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-2 but without affecting this section; P.A. 02-109 specified that the definitions apply “unless otherwise provided in said sections” and made technical changes in Subdivs. (9), (10) and (12), effective June 7, 2002; P.A. 06-196 made a technical change in Subdivs. (9)(E) and (16), effective June 7, 2006; P.A. 11-157 redefined “child” and “youth” in Subdivs. (5) and (6) to reference corresponding definitions in Sec. 46b-120, and redefined “delinquent child” in Subdiv. (7) to mean a child convicted of a delinquent act, as defined in Sec. 46b-120; P.A. 12-82 redefined “advisory committee” in Subdiv. (3); P.A. 18-31 redefined “youth” in Subdiv. (6), effective July 1, 2018.
Annotation to former section 17-410:
Cited. 158 C. 439.
Annotations to present section:
Cited. 237 C. 272; 238 C. 146; Id., 183. If parental rights terminated, parent can still file habeas petition for child. 255 C. 208.
Cited. 25 CA 586; judgment reversed, see 223 C. 492.

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