Terms Used In Florida Statutes > Chapter 292 - Veterans' Affairs; Service Officers

• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• Authorized agent of the department: means a person designated by the department to conduct any audit, inspection, monitoring, evaluation, or other duty imposed upon the department pursuant to this chapter. See Florida Statutes 397.311
• Clinical treatment: means a professionally directed, deliberate, and planned regimen of services and interventions that are designed to reduce or eliminate the misuse of drugs and alcohol and promote a healthy, drug-free lifestyle. See Florida Statutes 397.311
• component: means a discrete operational entity within a service provider which is subject to licensing as defined by rule. See Florida Statutes 397.311
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Court: means the court of legal jurisdiction in the context in which the term is used in this chapter. See Florida Statutes 397.311
• Department: means the Department of Children and Families. See Florida Statutes 397.311
• Director: means the chief administrative or executive officer of a service provider or recovery residence. See Florida Statutes 397.311
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• Hospital: means a hospital or hospital-based component licensed under chapter 395. See Florida Statutes 397.311
• Individual: means a person who receives alcohol or other drug abuse treatment services delivered by a service provider. See Florida Statutes 397.311
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Licensed service provider: means a public agency under this chapter, a private for-profit or not-for-profit agency under this chapter, a physician or any other private practitioner licensed under this chapter, or a hospital that offers substance abuse services through one or more licensed service components. See Florida Statutes 397.311
• Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
• Peer specialist: means a person who has been in recovery from a substance use disorder or mental illness for at least 2 years who uses his or her personal experience to provide services in behavioral health settings to support others in their recovery, or a person who has at least 2 years of experience as a family member or caregiver of an individual who has a substance use disorder or mental illness. See Florida Statutes 397.311
• person: includes individuals, children, firms, associations, joint adventures, partnerships, estates, trusts, business trusts, syndicates, fiduciaries, corporations, and all other groups or combinations. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• personnel: includes all owners, directors, chief financial officers, staff, and volunteers, including foster parents, of a service provider. See Florida Statutes 397.311
• Physician: means a person licensed under chapter 458 to practice medicine or licensed under chapter 459 to practice osteopathic medicine, and may include, if the context so indicates, an intern or resident enrolled in an intern or resident training program affiliated with an approved medical school, hospital, or other facility through which training programs are normally conducted. See Florida Statutes 397.311
• Physician assistant: means a person licensed under chapter 458 or chapter 459 to practice medicine under the supervision of a physician or psychiatrist whose specialty includes substance abuse treatment. See Florida Statutes 397.311
• Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
• Prevention: means a process involving strategies that are aimed at the individual, family, community, or substance and that preclude, forestall, or impede the development of substance use problems and promote responsible lifestyles. See Florida Statutes 397.311
• provider: means a public agency, a private for-profit or not-for-profit agency, a person who is a private practitioner, or a hospital licensed under this chapter or exempt from licensure under this chapter. See Florida Statutes 397.311
• Quality improvement: means a systematic and organized approach to monitor and continuously improve the quality of services in order to maintain, restore, or improve outcomes in individuals and populations throughout a system of care. See Florida Statutes 397.311
• Recovery: means a process of personal change through which individuals achieve abstinence from alcohol or drug use and improve health, wellness, and quality of life. See Florida Statutes 397.311
• Screening: means the gathering of initial information to be used in determining a person's need for assessment, services, or referral. See Florida Statutes 397.311
• Stabilization: means :
  (a) Alleviation of a crisis condition; or
  (b) Prevention of further deterioration,

  and connotes short-term emergency treatment. See Florida Statutes 397.311

• Substance abuse: means the misuse or abuse of, or dependence on alcohol, illicit drugs, or prescription medications. See Florida Statutes 397.311
• Substate entity: means a departmental office designated to serve a geographical area specified by the department. See Florida Statutes 397.311
• System of care: means a coordinated continuum of community-based services and supports that are organized to meet the challenges and needs of individuals who are at risk of developing substance abuse problems or individuals who have substance abuse problems. See Florida Statutes 397.311
• veteran: means a person who served in the active military, naval, or air service and who was discharged or released under honorable conditions only or who later received an upgraded discharge under honorable conditions, notwithstanding any action by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs on individuals discharged or released with other than honorable discharges. See Florida Statutes 1.01