Terms Used In Florida Statutes > Chapter 394 > Part I - Florida Mental Health Act

• Access center: means a facility that has medical, mental health, and substance abuse professionals to provide emergency screening and evaluation for mental health or substance abuse disorders and may provide transportation to an appropriate facility if an individual is in need of more intensive services. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Addictions receiving facility: is a secure, acute care facility that, at a minimum, provides emergency screening, evaluation, detoxification, and stabilization services; is operated 24 hours per day, 7 days per week; and is designated by the department to serve individuals found to have substance abuse impairment who qualify for services under this part. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Administrator: means the chief administrative officer of a receiving or treatment facility or his or her designee. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Adult: means an individual who is 18 years of age or older or who has had the disability of nonage removed under chapter 743. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• 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
• Charity: An agency, institution, or organization in existence and operating for the benefit of an indefinite number of persons and conducted for educational, religious, scientific, medical, or other beneficent purposes.
• Chief judge: The judge who has primary responsibility for the administration of a court but also decides cases; chief judges are determined by seniority.
• Clinical psychologist: means a psychologist as defined in…. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Clinical record: means all parts of the record required to be maintained and includes all medical records, progress notes, charts, and admission and discharge data, and all other information recorded by facility staff which pertains to the patient's hospitalization or treatment. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Clinical social worker: means a person licensed as a clinical social worker under…. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Community facility: means a community service provider that contracts with the department to furnish substance abuse or mental health services under part IV of this chapter. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Community mental health center or clinic: means a publicly funded, not-for-profit center that contracts with the department for the provision of inpatient, outpatient, day treatment, or emergency services. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• 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.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Department: means the Department of Children and Families. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Designated receiving facility: means a facility approved by the department which may be a public or private hospital, crisis stabilization unit, or addictions receiving facility; which provides, at a minimum, emergency screening, evaluation, and short-term stabilization for mental health or substance abuse disorders; and which may have an agreement with a corresponding facility for transportation and services. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Detoxification facility: means a facility licensed to provide detoxification services under chapter 397. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• Electronic means: means a form of telecommunication which requires all parties to maintain visual as well as audio communication when being used to conduct an examination by a qualified professional. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• Express and informed consent: means consent voluntarily given in writing, by a competent person, after sufficient explanation and disclosure of the subject matter involved to enable the person to make a knowing and willful decision without any element of force, fraud, deceit, duress, or other form of constraint or coercion. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Facility: means any hospital, community facility, public or private facility, or receiving or treatment facility providing for the evaluation, diagnosis, care, treatment, training, or hospitalization of persons who appear to have or who have been diagnosed as having a mental illness or substance abuse impairment. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
• 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.
• Foreclosure: A legal process in which property that is collateral or security for a loan may be sold to help repay the loan when the loan is in default. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Guardian: means the natural guardian of a minor, or a person appointed by a court to act on behalf of a ward's person if the ward is a minor or has been adjudicated incapacitated. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• Guardian advocate: means a person appointed by a court to make decisions regarding mental health treatment on behalf of a patient who has been found incompetent to consent to treatment pursuant to this part. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Habeas corpus: A writ that is usually used to bring a prisoner before the court to determine the legality of his imprisonment. It may also be used to bring a person in custody before the court to give testimony, or to be prosecuted.
• Hospital: means a hospital licensed under chapter 395 and part II of chapter 408. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Incapacitated: means that a person has been adjudicated incapacitated pursuant to part V of chapter 744 and a guardian of the person has been appointed. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Incompetent to consent to treatment: means a state in which a person's judgment is so affected by a mental illness or a substance abuse impairment that he or she lacks the capacity to make a well-reasoned, willful, and knowing decision concerning his or her medical, mental health, or substance abuse treatment. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
• Involuntary examination: means an examination performed under…. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Involuntary services: means court-ordered outpatient services or inpatient placement for mental health treatment pursuant to…. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• 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.
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Marriage and family therapist: means a person licensed to practice marriage and family therapy under…. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Mental health counselor: means a person licensed to practice mental health counseling under…. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Mental health overlay program: means a mobile service that provides an independent examination for voluntary admission and a range of supplemental onsite services to persons with a mental illness in a residential setting such as a nursing home, an assisted living facility, or an adult family-care home or a nonresidential setting such as an adult day care center. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Mental illness: means an impairment of the mental or emotional processes that exercise conscious control of one's actions or of the ability to perceive or understand reality, which impairment substantially interferes with the person's ability to meet the ordinary demands of living. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Minor: means an individual who is 17 years of age or younger and who has not had the disability of nonage removed pursuant to…. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• minor: includes any person who has not attained the age of 18 years. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• Mobile crisis response service: means a nonresidential crisis service available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week which provides immediate intensive assessments and interventions, including screening for admission into a mental health receiving facility, an addictions receiving facility, or a detoxification facility, for the purpose of identifying appropriate treatment services. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• 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.
• oath: includes affirmations. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Patient: means any person, with or without a co-occurring substance abuse disorder, who is held or accepted for mental health treatment. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• 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
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Physical restraint: includes the physical holding of a person during a procedure to forcibly administer psychotropic medication. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Physician: means a medical practitioner licensed under chapter 458 or chapter 459 who has experience in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness or a physician employed by a facility operated by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs or the United States Department of Defense. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Physician assistant: means a person licensed under chapter 458 or chapter 459 who has experience in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
• Presiding officer: A majority-party Senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing Members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.
• Private facility: means a hospital or facility operated by a for-profit or not-for-profit corporation or association which provides mental health or substance abuse services and is not a public facility. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Psychiatric nurse: means an advanced practice registered nurse licensed under…. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Psychiatrist: means a medical practitioner licensed under chapter 458 or chapter 459 for at least 3 years, inclusive of psychiatric residency. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Public defender: Represent defendants who can't afford an attorney in criminal matters.
• Public facility: means a facility that has contracted with the department to provide mental health services to all persons, regardless of ability to pay, and is receiving state funds for such purpose. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Qualified professional: means a physician or a physician assistant licensed under chapter 458 or chapter 459; a psychiatrist licensed under chapter 458 or chapter 459; a psychologist as defined in…. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Receiving facility: means a public or private facility or hospital designated by the department to receive and hold or refer, as appropriate, involuntary patients under emergency conditions for mental health or substance abuse evaluation and to provide treatment or transportation to the appropriate service provider. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Representative: means a person selected to receive notice of proceedings during the time a patient is held in or admitted to a receiving or treatment facility. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Restraint: means :
  (a) A physical restraint, including any manual method or physical or mechanical device, material, or equipment attached or adjacent to an individual's body so that he or she cannot easily remove the restraint and which restricts freedom of movement or normal access to one's body. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Seclusion: means the physical segregation or involuntary isolation of a person in a room or area from which the person is prevented from leaving. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Secretary: means the Secretary of Children and Families. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Service provider: means a receiving facility, a facility licensed under chapter 397, a treatment facility, an entity under contract with the department to provide mental health or substance abuse services, a community mental health center or clinic, a psychologist, a clinical social worker, a marriage and family therapist, a mental health counselor, a physician, a psychiatrist, an advanced practice registered nurse, a psychiatric nurse, or a qualified professional as defined in…. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• Substance abuse impairment: means a condition involving the use of alcoholic beverages or any psychoactive or mood-altering substance in such a manner that a person has lost the power of self-control and has inflicted or is likely to inflict physical harm on himself, herself, or another. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Transfer evaluation: means the process by which a person who is being considered for placement in a state treatment facility is evaluated for appropriateness of admission to such facility. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Treatment facility: means a state-owned, state-operated, or state-supported hospital, center, or clinic designated by the department for extended treatment and hospitalization, beyond that provided for by a receiving facility, of persons who have a mental illness, including facilities of the United States Government, and any private facility designated by the department when rendering such services to a person pursuant to the provisions of this part. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Triage center: means a facility that has medical, mental health, and substance abuse professionals present or on call to provide emergency screening and evaluation for mental health or substance abuse disorders for individuals transported to the center by a law enforcement officer. See Florida Statutes 394.455
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• 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
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
• writing: includes handwriting, printing, typewriting, and all other methods and means of forming letters and characters upon paper, stone, wood, or other materials. See Florida Statutes 1.01