Terms Used In New York Laws > Public Health > Article 25 - Maternal and Child Health

• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
• 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.
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• 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
• approved: as used in this title shall mean a provider who is approved by the department in accordance with department regulations and has entered into an agreement with the department for the provision of evaluations, service coordination or early intervention services. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2550
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
• Baseline: Projection of the receipts, outlays, and other budget amounts that would ensue in the future without any change in existing policy. Baseline projections are used to gauge the extent to which proposed legislation, if enacted into law, would alter current spending and revenue levels.
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• Chambers: A judge's office.
• Children at risk: means children who may experience a disability because of medical, biological or environmental factors which may produce developmental delay, as determined by the commissioner through regulation. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2541
• Children with physical disabilities: means any persons under twenty-one years of age who are disabled by reason of a defect or disability, whether congenital or acquired by accident, injury, or disease, or who are suffering from long-term disease, including, but without limiting the generality of the foregoing, chronic granulomatous, cystic fibrosis, epidermolysis bullosa, muscular dystrophy, nephrosis, rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease, blood dyscrasies, cancer, lymphatic diseases, including, but not limited to: insufficiency of lymphatic circulatory function (to include all forms of lymphedema, both primary and secondary); lipedema; complex vascular diseases of the lymphatic vasculature, including lymphangiomatosis, lymphangioleio-myomatosis, lymphangiectasias, lymphangiomas, cystic hygromas, Gorham's disease, lymphangiosarcoma, and complex vascular/lymphatic malformations and syndromes, brain injured, and chronic asthma, or from any disease or condition likely to result in a disability in the absence of treatment, provided, however, no child shall be deprived of a service under the provisions of this chapter solely because of the degree of developmental disability. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2581
• 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.
• Coordinated standards and procedures: means standards and procedures developed by state early intervention service agencies pursuant to section twenty-five hundred fifty-one of this title. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2541
• 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.
• Council: means the early intervention coordinating council established under section twenty-five hundred fifty-three of this title. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2541
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Developmental delay: means that a child has not attained developmental milestones expected for the child's chronological age, as measured by qualified professionals using appropriate diagnostic instruments and/or procedures and informed clinical opinion, in one or more of the following areas of development: cognitive, physical, communication, social or emotional, or adaptive. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2541
• Disability: means :
  (a) a developmental delay; or
  (b) a diagnosed physical or mental condition that has a high probability of resulting in developmental delay, such as Down syndrome or other chromosomal abnormalities, sensory impairments, inborn errors of metabolism or fetal alcohol syndrome. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2541
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• Early intervention official: means an appropriate municipal official designated by the chief executive officer of a municipality and an appropriate designee of such official. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2541
• Early intervention services: means developmental services that:
  (a) are provided under public supervision;
  (b) are selected in collaboration with the parents;
  (c) are designed to meet a child's developmental needs in any one or more of the following areas:

  (i) physical development, including vision and hearing,

  (ii) cognitive development,

  (iii) communication development,

  (iv) social or emotional development, or

  (v) adaptive development;
  (d) meet the coordinated standards and procedures;
  (e) are provided by qualified personnel;
  (f) are provided in conformity with an IFSP;
  (g) are, to the maximum extent appropriate, provided in natural environments, including the home and community settings where children without disabilities would participate;
  (h) include, as appropriate:

  (i) family training, counseling, home visits and parent support groups,

  (ii) special instruction,

  (iii) speech pathology and audiology,

  (iv) occupational therapy,

  (v) physical therapy,

  (vi) psychological services,

  (vii) case management services, hereafter referred to as service coordination services,

  (viii) medical services for diagnostic or evaluation purposes, subject to reasonable prior approval requirements for exceptionally expensive services, as prescribed by the commissioner,

  (ix) early identification, screening, and assessment services,

  (x) health services necessary to enable the infant or toddler to benefit from the other early intervention services,

  (xi) nursing services,

  (xii) nutrition services,

  (xiii) social work services,

  (xiv) vision services,

  (xv) assistive technology devices and assistive technology services,

  (xvi) transportation and related costs that are necessary to enable a child and the child's family to receive early intervention services, and

  (xvii) other appropriate services approved by the commissioner. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2541
• Eligible child: means an infant or toddler from birth through age two who has a disability; provided, however, that any toddler with a disability who has been determined to be eligible for program services under section forty-four hundred ten of the education law and:
  (i) who turns three years of age on or before the thirty-first day of August shall, if requested by the parent, be eligible to receive early intervention services contained in an IFSP until the first day of September of that calendar year; or
  (ii) who turns three years of age on or after the first day of September shall, if requested by the parent and if already receiving services pursuant to this title, be eligible to continue receiving such services until the second day of January of the following calendar year. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2541
• Eligible institution: means any child or adult day care institution defined in federal law, rule or regulations eligible to receive cash assistance under the federal child care and adult food program. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2586
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Escheat: Reversion of real or personal property to the state when 1) a person dies without leaving a will and has no heirs, or 2) when the property (such as a bank account) has been inactive for a certain period of time. ^{Source: OCC}
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• Evaluation: means a multidisciplinary professional, objective assessment conducted by appropriately qualified personnel and conducted pursuant to section twenty-five hundred forty-four of this title to determine a child's eligibility under this title. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2541
• Evaluator: means a team of two or more professionals approved pursuant to section twenty-five hundred fifty-one of this title to conduct screenings and evaluations. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2541
• 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.
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• Finance charge: The total cost of credit a customer must pay on a consumer loan, including interest. The Truth in Lending Act requires disclosure of the finance charge. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Grace period: The number of days you'll have to pay your bill for purchases in full without triggering a finance charge. ^{Source: Federal Reserve}
• 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.
• IFSP: means the individualized family service plan adopted in accordance with section twenty-five hundred forty-five of this title. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2541
• Indemnification: In general, a collateral contract or assurance under which one person agrees to secure another person against either anticipated financial losses or potential adverse legal consequences. ^{Source: FDIC}
• 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.
• Lead agency: means the department of health, the public agency responsible for the administration of the early intervention system in collaboration with the state early intervention service agencies. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2541
• 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}
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Medical service: means such diagnostic, therapeutic, and rehabilitative care by medical and paramedical personnel, including hospital and related care, and drugs, prostheses, appliances, equipment and devices as necessary. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2581
• Minority leader: See Floor Leaders
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
• Mortgagor: The person who pledges property to a creditor as collateral for a loan and who receives the money.
• Municipality: means a county outside the city of New York or the city of New York in the case of a county contained within the city of New York. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2541
• National Bank: A bank that is subject to the supervision of the Comptroller of the Currency. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is a bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department. A national bank can be recognized because it must have "national" or "national association" in its name. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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.
• Parent: means parent or person in parental relation to the child. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2541
• 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.
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. ^{Source: OCC}
• Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
• Program: means the federal child care and adult food program. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2586
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• Qualified personnel: means :
  (a) persons holding a state approved or recognized certificate, license or registration in one of the following fields:

  (i) special education teachers;

  (ii) speech and language pathologists and audiologists;

  (iii) occupational therapists;

  (iv) physical therapists;

  (v) social workers;

  (vi) nurses;

  (vii) dieticians or nutritionists;

  (viii) other persons designated by the commissioner who meet requirements that apply to the area in which the person is providing early intervention services, where not in conflict with existing professional licensing, certification and/or registration requirements. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2541
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Recourse: An arrangement in which a bank retains, in form or in substance, any credit risk directly or indirectly associated with an asset it has sold (in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles) that exceeds a pro rata share of the bank's claim on the asset. If a bank has no claim on an asset it has sold, then the retention of any credit risk is recourse. ^{Source: FDIC}
• 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.
• Remand: When an appellate court sends a case back to a lower court for further proceedings.
• Service coordinator: means a person who:
  (a) meets the qualifications established in federal law and regulation and demonstrates knowledge and understanding of:

  (i) infants and toddlers who may be eligible for services under this title;

  (ii) principles of family-centered services;

  (iii) part H of the federal individuals with disabilities education act and its corresponding regulations;

  (iv) the nature and scope of services available under this title; and

  (v) the requirements for authorizing and paying for such services and other pertinent information;
  (b) is responsible for:

  (i) assisting eligible children and their families in gaining access to services listed on the IFSP;

  (ii) coordinating early intervention services with other services such as medical and health services provided to the child;

  (iii) coordinating the performance of evaluations and assessments;

  (iv) participating in the development, monitoring and evaluation of the IFSP;

  (v) assisting the parent in identifying available service providers;

  (vi) coordinating service delivery;

  (vii) informing the family of advocacy services;

  (viii) where appropriate, facilitating the transition of the child to other appropriate services; and

  (ix) assisting in resolving any disputes which may arise between the family and service providers, as necessary and appropriate; and
  (c) meets such other standards as are specified pursuant to section twenty-five hundred fifty-one of this title. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2541
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• 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.
• State early intervention service agencies: means the departments of health, education and social services and the offices of mental health and alcoholism and substance abuse services and the office for people with developmental disabilities. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2541
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Year: shall mean the twelve-month period commencing July first unless otherwise specified. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2541