West Virginia Code > Chapter 49 > Article 1 – General Provisions and Definitions


Part I	General Provisions and Purpose	49-1-101 – 49-1-209

Terms Used In West Virginia Code > Chapter 49 > Article 1 - General Provisions and Definitions

Abandonment: means any conduct that demonstrates the settled purpose to forego the duties and parental responsibilities to the child. See West Virginia Code 49-1-201
Abused child: means :
(1) A child whose health or welfare is being harmed or threatened by:
(A) A parent, guardian, or custodian who knowingly or intentionally inflicts, attempts to inflict, or knowingly allows another person to inflict, physical injury or mental or emotional injury, upon the child or another child in the home. See West Virginia Code 49-1-201
Adult: means a person who is at least eighteen years of age. See West Virginia Code 49-1-202
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.
Amortization: Paying off a loan by regular installments.
Approval: means a finding by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources that a facility operated by the state has met the requirements of legislative rules promulgated for operation of that facility and that a certificate of approval or a certificate of operation has been issued. See West Virginia Code 49-1-203
Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
Authority: means the governmental entity created in section five, article fifteen, chapter thirty-one, of this code. See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
Business: means any activity engaged in by any person, or caused to be engaged in by any person, with the object of direct or indirect economic gain, benefit or advantage, and includes any purposeful revenue generating activity in a county of this state that imposes transportation sales and use taxes pursuant to this article. See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
Caregiver: means any person who is at least eighteen years of age and:
(A) Is related by blood, marriage or adoption to the minor, but who is not the legal custodian or guardian of the minor. See West Virginia Code 49-1-204
certificate of operation: means a statement issued by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources that a facility meets all of the necessary requirements for operation. See West Virginia Code 49-1-203
child: means an individual who meets one of the following conditions:
(A) Is under thirteen years of age. See West Virginia Code 49-1-202
child abuse or neglect: means any act or omission that creates an abused child or a neglected child as those terms are defined in this section. See West Virginia Code 49-1-201
Child care: means responsibilities assumed and services performed in relation to a child's physical, emotional, psychological, social, and personal needs and the consideration of the child's rights and entitlements, but does not include secure detention or incarceration under the jurisdiction of the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation pursuant to §. See West Virginia Code 49-1-206
Child care services: means direct care and protection of children during a portion of a 24-hour day outside of the child's own home which provides experiences to children that foster their healthy development and education. See West Virginia Code 49-1-206
Child placing agency: means a child welfare agency organized for the purpose of placing children in private family homes for foster care or for adoption. See West Virginia Code 49-1-206
Child welfare agency: means any agency or facility maintained by the state or any county or municipality thereof, or any agency or facility maintained by an individual, firm, corporation, association, or organization, public or private, to receive children for care and maintenance or for placement in residential care facilities, including, without limitation, private homes or any facility that provides care for unmarried mothers and their children. See West Virginia Code 49-1-206
Code: shall mean the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as heretofore and hereafter amended. See West Virginia Code 8-1-2
Commissioner of Highways: means the chief executive officer of the Division of Highways of the Department of Transportation provided in section one, article two-a, chapter . See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
Community based: means a facility, program, or service located near the child's home or family and involving community participation in planning, operation, and evaluation and which may include, but is not limited to, medical, educational, vocational, social, and psychological guidance, training, special education, counseling, substance abuse, and any other treatment or rehabilitation services. See West Virginia Code 49-1-206
Community-based juvenile probation sanctions: means any of a continuum of nonresidential accountability measures, programs, and sanctions in response to a technical violation of probation, as part of a system of community-based juvenile probation sanctions and incentives, that may include, but are not limited to:
(A) Electronic monitoring. See West Virginia Code 49-1-206
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.
County transportation sales tax: means the sales tax imposed by a county commission pursuant to this article. See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
County transportation use tax: means the use tax imposed by a county commission pursuant to this article. See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
Court: means the circuit court of the county with jurisdiction of the case or the judge in vacation unless otherwise specifically provided. See West Virginia Code 49-1-207
Custodian: means a person who has or shares actual physical possession or care and custody of a child, regardless of whether that person has been granted custody of the child by any contract or agreement. See West Virginia Code 49-1-204
Custom software: means software prepared for a particular customer to meet the specific needs or circumstances of the customer. See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
Developmental disability: means a severe, chronic disability of a person which:
(A) Is attributable to a mental or physical impairment or a combination of mental and physical impairments. See West Virginia Code 49-1-205
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}
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.
Evidence-based practices: means policies, procedures, programs, and practices demonstrated by research to reliably produce reductions in the likelihood of reoffending. See West Virginia Code 49-1-206
Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
Facility: means a place or residence, including personnel, structures, grounds, and equipment used for the care of a child or children on a residential or other basis for any number of hours a day in any shelter or structure maintained for that purpose. See West Virginia Code 49-1-206
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.
Family child care home: means a facility which is used to provide nonresidential child care services for compensation in a provider's residence. See West Virginia Code 49-1-206
Family resource network: means :
(A) A local community organization charged with service coordination, needs and resource assessment, planning, community mobilization, and evaluation, and which has met the following criteria:
(i) Has agreed to a single governing entity. See West Virginia Code 49-1-206
Fictive kin: means an adult of at least 21 years of age, who is not a relative of the child, as defined herein, but who has an established, substantial relationship with the child, including but not limited to, teachers, coaches, ministers, and parents, or family members of the child's friends. See West Virginia Code 49-1-206
Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
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.
Foster family home: means a private residence which is used for the care on a residential basis of no more than six children who are unrelated, by blood, marriage, or adoption, to any adult member of the household. See West Virginia Code 49-1-206
Governing body: shall mean the mayor and council together, the council, the board of directors, the commission, or other board or body of any municipality, by whatever name called, as the case may be, charged with the responsibility of enacting ordinances and determining the public policy of such municipality. See West Virginia Code 8-1-2
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.
highway association: means any entity created by the Legislature for the advancement and improvement of the state road and highway system, including, but not limited to, the New River Parkway Authority, Midland Trail Scenic Highway Association, Shawnee Parkway Authority, Corridor G Regional Development Authority, Coalfields Expressway Authority, Robert C. See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
Home-based family preservation services: means services dispensed by the Department of Health and Human Resources or by another person, association, or group who has contracted with that division to dispense services when those services are intended to stabilize and maintain the natural or surrogate family in order to prevent the placement of children in substitute care. See West Virginia Code 49-1-206
in writing: includes any representation of words, letters, or figures, whether by printing, engraving, writing, or otherwise. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
Informal family child care: means a home that is used to provide nonresidential child care services for compensation for three or fewer children, including children who are living in the household who are under six years of age. See West Virginia Code 49-1-206
Joint resolution: A legislative measure which requires the approval of both chambers.
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.
Juvenile: means any person under eighteen years of age or is a transitioning adult. See West Virginia Code 49-1-202
Kinship parent: means a person with whom the department has placed a child to provide a kinship placement. See West Virginia Code 49-1-206
Kinship placement: means the placement of the child with a relative of the child, as defined herein, or a placement of a child with a fictive kin, as defined herein. See West Virginia Code 49-1-206
Law-enforcement officer: means a law-enforcement officer of the State Police, a municipality or county sheriff'. See West Virginia Code 49-1-208
Laws of the state: includes the Constitution of the State of West Virginia and the Constitution of the United States, and treaties and laws made in pursuance thereof. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
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.
Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
Multidisciplinary team: means a group of professionals and paraprofessionals representing a variety of disciplines who interact and coordinate their efforts to identify, diagnose and treat specific cases of child abuse and neglect. See West Virginia Code 49-1-207
Neglected child: means a child:
(A) Whose physical or mental health is harmed or threatened by a present refusal, failure or inability of the child&rsquo. See West Virginia Code 49-1-201
Nonsecure facility: means any public or private residential facility not characterized by construction fixtures designed to physically restrict the movements and activities of individuals held in lawful custody in that facility and which provides its residents access to the surrounding community with supervision. See West Virginia Code 49-1-206
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.
Offense: includes every act or omission for which a fine, forfeiture, or punishment is imposed by law. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
or his or her delegate: when used in reference to the Tax Commissioner, means any officer or employee of the state Tax Division duly authorized by the Tax Commissioner directly, or indirectly by one or more redelegations of authority, to perform the functions mentioned or described in this article or rules promulgated for this article. See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
or his or her designee: when used in reference to the Commissioner of Highways, means any officer or employee of the Division of Highways duly authorized by the commissioner directly, or indirectly by one or more redelegations of authority, to perform the functions mentioned or described in this article or rules promulgated for this article. See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
Parent: means an individual defined as a parent by law or on the basis of a biological relationship, marriage to a person with a biological relationship, legal adoption or other recognized grounds. See West Virginia Code 49-1-204
Parenting skills: means a parent'. See West Virginia Code 49-1-204
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.
Person: includes any individual, firm, partnership, joint venture, joint stock company, association, public or private corporation, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, cooperative, estate, trust, business trust, receiver, executor, administrator, any other fiduciary, any representative appointed by order of any court or otherwise acting on behalf of others, or any other group or combination acting as a unit and the plural as well as the singular number. See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
Personal property: All property that is not real property.
personal property: includes goods, chattels, real and personal, money, credits, investments, and the evidences thereof. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
Placement: means any temporary or permanent placement of a child who is in the custody of the state in any foster home, kinship parent home, group home, or other facility or residence. See West Virginia Code 49-1-206
Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
Purchase: means any transfer, exchange or barter, conditional or otherwise, in any manner or by any means, for a consideration. See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
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}
Registration: means the grant of official permission to a family child care home, informal family child care home, or a relative family child care home determined to be in compliance with the legislative rules promulgated pursuant to this chapter. See West Virginia Code 49-1-203
Relative family child care: means a home that provides nonresidential child care services only to children related to the caregiver. See West Virginia Code 49-1-206
Relative of the child: means an adult of at least 21 years of age who is related to the child, by blood or marriage, within at least three degrees. See West Virginia Code 49-1-206
Reporter: Makes a record of court proceedings and prepares a transcript, and also publishes the court's opinions or decisions (in the courts of appeals).
Residential services: means child care which includes the provision of nighttime shelter and the personal discipline and supervision of a child by guardians, custodians, or other persons or entities on a continuing or temporary basis. See West Virginia Code 49-1-206
Respondent: means all parents, guardians, and custodians identified in the child abuse and neglect petition who are not petitioners or copetitioners. See West Virginia Code 49-1-201
Retailer: means and includes every person engaging in the business of selling, leasing or renting tangible personal property or custom software or furnishing a taxable service for use within the meaning of this article, or in the business of selling, at auction, tangible personal property or custom software owned by the person or others for use in the county imposing taxes pursuant to this article. See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
Road: means a public highway, road, bridge, tunnel, or overpass to be used for the transportation of persons or goods including bicycle and pedestrian facilities. See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
Road construction project: means and includes any road construction project included in a road construction project plan that is adopted by a county commission pursuant to this article and approved by the Commissioner of Highways as provided in this article. See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
Rule: means legislative rules promulgated by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources or a statement issued by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources of the standards to be applied in the various areas of child care. See West Virginia Code 49-1-203
Sale: means any transaction resulting in the purchase or lease of tangible personal property, custom software or a taxable service from a retailer. See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
Secretary: means the Secretary of the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources. See West Virginia Code 49-1-208
Secure facility: means any public or private residential facility which includes construction fixtures designed to physically restrict the movements and activities of juveniles or other individuals held in lawful custody in such facility. See West Virginia Code 49-1-206
service: means and includes, but is not limited to, customer support services, help desk services, call center services, repair services, engineering services, installation service, assembly service, delivery service by means other than common carrier or the United States Postal Service, technical assistance services, the service of investigating, handling or otherwise assisting in resolving customer issues or complaints while in the county, the service of operating a mail order business or telephone, Internet or other remote order business from facilities located within the county, the service of operating a website or internet-based business from a location within the county imposing the use tax or any other service. See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
Sexual abuse: means :
(A) Sexual intercourse, sexual intrusion, sexual contact, or conduct proscribed by §. See West Virginia Code 49-1-201
Sexual assault: means any of the offenses proscribed in §. See West Virginia Code 49-1-201
Sexual contact: means sexual contact as that term is defined in §. See West Virginia Code 49-1-201
Sexual exploitation: means an act where:
(A) A parent, custodian, or guardian, whether for financial gain or not, persuades, induces, entices or coerces a child to engage in sexually explicit conduct as that term is defined in §. See West Virginia Code 49-1-201
Sexual intercourse: means sexual intercourse as that term is defined in §. See West Virginia Code 49-1-201
Sexual intrusion: means sexual intrusion as that term is defined in §. See West Virginia Code 49-1-201
State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
State family support council: means the council established by the Department of Health and Human Resources pursuant to §. See West Virginia Code 49-1-206
Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
Supervised group setting: means a setting where youth, 16 to 21 years of age, live with staff onsite or are available 24 hours per day and seven days per week. See West Virginia Code 49-1-206
Tax Commissioner: means the State Tax Commissioner provided in article one, chapter . See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
Taxpayer: means a taxpayer, as that term is defined in section two, article fifteen-b, chapter . See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
Technical violation: means an act that violates the terms or conditions of probation or a court order that does not constitute a new delinquent offense. See West Virginia Code 49-1-206
Time-limited reunification services: means individual, group, and family counseling, inpatient, residential, or outpatient substance abuse treatment services, mental health services, assistance to address domestic violence, services designed to provide temporary child care, and therapeutic services for families, including crisis nurseries and transportation to or from those services, provided during 15 of the most recent 22 months a child or juvenile has been in foster or in a kinship placement, as determined by the earlier date of the first judicial finding that the child is subjected to abuse or neglect, or the date which is 60 days after the child or juvenile is removed from home. See West Virginia Code 49-1-206
Town: includes a city, village or town, and the word "council" any body or board, whether composed of one or more branches, which is authorized to make ordinances for the government of a city, town, or village. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
Transitioning adult: means an individual with a transfer plan to move to an adult setting who meets one of the following conditions:
(A) Is eighteen years of age but under twenty-one years of age, was in the custody of the Department of Health and Human Resources upon reaching eighteen years of age and committed an act of delinquency before reaching eighteen years of age, remains under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, and requires supervision and care to complete an education and or treatment program which was initiated prior to the eighteenth birthday. See West Virginia Code 49-1-202
Truancy diversion specialist: means a school-based probation officer or truancy social worker within a school or schools who, among other responsibilities, identifies truants and the causes of the truant behavior, and assists in developing a plan to reduce the truant behavior prior to court involvement. See West Virginia Code 49-1-206
Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
Victim advocate: work with prosecutors and assist the victims of a crime.