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2. Mental retardation and/or other impairment so severe as to preclude work adjustment. 3. Advanced age. 4. Long-standing neurological and/or psychiatric impairment not responding to treatment, substantiated by poor employment and social histories. 5. Applicant totally uncooperative will not keep appointments, furnish information, etc. NOTE: Do not screen out a referral simply because Medicaid will pay for the medical treatment needed to correct the disability or incapacity. There may be other services to offer the individual. In many cases proper treatment or correction of the physical or mental disability, social services, and training or retraining can prepare an individual for employment. Often after sustaining a disabling injury or developing a disabling or incapacitating condition, the individual cannot return to his former employment but can be trained for a different type or a less strenuous job. Confidentiality of Medical Information Medical records are always considered confidential. Medical reports are not included as part of case material for the hearing folder unless the hearing is on the medical decision. In this case, the medical is resubmitted to the Medical Review Unit rather than with the hearing folder. See Chapter 13, Hearings. Refer also to the discussion of confidentiality of all case information. CONTINUED ABSENCE Definition A child may be considered deprived for the reason of continued absence when one or both of his legal parents is absent from the home. The parents may be divorced, separated, or the father was never married to the mother even though paternity was established for one or more of the children. Whatever the reason for the absence from the home, in order for a child to be considered deprived, the facts must establish that the absent parent has ceased, for the most part, to function as a parent; that is, as a provider of maintenance, physical care and guidance for the child. Even when a child's legal parent does not live in the home, the child may not be deprived due to continued absence. If the parent continues to have contact with the child and to assume responsibility for the child by providing support and care, then the child cannot be considered deprived for the reason of continued absence.