Uniform Definitions of Services
1. Adoption Services
2. Case Management Services
3. Congregate Meals
4. Counseling Services
5. Day Care Services—Adults
6. Day Care Services—Children
7. Education and Training Services
8. Employment Services
9. Family Planning Services
10. Foster Care Services for Adults
11. Foster Care Services for Children
12. Health Related and Home Health Services
13. Home Based Services
14. Home Delivered Meals
15. Housing Services
16. Independent and Transitional Living Services
17. Information and Referral Services
18. Legal Services
19. Pregnancy and Parenting Services for Young Parents
20. Prevention and Intervention Services
21. Protective Services for Adults
22. Protective Services for Children
23. Recreational Services
24. Residential Treatment Services
25. Special Services for Persons with Developmental or Physical Disabilities, or Persons with Visual or Auditory Impairments
26. Special Services for Youth Involved in or At Risk of Involvement in Criminal Activity
27. Substance Abuse Services
28. Transportation Services
29. Other Services
Uniform Definitions of Services
1. Adoption Services
Adoption services are those services or activities provided to assist in bringing about the adoption of a child. Component services and activities may include, but are not limited to, counseling the biological parent(s), recruitment of adoptive homes, and pre- and post-placement training and/or counseling.
2. Case Management Services
Case management services are services or activities for the arrangement, coordination, and monitoring of services to meet the needs of individuals and families. Component services and activities may include individual service plan development; counseling; monitoring, developing, securing, and coordinating services; monitoring and evaluating client progress; and assuring that clients' rights are protected.
3. Congregate Meals
Congregate meals are those services or activities designed to prepare and serve one or more meals a day to individuals in central dining areas in order to prevent institutionalization, malnutrition, and feelings of isolation. Component services or activities may include the cost of personnel, equipment, and food; assessment of nutritional and dietary needs; nutritional education and counseling; socialization; and other services such as transportation and information and referral.
4. Counseling Services
Counseling services are those services or activities that apply therapeutic processes to personal, family, situational, or occupational problems in order to bring about a positive resolution of the problem or improved individual or family functioning or circumstances. Problem areas may include family and marital relationships, parent-child problems, or drug abuse.
5. Day Care Services—Adults
Day care services for adults are those services or activities provided to adults who require care and supervision in a protective setting for a portion of a 24-hour day. Component services or activities may include opportunity for social interaction, companionship and self-education; health support or assistance in obtaining health services; counseling; recreation and general leisure time activities; meals; personal care services; plan development; and transportation.
6. Day Care Services—Children
Day care services for children (including infants, pre-schoolers, and school age children) are services or activities provided in a setting that meets applicable standards of state and local law, in a center or in a home, for a portion of a 24-hour day. Component services or activities may include a comprehensive and coordinated set of appropriate developmental activities for children, recreation, meals and snacks, transportation, health support services, social service counseling for parents, plan development, and licensing and monitoring of child care homes and facilities.
7. Education and Training Services
Education and training services are those services provided to improve knowledge or daily living skills and to enhance cultural opportunities. Services may include instruction or training in, but are not limited to, such issues as consumer education, health education, community protection and safety education, literacy education, English as a second language, and General Educational Development (G.E.D.). Component services or activities may include screening, assessment and testing; individual or group instruction; tutoring; provision of books, supplies and instructional material; counseling; transportation; and referral to community resources.
8. Employment Services
Employment services are those services or activities provided to assist individuals in securing employment or acquiring or learning skills that promote opportunities for employment. Component services or activities may include employment screening, assessment, or testing; structured job skills and job seeking skills; specialized therapy (occupational, speech, physical); special training and tutoring, including literacy training and pre-vocational training; provision of books, supplies and instructional material; counseling, transportation; and referral to community resources.
9. Family Planning Services
Family planning services are those educational, comprehensive medical or social services or activities which enable individuals, including minors, to determine freely the number and spacing of their children and to select the means by which this may be achieved. These services and activities include a broad range of acceptable and effective methods and services to limit or enhance fertility, including contraceptive methods (including natural family planning and abstinence), and the management of infertility (including referral to adoption). Specific component services and activities may include preconceptional counseling, education, and general reproductive health care, including diagnosis and treatment of infections which threaten reproductive capability. Family planning services do not include pregnancy care (including obstetric or prenatal care).
10. Foster Care Services for Adults
Foster care services for adults are those services or activities that assess the need and arrange for the substitute care and alternate living situation of adults in a setting suitable to the individual's needs. Individuals may need such services because of social, physical or mental disabilities, or as a consequence of abuse or neglect. Care may be provided in a community-based setting, or such services may arrange for institutionalization when necessary. Component services or activities include assessment of the individual's needs; case planning and case management to assure that the individual receives proper care in the placement; counseling to help with personal problems and adjusting to new situations; assistance in obtaining other necessary supportive services; determining, through periodic reviews, the continued appropriateness of and need for placement; and recruitment and licensing of foster care homes and facilities.
11. Foster Care Services for Children
Foster care services for children are those services or activities associated with the provision of an alternative family life experience for abused, neglected or dependent children, between birth and the age of majority, on the basis of a court commitment or a voluntary placement agreement signed by the parent or guardian. Services may be provided to children in foster family homes, foster homes of relatives, group homes, emergency shelters, residential facilities, child care institutions, pre-adoptive homes or supervised independent living situation. Component services or activities may include assessment of the child's needs; case planning and case management to assure that the child receives proper care in the placement; medical care as an integral but subordinate part of the service; counseling of the child, the child's parents, and the foster parents; referral and assistance in obtaining other necessary supportive services; periodical reviews to determine the continued appropriateness and need for placement; and recruitment and licensing of foster homes and child care institutions.
12. Health Related and Home Health Services
Health related and home health services are those in-home or out-of-home services or activities designed to assist individuals and families to attain and maintain a favorable condition of health. Component services and activities may include providing an analysis or assessment of an individual's health problems and the development of a treatment plan; assisting individuals to identify and understand their health needs; assisting individuals to locate, provide or secure, and utilize appropriate medical treatment, preventive medical care, and health maintenance services, including in-home health services and emergency medical services; and providing follow-up services as needed.
13. Home Based Services
Home based services are those in-home services or activities provided to individuals or families to assist with household or personal care activities that improve or maintain adequate family well-being. These services may be provided for reasons of illness, incapacity, frailty, absence of a caretaker relative, or to prevent abuse and neglect of a child or adult. Major service components include homemaker services, chore services, home maintenance services, and household management services. Component services or activities may include protective supervision of adults and/or children to help prevent abuse, temporary non-medical personal care, house-cleaning, essential shopping, simple household repairs, yard maintenance, teaching of homemaking skills, training in self-help and self-care skills, assistance with meal planning and preparation, sanitation, budgeting, and general household management.
14. Home Delivered Meals
Home-delivered meals are those services or activities designed to prepare and deliver one or more meals a day to an individual's residence in order to prevent institutionalization, malnutrition, and feelings of isolation. Component services or activities may include the cost of personnel, equipment, and food; assessment of nutritional and dietary needs; nutritional education and counseling; socialization services; and information and referral.
15. Housing Services
Housing services are those services or activities designed to assist individuals or families in locating, obtaining, or retaining suitable housing. Component services or activities may include tenant counseling; helping individuals and families to identify and correct substandard housing conditions on behalf of individuals and families who are unable to protect their own interests; and assisting individuals and families to understand leases, secure utilities, make moving arrangements and minor renovations.
16. Independent and Transitional Living Services
Independent and transitional living services are those services and activities designed to help older youth in foster care or homeless youth make the transition to independent living, or to help adults make the transition from an institution, or from homelessness, to independent living. Component services or activities may include educational and employment assistance, training in daily living skills, and housing assistance. Specific component services and activities may include supervised practice living and post-foster care services.
17. Information and Referral Services
Information and referral services are those services or activities designed to provide information about services provided by public and private service providers and a brief assessment of client needs (but not diagnosis and evaluation) to facilitate appropriate referral to these community resources.
18. Legal Services
Legal services are those services or activities provided by a lawyer or other person(s) under the supervision of a lawyer to assist individuals in seeking or obtaining legal help in civil matters such as housing, divorce, child support, guardianship, paternity, and legal separation. Component services or activities may include receiving and preparing cases for trial, provision of legal advice, representation at hearings, and counseling.
19. Pregnancy and Parenting Services for Young Parents
Pregnancy and parenting services are those services or activities for married or unmarried adolescent parents and their families designed to assist young parents in coping with the social, emotional, and economic problems related to pregnancy and in planning for the future. Component services or activities may include securing necessary health care and living arrangements; obtaining legal services; and providing counseling, child care education, and training in and development of parenting skills.
20. Prevention and Intervention Services
Prevention and intervention services are those services or activities designed to provide early identification and/or timely intervention to support families and prevent or ameliorate the consequences of, abuse, neglect, or family violence, or to assist in making arrangement for alternate placements or living arrangements where necessary. Such services may also be provided to prevent the removal of a child or adult from the home. Component services and activities may include investigation; assessment and/or evaluation of the extent of the problem; counseling, including mental health counseling or therapy as needed; developmental and parenting skills training; respite care; and other services including supervision, case management, and transportation.
21. Protective Services for Adults
Protective services for adults are those services or activities designed to prevent or remedy abuse, neglect or exploitation of adults who are unable to protect their own interests. Examples of situations that may require protective services are injury due to maltreatment or family violence; lack of adequate food, clothing or shelter; lack of essential medical treatment or rehabilitation services; and lack of necessary financial or other resources. Component services or activities may include investigation; immediate intervention; emergency medical services; emergency shelter; developing case plans; initiation of legal action (if needed); counseling for the individual and the family; assessment/evaluation of family circumstances; arranging alternative or improved living arrangements; preparing for foster placement, if needed; and case management and referral to service providers.
22. Protective Services for Children
Protective services for children are those services or activities designed to prevent or remedy abuse, neglect, or exploitation of children who may be harmed through physical or mental injury, sexual abuse or exploitation, and negligent treatment or maltreatment, including failure to be provided with adequate food, clothing, shelter, or medical care. Component services or activities may include immediate investigation and intervention; emergency medical services; emergency shelter; developing case plans; initiation of legal action (if needed); counseling for the child and the family; assessment/evaluation of family circumstances; arranging alternative living arrangement; preparing for foster placement, if needed; and case management and referral to service providers.
23. Recreational Services
Recreational services are those services or activities designed to provide, or assist individuals to take advantage of, individual or group activities directed towards promoting physical, cultural, and/or social development.
24. Residential Treatment Services
Residential treatment services provide short-term residential care and comprehensive treatment and services for children or adults whose problems are so severe or are such that they cannot be cared for at home or in foster care and need the specialized services provided by specialized facilities. Component services and activities may include diagnosis and psychological evaluation; alcohol and drug detoxification services; individual, family, and group therapy and counseling; remedial education and GED preparation; vocational or pre-vocational training; training in activities of daily living; supervised recreational and social activities; case management; transportation; and referral to and utilization of other services.
25. Special Services for Persons With Developmental or Physical Disabilities, or Persons With Visual or Auditory Impairments
Special services for persons with developmental or physical disabilities, or persons with visual or auditory impairments, are services or activities to maximize the potential of persons with disabilities, help alleviate the effects of physical, mental or emotional disabilities, and to enable these persons to live in the least restrictive environment possible. Component services or activities may include personal and family counseling; respite care; family support; recreation; transportation; aid to assist with independent functioning in the community; and training in mobility, communication skills, the use of special aids and appliances, and self-sufficiency skills. Residential and medical services may be included only as an integral, but subordinate, part of the services.
26. Special Services for Youth Involved in or at Risk of Involvement With Criminal Activity
Special services for youth involved in or at risk of involvement with criminal activity are those services or activities for youth who are, or who may become, involved with the juvenile justice system and their families. Components services or activities are designed to enhance family functioning and/or modify the youth's behavior with the goal of developing socially appropriate behavior and may include counseling, intervention therapy, and residential and medical services if included as an integral but subordinate part of the service.
27. Substance Abuse Services
Substance abuse services are those services or activities that are primarily designed to deter, reduce, or eliminate substance abuse or chemical dependence. Except for initial detoxification services, medical and residential services may be included but only as an integral but subordinate part of the service. Component substance abuse services or activities may include a comprehensive range of personal and family counseling methods, methadone treatment for opiate abusers, or detoxification treatment for alcohol abusers. Services may be provided in alternative living arrangements such as institutional settings and community-based halfway houses.
28. Transportation Services
Transportation services are those services or activities that provide or arrange for the travel, including travel costs, of individuals in order to access services, or obtain medical care or employment. Component services or activities may include special travel arrangements such as special modes of transportation and personnel to accompany or assist individuals or families to utilize transportation.
29. Other Services
Other Services are services that do not fall within the definitions of the preceding 28 services. The definition used by the State for each of these services should appear elsewhere in the annual report.