As used in this article 65, unless the context
otherwise requires:
(1) Acute treatment unit means a facility or a distinct part of a facility for
short-term psychiatric care, which may include treatment for substance use
disorders, that provides a total, twenty-four-hour, therapeutically planned and
professionally staffed environment for persons who do not require inpatient
hospitalization but need more intense and individual services than are available on
an outpatient basis, such as crisis management and stabilization services.
(2) Behavioral health administration or BHA means the behavioral health
administration established in section 27-60-203.
(3) Behavioral health crisis means a significant disruption in a person's
mental or emotional stability or functioning resulting in an urgent need for
immediate assessment and treatment to prevent a serious deterioration in the
person's mental or physical health.
(4) Behavioral health crisis response team means a mobile team that
responds to people in the community who are in a behavioral health crisis and
includes at least one licensed or bachelor-degree-level behavioral health worker. A
behavioral health crisis response team includes, but is not limited to, a co-responder model, mobile crisis response unit, or a community response team.
(5) Behavioral health entity has the same meaning as set forth in section
27-50-101.
(6) Certified peace officer means any certified peace officer as described
in section 16-2.5-102.
(7) Commissioner means the commissioner of the behavioral health
administration established in section 27-60-203.
(8) Court means any district court of the state of Colorado and the probate
court in the city and county of Denver.
(9) Court-ordered evaluation means an evaluation ordered by a court
pursuant to section 27-65-106.
(10) Danger to the person's self or others means:
(a) A person poses a substantial risk of physical harm to the person's self as
manifested by evidence of recent threats of or attempts at suicide or serious bodily
harm to the person's self; or
(b) A person poses a substantial risk of physical harm to another person or
persons, as manifested by evidence of recent homicidal or other violent behavior by
the person in question, or by evidence that others are placed in reasonable fear of
violent behavior and serious physical harm to them, as evidenced by a recent overt
act, attempt, or threat to do serious physical harm by the person in question.
(11) Department means the department of human services.
(12) Emergency medical services facility means a general hospital with an
emergency department or a freestanding emergency department, as defined in
section 25-1.5-114 (5). An emergency medical services facility is not required to be,
but may elect to become, a facility designated or approved by the commissioner.
(13) Emergency medical services provider has the same meaning as set
forth in section 25-3.5-103 (8).
(14) Repealed.
(15) Facility means a public hospital or a licensed private hospital,
behavioral health entity, institution, or residential child care facility that provides
treatment for persons with mental health disorders.
(16) Family member means a spouse, partner in a civil union, as defined in
section 14-15-103 (5), parent, adult child, or adult sibling of a person with a mental
health disorder.
(17) Gravely disabled means a condition in which a person, as a result of a
mental health disorder, is incapable of making informed decisions about or
providing for the person's essential needs without significant supervision and
assistance from other people. As a result of being incapable of making these
informed decisions, a person who is gravely disabled is at risk of substantial bodily
harm, dangerous worsening of any concomitant serious physical illness, significant
psychiatric deterioration, or mismanagement of the person's essential needs that
could result in substantial bodily harm. A person of any age may be gravely
disabled, but the term does not include a person whose decision-making
capabilities are limited solely by the person's developmental disability.
(18) Hospitalization means twenty-four-hour out-of-home placement for
treatment in a facility for a person with a mental health disorder.
(19) Independent professional person means a professional person who
evaluates a minor's condition as an independent decision-maker and whose
recommendations are based on the standard of what is in the best interest of the
minor. The professional person may be associated with the admitting facility if the
professional person is free to independently evaluate the minor's condition and
need for treatment and has the authority to refuse admission to any minor who does
not satisfy the statutory standards specified in section 27-65-104 (2).
(20) Intervening professional means a person who is one of the following:
(a) A professional person;
(b) A physician assistant licensed pursuant to section 12-240-113;
(c) An advanced practice registered nurse, as defined in section 12-255-104
(1);
(d) A registered professional nurse, as defined in section 12-255-104 (11),
who has specific mental health training as identified by the BHA;
(e) A clinical social worker licensed pursuant to part 4 of article 245 of title
12;
(f) A marriage and family therapist licensed pursuant to part 5 of article 245
of title 12;
(g) A professional counselor licensed pursuant to part 6 of article 245 of
title 12; or
(h) An addiction counselor licensed pursuant to part 8 of article 245 of title
12.
(21) Lay person means a person identified by another person who is
detained on an involuntary emergency mental health hold pursuant to section 27-65-106, certified for short-term treatment pursuant to section 27-65-109, or
certified for long-term care and treatment pursuant to section 27-65-110 who is
authorized to participate in activities related to the person's involuntary emergency
mental health hold, short-term treatment, or long-term treatment, including court
appearances, discharge planning, and grievances. The person may rescind the lay
person's authorization at any time.
(22) Mental health disorder includes one or more substantial disorders of
the cognitive, volitional, or emotional processes that grossly impairs judgment or
capacity to recognize reality or to control behavior. An intellectual or
developmental disability is insufficient to either justify or exclude a finding of a
mental health disorder pursuant to the provisions of this article 65.
(23) Minor means a person under eighteen years of age; except that the
term does not include a person who is fifteen years of age or older who is living
separately and apart from the person's parent or legal guardian and is managing
the person's own financial affairs, regardless of the person's source of income, or
who is married and living separately and apart from the person's parent or legal
guardian.
(24) Patient representative means a person designated by a mental health
facility to process patient complaints or grievances or to represent patients who are
minors pursuant to section 27-65-104 (4).
(25) Petitioner means any person who files any petition in any proceeding
in the interest of any person who allegedly has a mental health disorder or is
allegedly gravely disabled.
(26) Physician means a person licensed to practice medicine in this state.
(27) Professional person means a person licensed to practice medicine in
this state, a psychologist licensed to practice in this state, or a person licensed and
in good standing to practice medicine in another state or a psychologist licensed to
practice and in good standing in another state who is providing medical or clinical
services at a treatment facility in this state that is operated by the armed forces of
the United States, the United States public health service, or the United States
department of veterans affairs.
(28) Residential child care facility has the same meaning as set forth in
section 26-6-903 (29). A residential child care facility may be eligible for
designation by the commissioner pursuant to this article 65.
(29) Respondent means either a person alleged in a petition filed pursuant
to this article 65 to have a mental health disorder or be gravely disabled or a person
certified pursuant to the provisions of this article 65.
(30) Screening means a review of all petitions, to consist of an interview
with the petitioner and, whenever possible, the respondent; an assessment of the
problem; an explanation of the petition to the respondent; and a determination of
whether the respondent needs and, if so, will accept on a voluntary basis, a
comprehensive evaluation, treatment, referral, and other appropriate services,
either on an inpatient or an outpatient basis.
(31) Secure transportation provider means a provider licensed pursuant to
section 25-3.5-310 to provide public or private secure transportation services.