§ 42-72.9-3. Definitions.
For the purposes of this chapter:
(1) "Chemical restraint� means a medication used to control behavior or restrict the patient's
freedom of movement and is not a standard treatment for the child's medical or psychiatric
condition.
(2) "Covered facility� means any agency, organization, or public or private entity that
provides any of the following for children, regardless of the state agency under whose
authority its license is established: residential treatment, including in-house educational
programming; in-patient or residential psychiatric treatment for mental illness; and
group or shelter home care pursuant to a license granted by the department of children,
youth and families. The term "covered facility� does not include the public school
system or psychiatric hospitals, or the Rhode Island training school for youth. The
department of children, youth and families will promulgate policies and regulations
in accordance with § 42-72.9-9 relative to the use of seclusion and restraint at the Rhode Island training school
for youth on or before January 1, 2001.
(3) "Life-threatening physical restraint� means any physical restraint or hold on a child
that restricts the flow of air into a person's lungs, whether by chest compression
or any other means.
(4) "Mechanical restraint� means any approved mechanical restriction that immobilizes
or reduces the free movement of a child/youth's arms, legs, torso, or head in order
to hold a child/youth safely including: (i) medical devices, including, but not limited
to, supports prescribed by a healthcare provider to achieve proper body position or
balance; (ii) helmets or other protective gear used to protect a person from injuries
due to a fall; or (iii) helmets, mitts, and similar devices used to prevent self-injury
when the device is part of a documented treatment plan and is the least restrictive
means available to prevent the self-injury.
(5) "Seclusion� means the involuntary confinement of a child/youth in a room in a covered
facility, whether alone or with staff supervision, in a manner that prevents the child/youth
from leaving. This definition does not pertain to the use of "time out� as an acceptable
form of short-term behavioral management nor does it pertain to covered facilities
where the terms of seclusion are defined pursuant to particular judicial decrees.
(6) "Service provider� means any person employed or contracted by a covered facility to
provide direct care, residential treatment, education, or direct supervision of children.
(7) "Therapeutic physical restraint� means the acceptable use of a staff member's body
to immobilize or reduce the free movement of a child/youth's arms, legs, torso, or
head, in order to ensure the physical safety of a child/youth or other individual
in the facility. The term does not include: (i) briefly holding a person in order
to calm or comfort the person; (ii) restraint involving the minimum contact necessary
to safely escort the person from one area to another.
(8) "Time out� means the brief separation of a child/youth from the group not to exceed
twenty (20) minutes, designed to de-escalate the child/youth. During the "time out,�
a child/youth's freedom of movement is not restricted and the child/youth need not
be directly supervised, but must be visually monitored.