Sec. 10.21.02.01. Definitions

A. "Adolescents" means persons 13 to 18 years old.

B. "Board" means the executive authority and policy-making group which operates a psychiatric day treatment center for mentally ill persons.

C. "Children" means persons younger than 13 years old.

D. "Consumer" means a person who has received or is receiving services in any program, public or private, providing mental health services or is the relative of a person receiving or having received these services.

E. "Full treatment day" for the purposes of these regulations means 6-1/2 hours. The minimum unit of service or half treatment day is 4 consecutive hours.

F. "Health authority" means the Maryland Department of Health or a designated local health officer.

G. "Psychiatric day treatment center" means the premises on which psychiatric day treatment is provided.

H. "Psychiatric day treatment services" means intensive, nonresidential psychiatric treatment for any part of a 24-hour day for a minimum of 4 consecutive hours per day. Patients admitted to these services are those for whom at the time of admission, it is reasonable to anticipate that maximum day treatment benefits would be achieved within 30 full treatment days. If at any point in the course of treatment it is believed that patients would benefit from additional intensive treatment, beyond the 30-day period, continued day treatment may be provided, but the record shall document justification for the continued intensive treatment. Day treatment services provide flexible scheduling to meet the needs of the individual patient so that the 30 treatment days may nor may not be consecutive. The services given may be part of a psychiatric hospital program, or a psychiatric unit of a general hospital, or a free-standing community-based mental health program which has an arrangement for appropriate support services with a licensed general hospital or a licensed psychiatric hospital. Psychiatric day treatment services provide active psychiatric treatment. Psychiatric day treatment services do not provide residential care, nor are they identical with socializing and activity programs, recreational community programs, or day care facilities which do not provide active psychiatric treatment.