Section 88.02. Definitions.

  In this chapter:

(1)  "Abuse" means conduct which is not accidental and which causes or could reasonably be expected to cause harm to a resident, and which may be physical abuse, mental abuse or material abuse.

(2)  "Accessible" means the absence of barriers that would prevent a person who is semiambulatory or nonambulatory or has a functional limitation caused by impairment of sight, hearing, coordination or perception from entering, leaving or functioning within an adult family home without physical help.

(3)  "Activities of daily living" means:

(a) Activities relating to the performance of self-care and engaging in leisure or recreational activities. "Self-care" includes dressing, eating, bathing, grooming, toileting, mobility, object manipulation, ambulation and rest.

(b) Activities relating to home and household management, including preparing meals, shopping and chores, personal housekeeping, using the telephone, managing one's personal finances, and health care activities including taking medicine, applying or changing dressings and using a medical device.

(c) Activities involving movement about in one's community, for purposes that include getting to and participating in vocational, recreational and social activities in the community with other members of the community.

(4)  "Adult" means an individual 18 years of age or over except that it does not mean either of the following:

(a) An individual 18 years of age or over whose placement in a home licensed under ch. DCF 56 or 57 is funded by state or federal foster care funds or youth aid funds under s. 48.645 , Stats., and who was placed in the home while under 18 years of age and became 18 years of age while a resident of the home.

(b) An individual 18 years of age or older who is a resident of a facility licensed under ch. DCF 52 .

(5)  "Adult family home" or "home" means a place where 3 or 4 adults not related to the licensee reside in which care, treatment or services above the level of room and board but not including nursing care are provided to persons residing in the home as a primary function of the place except that it does not mean a place described in s. 50.01 (1g) (a) to (d) , Stats.

(6)  "Ambulatory" means able to walk without difficulty or help.

(7)  "Building" means a structure entirely enclosed under one roof.

(8)  "Chemical restraint" means a psychopharmacologic drug that is used for discipline or convenience and not required to treat medical symptoms.

(9)  "Continuous care" means the need for supervision, intervention or services on a 24-hour basis to prevent, control and ameliorate a constant or intermittent mental or physical condition which may break out or become critical during any time of the day or night.

(10)  "Contraband" means any item the possession of which is illegal, contrary to the purpose of the resident's stay in the adult family home or poses a physical danger to other residents or to staff or both.

(11)  "County agency" means a county department of social services established under s. 46.215 or 46.22 , Stats., a county department of human services established under s. 46.23 , Stats., or a county department of community programs established under s. 51.42 , Stats.

(12)  "Department" means the Wisconsin department of health services.

(13)  "Designated representative" means a person or agency designated in writing by a resident or by the resident's guardian to aid a resident or act on the resident's behalf, but not including the licensee or a service provider or a relative of the licensee or a service provider.

(14)  "Household member" means any person living in an adult family home, except a resident.

(14m)  "Involuntary administration of psychotropic medication" means any of the following:

(a) Placing psychotropic medication in an individual's food or drink with knowledge that the individual protests receipt of the psychotropic medication.

(b) Forcibly restraining an individual to enable administration of psychotropic medication.

(c) Requiring an individual to take psychotropic medication as a condition of receiving privileges or benefits.

(15)  "Licensee" means a person or persons licensed to operate an adult family home.

(16)  "Licensing agency" means a county agency in a county that elects to license adult family homes located in the county, or the department in a county where no county agency has been designated to license adult family homes.

(17)  "Material abuse" means the misuse of a person's property or financial resources, which may include financial deception, diverting income, mismanagement of funds or taking money against a person's will.

(18)  "Mental abuse" means a single or repeated act of force, harassment, including sexual harassment, deprivation, neglect or mental pressure which reasonably could cause mental anguish or fear, which may include persistent or excessive negative comments, threats, deliberate inducement of anxiety or singling out a resident for inappropriate criticism or encouraging the resident's peers to do the same.

(19)  "Neglect" means significant danger presented to a person's physical or mental health because the person responsible for his or her care is unable or fails to provide adequate food, shelter, clothing, medical care or dental care.

(20)  "Nursing care" means nursing procedures, excluding personal care, which under ch. N 6 , standards of practice for registered nurses and licensed practical nurses, may be performed only by a registered nurse or a licensed practical nurse directly on a resident.

(21)  "Personal care" means help with eating, dressing, bathing, ambulation and other self-care activities of daily living.

(22)  "Personal housekeeping" means the performance of routine housekeeping and household tasks.

(23)  "Physical abuse" means the willful infliction of physical pain or injury or unreasonable confinement, Including but not limited to direct beating, choking, sexual touching, unreasonable physical restraint or pain without physical marks.

(24)  "Physical restraint" means any manual method or any article, device or garment interfering with the free movement of a resident or the normal functioning of a portion of the resident's body or normal access to a portion of the body, and which the individual is unable to remove easily, or confinement in a locked room.

(25)  "Place" means a building or portion of a building which is self-sufficient for living, dining and sleeping and the provision of care, treatment or services to its residents.

(26)  "Placing agency" means the agency responsible for placing a resident in an adult family home.

(27)  "Primary function" means the basic or essential care, treatment or services provided to residents of the home.

(27g)  "Protest" means make more than one discernible negative response, other than mere silence, to the offer of, recommendation for, or other proffering of voluntary receipt of psychotropic medication. "Protest" does not mean a discernible negative response to a proposed method of administration of the psychotropic medication.

(27r)  "Psychotropic medication" means a prescription drug, as defined in s. 450.01 (20) , Stats., that is used to treat or manage a psychiatric symptom or challenging behavior.

(28)  "Relative" means a spouse, parent, step-parent, child, step-child, sibling, grandchild, grandparent, aunt, uncle, niece or nephew.

(29)  "Resident" means an adult, unrelated to the licensee, who lives and sleeps in the home and receives care, treatment or services in addition to room and board.

(30)  "Respite care" means temporary placement in an adult family home for maintenance of care, treatment or services, as established by the agency or individual responsible for planning, arranging or providing services to the individual, in addition to room and board, for no more than 14 consecutive days at a time.

(31)  "Seclusion" means physical or social separation from others by action of the licensee, service provider or others in the home, but does not include separation in order to prevent the spread of a communicable disease or a cool down period in an unlocked room as long as being in the room is voluntary on the resident's part.

(32)  "Service coordinator" means a person not affiliated with a adult family home who has primary responsibility for arranging, coordinating, managing and monitoring the care and services needed by a resident, including services provided outside of the adult family home.

(33)  "Service provider" means a person or persons who provide direct care or supervision for a resident of the adult family home, either as an employee of the licensee or as a volunteer.

(34)  "Type of individuals" means individuals grouped according to one of the following disabilities, conditions or statuses:

(a) A functional impairment that commonly accompanies advanced age.

(b) Irreversible dementia such as Alzheimer's disease.

(c) A developmental disability as defined in s. 51.05 (5) , Stats.

(d) An emotional disturbance or mental illness as defined in s. 51.01 (13) (a) , Stats.

(e) Alcoholism as defined in s. 51.01 (1m) , Stats.

(f) A physical disability.

(g) A pregnant woman who needs counseling services.

(h) An individual under the legal custody of a government corrections agency or under the legal jurisdiction of a criminal court.

(i) A diagnosis of terminal illness.

(j) Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).

(35)  "Unrelated adult" means an adult who is not a relative of the licensee.

(36)  "Voluntary" means according to a resident's free choice if the resident is competent, or by choice of the resident's guardian if the resident is under guardianship.

(37)  "Volunteer" means a person who provides services for residents without compensation, except for reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses.

Cr. Register, January, 1996, No. 482 , eff. 2-1-96; corrections in (4) (a) made under s. 13.93 (2m) (b) 7., Stats., Register, August, 2000, No. 536 ; correction in (4) (a) made under s. 13.93 (2m) (b) 7., Stats., Register December 2003 No. 576 ; CR 07-042 : cr. (14m), (27g) and (27r) Register October 2007 No. 622 , eff. 11-1-07; corrections in (4) (a), (b) and (12) made under s. 13.92 (4) (b) 6. and 7., Stats., Register November 2008 No. 635 .

Note

Examples of persons who need continuous care are wanderers, persons with irreversible dementia, persons who are self abusive or who become agitated or emotionally upset and persons whose changing or unstable health condition requires monitoring. Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1