Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1240-07-10-.03 - DEFINITIONS

For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions are applicable:

(1) Abuse or Neglect.

(a) "Abuse or neglect" means the infliction of physical pain, injury, or mental anguish, or the deprivation of services by a caretaker that are necessary to maintain the health and welfare of an adult or a situation in which an adult is unable to provide or obtain the services that are necessary to maintain that person's health or welfare.

(b) "Abuse or neglect" means transporting an adult and knowingly abandoning, leaving or failing to provide additional planned transportation for the adult if the adult's caretaker knows, or should know, that:

1. The adult is unable to protect or care for himself or herself without assistance or supervision; and

2. The caretaker's conduct causes any of the results listed in subdivision (1)(a) or creates a substantial risk of such results.

(2) Activities of Daily Living (ADL). Those activities which indicate an individual's independence in eating, dressing, personal hygiene, bathing, toileting, and ambulating.

(3) Administrative Hearing. A hearing that is held under the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, Title 4, Chapter 5, Part 3 of the Tennessee Code Annotated, rather than a court of law that is conducted by an administrative law judge from the Secretary of State's Office or by an administrative hearing officer of the Department of Human Services. The purpose of the hearing is to allow an adult day services center the opportunity to challenge legal enforcement actions taken by the Department.

(4) Adult. An individual who is eighteen (18) years of age or older.

(5) Adult Day Care Center or Adult Day Services Center. A facility which provides adult day care services.

(6) Adult Day Care Services or Adult Day Services. Services provided to five (5) or more participants, for more than three (3) hours per day but less than twenty-four (24) hours per day, by a provider of such services who is not related to such participant, pursuant to an individualized plan of care designed to maintain or restore each participant's optimal capacity for self-care through medical or social services.

(7) Appeal. A legal process that allows an adult day services center to challenge a licensing action against the center or a person to challenge an exclusion of a person from access to the center.

(8) Applicant. The owner or owner's authorized representative who is required, pursuant to the provisions of these rules, to sign the application for a license.

(9) Assisted-Care Living Facility. A building, establishment, complex or distinct part thereof as defined by T.C.A. § 68-11-201 and licensed by the board for licensing health care facilities pursuant to T.C.A. § 68-11-209 or as further defined by Chapter 1200-08-25.

(10) Commissioner. The Commissioner of the Department of Human Services.

(11) Denial of License. The decision of the Department not to issue or renew a license.

(12) Department (DHS). The Tennessee Department of Human Services and its authorized representatives.

(13) Direct care staff. Those individuals, employees, substitutes, or volunteers, whose primary job responsibilities are the direct care of the participants.

(14) Director. The on-site manager for the center who has overall responsibility for the daily oversight of all staff and the provision of adult day services.

(15) Exploitation. The improper use by a caretaker of funds that have been paid by a governmental agency to an adult or to the caretaker for the use or care of the adult.

(16) Facility or Place. The physical location or locations that singly, or together, provide adult day services that constitute the operation of an adult day services center that must be licensed to operate legally.

(17) Falsification of Information. Includes, but is not limited to, falsified or forged records or documents relating to the care of participants by the adult day services center, including concealment of services or participants from monitoring by the Department.

(18) Fee. A processing fee for license applications assessed by the Department and submitted by the center with the application.

(19) Field Trip. Any off-site activity which occurs away from the general premises of the adult day services center's licensed facility and beyond reasonable walking distance.

(20) Governing Board. The group of persons having final authority and responsibility for conduct of the adult day services center which are operated by a municipality, county or non-profit corporation.

(21) High School Diploma. As used in the context of caregivers' qualifications, refers to a document recognizing graduation from an accredited institution, public or private, based on the issuing state's required number of academic credits and includes passing a GED test or equivalent as defined by Tennessee law or its equivalent.

As used in this chapter, a certificate or statement of attendance or similar document or correspondence or video courses do not qualify as being the equivalent of a high school diploma.

(22) Home for the Aged. A home as defined in T.C.A. § 68-11-201 and as licensed by the board for licensing health care facilities pursuant to T.C.A. § 68-11-209 and Chapter 1200-08-11.

(23) Hospital. Any institution, place, building or agency as defined in T.C.A. § 68-11-201 and as licensed by the board for licensing health care facilities pursuant to T.C.A. § 68-11-209 and Chapter 1200-08-01.

(24) Hospice. Any institution, place or agency as defined in T.C.A. § 68-11-201 and as licensed by the board for licensing health care facilities pursuant to T.C.A. § 68-11-209 and Chapter 1200-08-08.

(25) Individualized Plan. The plan of care for the participant which is also referred to as a service, support, or care plan.

(26) License. A permit issued by the Department to an adult day services center authorizing the center to provide adult day services for a specified period of time in accordance with the provisions of the license, the law, and the regulations of the Department of Human Services.

(27) Licensed Capacity. The designated maximum number of participants permitted in the care and supervision of a licensed adult day services center as determined by the Department based upon available indoor space and staff:participant ratios. Licensed capacity shall be designated on the license.

(28) Licensee. The owner, as defined by these rules, to whom a license to operate an adult day services center is issued.

(29) Nursing home. An institution, place, building or agency as defined in T.C.A. § 68-11-201 and as licensed by the board for licensing health care facilities pursuant to T.C.A. § 68-11-209 and Chapter 1200-08-06.

(30) Participant. The adult receiving services in the adult day services center.

(31) Operator/Owner. The individual(s), corporation, partnership, cooperative, or other private or public entity of any kind, or any combination thereof, who or which, either as entity, as an individual or through their authorized representatives, assumes, or is legally required to assume, ultimate legal and administrative responsibility for the management and control of an adult day services center. The operator/owner shall be the licensee for the adult day services center.

(32) Premises. A house or a building, along with its grounds, including outdoor areas, parking lots and driveways.

(33) Probation. A legal enforcement action, imposed for thirty (30) to sixty (60) days, taken after a center has been cited for a violation and failed to correct the violation after notice of an opportunity to correct.

(34) Responsible Party. The guardian, conservator, other legal representative, or other person who makes the placement of the participant with the adult day services center, to whom center staff will look for decisions regarding the participant's care and to whom information regarding the participant's care and status is reported by the center's staff.

(35) Restricted License. A license which, either at the time of issuance, or during the license's existence, is reduced in its operational authority by the Department so that the adult day services center's ability to provide certain adult day services related services is limited because the Department has determined that one or more areas of the center's operations are not in compliance with adult day services laws or regulations or the center's operations are, or have posed, a risk to the health, safety or welfare of participants in the center's care or the center's operations pose the potential of such risk.

(36) Revocation. The permanent removal of an existing license.

(37) Senior Citizens Center. A not-for-profit or municipal agency, which serves persons fifty-five (55) years of age and older. The range of activities varies from center to center, however, most senior center agencies provide recreational and social activities, hot lunch meals, a protected environment where elderly persons can congregate, community services, employment opportunities, opportunities for volunteer services, and information, referral and consultation services. If properly licensed as an adult day services center, the senior citizens center may operate an adult day services program.

(38) Significant Contact. Means, in the context of these rules, that owners or operators are likely to have unsupervised access to participants.

(39) Staff. Full and part-time caregivers or employees of the center.

(40) Substitute. Paid or unpaid persons who are replacements for regular staff.

(41) Suspension/Summary Suspension. The temporary removal of a license for violation of licensing laws or regulations immediately affecting the health, safety, or welfare of participants in an adult day services center.

(42) Temporary License. A permit issued by the Department to a new adult day services center allowing and authorizing the temporary licensee to begin adult day services operations while the center demonstrates full compliance with all other applicable regulations.

(a) The temporary license is valid, unless suspended, for six (6) months or until the application for an annual license is finally determined, and is issued upon application or reapplication by the applicant only if the staff and facility do not present any apparent hazards to the participants that may be in care and only if the facility has received fire safety, environmental, and any necessary food establishment approval and if the applicant and the personnel who will care for the participants are capable in all substantial respects to care for the participants and that the applicant has the ability and intent to comply with the licensing laws and regulations.

(b) If, at the end of the six (6) months period, evidence is provided by the applicant that such adult day services center is suitable and properly managed and that the center is in compliance with the rules governing the applicable adult day services center, the Department will issue an annual license to the adult day services center unless the Department determines that a restricted license should be issued.

(c) The Department may extend the period of the temporary license for an additional six (6) months if the Department determines that the applicant has made substantial progress in meeting the requirements of the law and regulations for an initial annual licensee.

(43) Volunteer. A person who provides services for an adult day services agency without payment and who is used to supplement the regular staff.

Notes

Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1240-07-10-.03

Original rule filed December 14, 1999; effective 2/27/2000. Repeal and new rule filed February 23, 2018; effective 5/24/2018. Amendments filed October 25, 2022; effective 1/23/2023.

Authority: T.C.A. §§ 4-5-201, et seq.; 71-2-401, et seq.; 71-3-506(b); and 71-3-507.