In this chapter:

1. I. "Administrator" means the superintendent or chief administrative officer of any facility or of any program or service for the developmentally disabled conducted under the supervision of the commissioner or any employee he so designates as his deputy.

   I-a. "Area" means a geographic region established by rules adopted by the commissioner for the purpose of providing services to developmentally disabled persons.

   I-b. "Area agency" means an entity established as a nonprofit corporation in the state of New Hampshire which is established by rules adopted by the commissioner to provide or coordinate services to developmentally disabled persons in the area in accordance with 42 C.F.R. section 441.301.

   I-c. "Area board" means the governing body or board of directors of an area agency.

   I-d. "Assistive technology" means assistive technology as defined by 29 U.S.C. section 3002(3).

   I-e. "Authorized agency" means an entity providing direct service to developmentally disabled persons, including, but not limited to, community living arrangements, employment and day services, and programs designed to enhance personal and social competence.

2. II. "Client" means any developmentally disabled person receiving services provided under this chapter.
3. III. "Commissioner" means the commissioner of health and human services.
4. IV. "Department" means the department of health and human services.

5. V. "Developmental disability" means a disability:

   1. (a) Which is attributable to an intellectual disability, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, autism, or a specific learning disability, or any other condition of an individual found to be closely related to an intellectual disability as it refers to general intellectual functioning or impairment in adaptive behavior or requires treatment similar to that required for persons with an intellectual disability; and

   2. (b) Which originates before such individual attains age 22, has continued or can be expected to continue indefinitely, and constitutes a severe disability to such individual's ability to function normally in society.

      V-a. "Direct support staff" means any person employed by an area agency or contract provider in which at least 50 percent of the person's time is providing direct care or support to a client.

      VI, VII. [Omitted.]

   3. VIII. [Repealed.]
   4. IX. "Habilitation" means the process by which program personnel assist clients to acquire and maintain those life skills which enable them to cope more effectively with the demands of their own persons and of their environment, to be economically self-sufficient and to raise the level of their physical, mental and social efficiency. Habilitation includes but is not limited to programs of formal, structured education and treatment.
   5. X. "Individual service agreement" means a written document for a client's services and supports which is specifically tailored to meet the needs of each client.

   6. XI. "Informed decision" means a choice made by a client or potential client or, where appropriate, his legal guardian that is reasonably certain to have been made subsequent to a rational consideration on his part of the advantages and disadvantages of each course of action open to him.

      XI-a. "Intellectual disability" means significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior, and manifested during the developmental period. A person with an intellectual disability may be considered mentally ill provided that no person with an intellectual disability shall be considered mentally ill solely by virtue of his or her intellectual disability.

   7. XII. "Least restrictive environment" means the program or service which least inhibits a client's freedom of movement, informed decisions and participation in the community, while achieving the purposes of habilitation and treatment.
   8. XIII. "Mental illness" means mental illness as defined in RSA 135-C:2, X.
   9. XIV. [Repealed.]

   10. XV. [Repealed.]

       XV-a. [Repealed.]

       XV-aa. "Receiving facility" means any facility designated by the commissioner pursuant to RSA 171-A:20.

       XV-b. [Repealed.]

   11. XVI. "Service delivery system" means a comprehensive array of services for the diagnosis, evaluation, habilitation and rehabilitation of developmentally disabled persons, including but not limited to, service coordination, community living arrangements, employment and day services and supports to families of individuals with developmental disabilities.
   12. XVII. "Treatment" means the prevention, amelioration and improvement of a client's disabilities and illnesses.

Source. 1975, 242:1. 1979, 322:2-5, 9, IX, 19. 1981, 492:20. 1983, 291:1, I. 1987, 206:2, 3. 1988, 107:5. 1990, 140:2, XI. 1994, 248:4; 408:3. 1995, 310:128, 172. 2001, 101:1, 2, 18, I, II. 2007, 363:4, 5. 2008, 52:14, 15, 21, eff. July 11, 2008. 2019, 287:4, 5, eff. July 1, 2019.