1. (a) “Administrator” means the person designated by the child-placing agency as responsible for the overall daily operation of the child-placing agency.
2. (b) “Adoptive parent applicant” means the individual seeking to adopt a child through a child-placing agency.
3. (c) “Adoptive parent (s) application” means the provision of documents and information by the adoptive applicant (s) needed by the child placing agency to make a decision about the applicant (s).
4. (d) “Adoptive parent” means an individual who has completed the formal, legal process to adopt a child.
5. (e) “Approval” means the formal process used by a child-placing agency to determine the acceptability of a foster home or adoptive home and the document resulting from the process.
6. (f) “Birth parent” means biological parent of the child.
7. (g) “Case plan” means a comprehensive, time-limited, goal oriented, individualized plan for the care, treatment, and education of a child in the care of an agency and is based on a current, comprehensive evaluation of the child’s needs.
8. (h) “Case record” means a unified, comprehensive collection of information concerning a child who is in the care of a child-placing agency.
9. (i) “Casework services” means services provided through interventions which help individuals or families improve their functioning in society.
10. (j) “Casework supervisor” means a child-placing agency professional responsible for the oversight of quality casework services.
11. (k) “Caseworker” means a child-placing agency staff person assigned to casework or licensing services.
12. (l) “Central registry” means the state registry of abuse and neglect reports maintained by the department pursuant to RSA 169-C:35.
13. (m) “Child” means “child” as defined in RSA 170-E:25, I, namely “any person under 21 years of age.”
14. (n) “Child in care” means a child who is placed in a foster home.
15. (o) “Child-placing agency” means “child-placing agency” as defined in RSA 170-E:25, IV.
16. (p) “Child-placing agency applicant” means the person or organization formally seeking a license to operate a child-placing agency.
17. (q) “Commissioner” means the commissioner of the New Hampshire department of health and human services or his or her designee.
18. (r) “Corrective action plan” means “corrective action plan” as defined in RSA 170-E:25, VI.
19. (s) “Criminal records” means records of criminal convictions maintained by or accessible through the NH state police.
20. (t) “Department” means the NH department of health and human services.
21. (u) “Division for Children, Youth and Families (DCYF)” means the department’s division for children, youth and families.
22. (v) “Family” means a unit of one or more adults who have a long-term commitment to caring for and rearing children or an extended network of related people.
23. (w) “Family assessment” means a home study of the foster or adoptive applicant that includes a determination and written evaluation during the application process of the suitability of the foster or adoptive parent(s) and home for child placement.
24. (x) "Foster family home" means “foster family home” as defined in RSA 170-E:25 II (a) (1).
25. (y) “Foster parent” means an individual who has a license or permit for foster family care and who provides temporary substitute parental care for a child or children under an agreement with a licensed or approved child-placing agency.
26. (z) “Foster parent applicant” means the individual seeking to provide temporary substitute parental care to a child through a child-placing agency.
27. (aa) “Household” means all individuals who reside in the foster or adoptive home during any time that a child in care is placed in the home.
28. (ab) “Legal parent” means an adult who is legally responsible for a child.
29. (ac) “Legal risk” means placement of children, who are not legally free for adoption, with prospective adoptive parents.
30. (ad) “License” means “license” as defined in RSA 170-E:25, XI.
31. (ae) “Parent” means the birth, adoptive, or foster mother or father.
32. (af) “Placement” means the out-of-home care of a child in a foster home, a relative’s home, or residential care facility as described in RSA 170-E: 25, I & II.
33. (ag) “Pre-licensing training” means the educational programs for foster parent applicants provided by the child-placing agency in accordance with He-C 6446.12 and adoptive parent applicants in accordance with He-C 6448.17.
34. (ah) “Staff” means all persons providing any services within a child-placing agency, including all employees, volunteers, student interns, and consultants.
35. (ai) “Waiver” means permission granted by the department to meet the intent of a regulation in a way other than that specified by the requirements in He-C 6448.

Source. #7866, eff 4-2-03; ss by #9895, eff 4-2-11, EXPIRED: 4-2-19 New. #12767, INTERIM, eff 5-2-19, EXPIRES: 10-29-19; ss by #12911, eff 10-24-19 (formerly He-C 6448.02)