31 Miss. Code. R. 9-1.3 - Definitions

The following terms shall have the following meaning for purposes of this Chapter, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

1. "Abuse" means causing, or allowing to be caused, upon the youth, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, emotional abuse, mental injury, nonaccidental physical injury, or other maltreatment. Discipline in a manner consistent with these standards is not considered to be abuse.

2. "Assessment" means a thorough evaluation of a youth's classification, physical health, mental health, or educational functioning as required under these standards.

3. "Auxiliary aids or services" means the accommodations necessary to afford youth with a recognized disability under federal or state law an equal opportunity to participate in, and enjoy the benefits of, the services, programs, and activities of the facility.

4. "Belly belts or chains" means any mechanical restraint that wraps around the youth's waist or abdominal area.

5. "Body cavity" means a rectal or vaginal cavity.

6. "Body cavity search" means a search of a body cavity.

7. "Chemical agents" means a chemical substance that induces pain to control, restrain, or incapacitate a person.

8. "Conflict management" means facility-approved practices for stabilizing a crisis situation.

9. "Contraband" means any object or substance that is unlawful to possess under state laws or prohibited by the policies of the facility.

10. "Corporal punishment" means the willful infliction of, or willfully causing the infliction of, physical pain on a youth for the purpose of discipline.

11. "Crisis intervention" means facility-approved practices for stabilizing a crisis situation.

12. "Crisis management" means facility-approved practices for identifying, addressing, and resolving a crisis situation.

13. "De-escalation techniques" means facility-approved strategies for defusing potentially dangerous or disruptive behavior.

14. "Exigent circumstances" means temporary and unforeseeable circumstances that require immediate action in order to address a serious threat to the security of a facility.

15. "Facility" means a juvenile detention facility.

16. "Facility administrator" means the principal official of the facility.

17. "Facility administrator's designee" means the person designated by the facility administrator to act officially on his or her behalf.

18. "Facility staff" means all employees of the facility who are under the supervision of the facility administrator.

19. "Guardian" means a person appointed by a court to make decisions regarding the support, care, education, health, or welfare of a youth.

20. "Grievance log" means an official record of grievances.

21. "Grievance procedures" mean the processes required under these standards for filing, resolving, and recording grievances about any aspect of the facility, including medical and mental health services.

22. "Group punishment" means the imposition of discipline on the whole population of youth or a group of youth for the misbehavior of only one youth or a few youths.

23. "Health authority" means the individual, governmental entity or health care contractor responsible for the facility's health care services, including arrangements for all levels of health care and the ensuring of quality and accessibility of all health services provided to detained youth.

24. "Health facility" means any licensed facility that is organized, maintained, and operated for the diagnosis, care, prevention, or treatment of medical illnesses or needs.

25. "Health-trained staff" means facility staff members trained by a qualified medical professional in limited aspects of health care or gathering of health information.

26. "Hogtying" means the practice of placing a youth on a bed, floor, or other surface and securing the youth's hands to his or her feet.

27. "Individualized behavior plan" means a written plan developed by facility staff members for addressing the behavioral or safety concerns of a particular youth.

28. "Informed consent" means that a qualified health professional has informed the youth and/or the youth's parent or guardian, in accordance with the law and in a developmentally appropriate manner, of the diagnostic and treatment options, risk assessment and prognosis, and of the right to refuse treatment, and that the youth and the youth's parent or guardian have consented in writing to the recommended treatment.

29. "Isolation" means confining a youth in a room by himself or herself for current and disruptive behavior that is dangerous to the youth or others or that creates an imminent risk of serious property damage.

30. "Juvenile detention facility" means a juvenile detention center authorized to hold youth for five or more days. The term "juvenile detention facility" does not include state-operated facilities or temporary holding facilities.

31. "Management of assaultive behavior" means facility-approved practices for controlling behavior that is dangerous to the youth or others or that creates an imminent risk of serious property damage.

32. "Mechanical restraints" means handcuffs, leg shackles, leg irons, belly belts, belly chains, or other restraint devices used to restrict a youth's free movement of limbs or appendages.

33. "Mental health authority" means the licensed entity that is charged with the responsibility for administering mental health services to youth in the facility.

34. "Monitoring log" means the official record of detailed entries by staff members whenever monitoring records are required under these standards to be made and preserved.

35. "One-on-one crisis intervention and observation" means individual counseling and continual face to face monitoring for any youth who is in isolation.

36. "Operational capacity" means the maximum number of youths that a facility may safely and effectively accommodate under its current funding levels, staffing levels, and existing programs and services.

37. "Pain compliance techniques" means pain rendering methods of a non-defensive nature to control, restrain, or incapacitate a youth.

38. "Pat-down search" means an open-hand frisking or patting down of a person's outer clothing for the purpose of discovering contraband.

39. "Physical body cavity search" means physical intrusion into a body cavity for the purpose of discovering contraband.

40. "Physical force techniques" mean facility-approved defensive methods that a staff member may use when a youth's behavior threatens imminent harm to the youth or others or serious property destruction.

41. "Physician" means any person licensed by the State of Mississippi to practice medicine in any of its branches.

42. "Primary language" means the language that the youth is most comfortable speaking or using when communicating to others.

43. "Programming" means a comprehensive multi-disciplinary set of activities for meeting the rehabilitative, educational, recreational, cultural, and religious needs of the youth in the facility.

44. "Qualified health professional" or "QHP" means a licensed or certified professional who is engaged in the delivery of health services and who meets all applicable federal or state requirements to provide their professional services.

45. "Qualified mental health professional" means an individual with at least a master's degree in mental health or related fields and who has either a professional license or a Department of Mental Health credential as a mental health therapist.

46. "Reasonable suspicion" means suspicion based on specific and articulable facts that, when taken together with rational inferences from those facts, reasonably warrant action.

47. "Restraint review committee" means the committee responsible for regularly reading and assessing all force or restraint incidents and the policies and training on the use of force or restraints.

48. "Room confinement" means a disciplinary sanction of confining a youth to a room for violating a rule.

49. "Secured grievance box" means a locked container for depositing grievance forms and envelopes.

50. "Sexual abuse" means:

a. Sexual abuse of a youth by another youth, which includes any of the following acts, if the victim does not consent, is coerced into such act by overt or implied threats of violence or is unable to consent or refuse.

i. Contact between the penis and the vulva or the penis and the anus, including penetration, however slight;

ii. Contact between the mouth and the penis, vulva, or anus;

iii. Penetration of the anal or genital opening of another person, however slight, by a hand, finger, object, or other instrument; and

b. Any other intentional touching, either directly or through the clothing, of the genitalia, anus, groin, breast, inner thigh, or the buttocks of another person, excluding incidental contact that occurs without the intent to abuse, arouse, or gratify sexual desire.

c. Sexual abuse of a youth by a staff member, contractor, or volunteer, which includes any of the following acts, with or without consent of the youth:

i. Contact between the penis and the vulva or the penis and the anus, including penetration, however slight;

ii. Contact between the mouth and the penis, vulva, or anus;

iii. Contact between the mouth and any body part where the staff member, contractor, or volunteer has the intent to abuse, arouse, or gratify sexual desire;

iv. Penetration of the anal or genital opening, however slight, by a hand, finger, object, or other instrument, that is unrelated to official duties or where the staff member, contractor, or volunteer has the intent to abuse, arouse, or gratify sexual desire;

v. Any other intentional contact, either directly or through the clothing, of or with the genitalia, anus, groin, breast, inner thigh, or the buttocks, that is unrelated to official duties or where the staff member, contractor, or volunteer has the intent to abuse, arouse, or gratify sexual desire;

vi. Any attempt, threat, or request by a staff member, contractor, or volunteer to engage in the activities described in paragraphs (i)-(v) of this section;

vii. Any display by a staff member, contractor, or volunteer of his or her uncovered genitalia, buttocks, or breast in the presence of a youth; and/or

viii. Voyeurism by a staff member, contractor, or volunteer. Voyeurism means an invasion of privacy of a youth for reasons unrelated to official duties, such as peering at a youth who is using a toilet to perform bodily functions; requiring a youth to expose his or her buttocks, genitals, or breasts; or taking images of all or part of an youth's naked body or of a youth performing bodily functions.

51. "Sexual harassment" means:

a. Repeated and unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or verbal comments, gestures, or actions of a derogatory or offensive sexual nature by one youth directed toward another; or

b. Repeated verbal comments or gestures of a sexual nature to a youth by a staff member, contractor, or volunteer, including demeaning references to gender, sexually suggestive or derogatory comments about body or clothing, or obscene language or gestures.

52. "Sexual misconduct" means conduct that constitutes either sexual abuse or sexual harassment.

53. "Status offender" means a youth adjudicated of conduct that would not be a crime if committed by an adult.

54. "Strip search" means a search wherein all or some of a youth's clothing is removed or rearranged for the purpose of allowing for the visual inspection of the youth's genitals, buttocks, anus, or female breasts.

55. "Substance abuse" means using, without medical reason, any psychoactive or mood-altering drug, including alcohol, in such a manner as to induce impairment resulting in dysfunctional social behavior.

56. "Supervisory staff" means the assigned supervisors responsible for ensuring that staff members properly implement and enforce the policies and procedures of the facility.

57. "Undocumented" means without official documentation evidencing lawful immigrant or nonimmigrant status.

58. "Unit staff" means those staff members assigned to a particular housing or living unit in the facility.

59. "Unit supervisor" means the assigned supervisor of a unit staff.

60. "Universal safety precautions" means the guidelines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control for the screening, treatment, and management of infectious or contagious diseases.

61. "Valid court order" means a court order that complies with Rule 10 of the Mississippi Uniform Rules of Youth Court Practice and the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act which, if violated, may be the basis for an order detaining a status offender at the facility.

62. "Visual body cavity search" means the visual inspection of a body cavity for the purpose of discovering contraband.

63. "Voluntary time-out" means a youth voluntarily leaving a programming activity when experiencing a state of anger, anxiety, or frustration for the purpose of regaining his or her composure.

64. "Youth court judges" means a judge, referee, or designee authorized by the Mississippi Youth Court Law.

Notes

31 Miss. Code. R. 9-1.3

Miss. Code Ann. §§ 43-21-901 to 43-21-915 (Rev. 2016).

Adopted 12/28/2019