Text of Statute

As used in sections 5101.60 to 5101.71 of the Revised Code:

(A) "Abuse" means the infliction upon an adult by self or others of injury, unreasonable confinement, intimidation, or cruel punishment with resulting physical harm, pain, or mental anguish.

(B) "Adult" means any person sixty years of age or older within this state who is handicapped by the infirmities of aging or who has a physical or mental impairment which prevents the person from providing for the person's own care or protection, and who resides in an independent living arrangement. An "independent living arrangement" is a domicile of a person's own choosing, including, but not limited to, a private home, apartment, trailer, or rooming house. Except as otherwise provided in this division, "independent living arrangement" includes a community alternative home licensed pursuant to section 3724.03 of the Revised Code but does not include other institutions or facilities licensed by the state, or facilities in which a person resides as a result of voluntary, civil, or criminal commitment. "Independent living arrangement" does include adult care facilities licensed pursuant to Chapter 3722 . of the Revised Code.

(C) "Caretaker" means the person assuming the responsibility for the care of an adult on a voluntary basis, by contract, through receipt of payment for care, as a result of a family relationship, or by order of a court of competent jurisdiction.

(D) "Court" means the probate court in the county where an adult resides.

(E) "Emergency" means that the adult is living in conditions which present a substantial risk of immediate and irreparable physical harm or death to self or any other person.

(F) "Emergency services" means protective services furnished to an adult in an emergency.

(G) "Exploitation" means the unlawful or improper act of a caretaker using an adult or an adult's resources for monetary or personal benefit, profit, or gain.

(H) "In need of protective services" means an adult known or suspected to be suffering from abuse, neglect, or exploitation to an extent that either life is endangered or physical harm, mental anguish, or mental illness results or is likely to result.

(I) "Incapacitated person" means a person who is impaired for any reason to the extent that the person lacks sufficient understanding or capacity to make and carry out reasonable decisions concerning the person's self or resources, with or without the assistance of a caretaker. Refusal to consent to the provision of services shall not be the sole determinative that the person is incapacitated. "Reasonable decisions" are decisions made in daily living which facilitate the provision of food, shelter, clothing, and health care necessary for life support.

(J) "Mental illness" means a substantial disorder of thought, mood, perception, orientation, or memory that grossly impairs judgment, behavior, capacity to recognize reality, or ability to meet the ordinary demands of life.

(K) "Neglect" means the failure of an adult to provide for self the goods or services necessary to avoid physical harm, mental anguish, or mental illness or the failure of a caretaker to provide such goods or services.

(L) "Peace officer" means a peace officer as defined in section 2935.01 of the Revised Code.

(M) "Physical harm" means bodily pain, injury, impairment, or disease suffered by an adult.

(N) "Protective services" means services provided by the county department of job and family services or its designated agency to an adult who has been determined by evaluation to require such services for the prevention, correction, or discontinuance of an act of as well as conditions resulting from abuse, neglect, or exploitation. Protective services may include, but are not limited to, case work services, medical care, mental health services, legal services, fiscal management, home health care, homemaker services, housing-related services, guardianship services, and placement services as well as the provision of such commodities as food, clothing, and shelter.

(O) "Working day" means Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, except when such day is a holiday as defined in section 1.14 of the Revised Code.

HISTORY: 139 v H 694 (Eff 11-15-81); 141 v H 428 (Eff 12-23-86); 143 v S 2 (Eff 11-1-89); 143 v H 253 (Eff 11-15-90); 148 v H 471. Eff 7-1-2000.

The effective date is set by section 12(A) of HB 471.