Colorado Code § 27-65-102

Definitions
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As used in this article 65, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1) "Acute treatment unit" means a facility or a distinct part of a facility for short-term
psychiatric care, which may include treatment for substance use disorders, that provides a total,
twenty-four-hour, therapeutically planned and professionally staffed environment for persons
who do not require inpatient hospitalization but need more intense and individual services than
are available on an outpatient basis, such as crisis management and stabilization services.
(2) "Behavioral health administration" or "BHA" means the behavioral health
administration established in section 27-60-203.
(3) "Behavioral health crisis" means a significant disruption in a person's mental or
emotional stability or functioning resulting in an urgent need for immediate assessment and
treatment to prevent a serious deterioration in the person's mental or physical health.
(4) "Behavioral health crisis response team" means a mobile team that responds to
people in the community who are in a behavioral health crisis and includes at least one licensed
or bachelor-degree-level behavioral health worker. A "behavioral health crisis response team"
includes, but is not limited to, a co-responder model, mobile crisis response unit, or a community
response team.
(5) "Behavioral health entity" has the same meaning as set forth in section 27-50-101.
(6) "Certified peace officer" means any certified peace officer as described in section 16-
2.5-102.
(7) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of the behavioral health administration
established in section 27-60-203.
(8) "Court" means any district court of the state of Colorado and the probate court in the
city and county of Denver.
(9) "Court-ordered evaluation" means an evaluation ordered by a court pursuant to
section 27-65-106.
(10) "Danger to the person's self or others" means:
(a) A person poses a substantial risk of physical harm to the person's self as manifested
by evidence of recent threats of or attempts at suicide or serious bodily harm to the person's self;
or
(b) A person poses a substantial risk of physical harm to another person or persons, as
manifested by evidence of recent homicidal or other violent behavior by the person in question,
or by evidence that others are placed in reasonable fear of violent behavior and serious physical
harm to them, as evidenced by a recent overt act, attempt, or threat to do serious physical harm
by the person in question.
(11) "Department" means the department of human services.
(12) "Emergency medical services facility" means a general hospital with an emergency
department or a freestanding emergency department, as defined in section 25-1.5-114 (5). An
emergency medical services facility is not required to be, but may elect to become, a facility
designated or approved by the commissioner.
(13) "Emergency medical services provider" has the same meaning as set forth in section
25-3.5-103 (8).
(14) Repealed.
(15) "Facility" means a public hospital or a licensed private hospital, behavioral health
entity, institution, or residential child care facility that provides treatment for persons with
mental health disorders.
(16) "Family member" means a spouse, partner in a civil union, as defined in section 14-
15-103 (5), parent, adult child, or adult sibling of a person with a mental health disorder.
(17) "Gravely disabled" means a condition in which a person, as a result of a mental
health disorder, is incapable of making informed decisions about or providing for the person's
essential needs without significant supervision and assistance from other people. As a result of
being incapable of making these informed decisions, a person who is gravely disabled is at risk
of substantial bodily harm, dangerous worsening of any concomitant serious physical illness,
significant psychiatric deterioration, or mismanagement of the person's essential needs that could
result in substantial bodily harm. A person of any age may be "gravely disabled", but the term
does not include a person whose decision-making capabilities are limited solely by the person's
developmental disability.
(18) "Hospitalization" means twenty-four-hour out-of-home placement for treatment in a
facility for a person with a mental health disorder.
(19) "Independent professional person" means a professional person who evaluates a
minor's condition as an independent decision-maker and whose recommendations are based on
the standard of what is in the best interest of the minor. The professional person may be
associated with the admitting facility if the professional person is free to independently evaluate
the minor's condition and need for treatment and has the authority to refuse admission to any
minor who does not satisfy the statutory standards specified in section 27-65-104 (2).
(20) "Intervening professional" means a person who is one of the following:
(a) A professional person;
(b) A physician assistant licensed pursuant to section 12-240-113;
(c) An advanced practice registered nurse, as defined in section 12-255-104 (1);
(d) A registered professional nurse, as defined in section 12-255-104 (11), who has
specific mental health training as identified by the BHA;
(e) A clinical social worker licensed pursuant to part 4 of article 245 of title 12;
(f) A marriage and family therapist licensed pursuant to part 5 of article 245 of title 12;
(g) A professional counselor licensed pursuant to part 6 of article 245 of title 12; or
(h) An addiction counselor licensed pursuant to part 8 of article 245 of title 12.
(21) "Lay person" means a person identified by another person who is detained on an
involuntary emergency mental health hold pursuant to section 27-65-106, certified for short-term
treatment pursuant to section 27-65-109, or certified for long-term care and treatment pursuant to
section 27-65-110 who is authorized to participate in activities related to the person's involuntary
emergency mental health hold, short-term treatment, or long-term treatment, including court
appearances, discharge planning, and grievances. The person may rescind the lay person's
authorization at any time.
(22) "Mental health disorder" includes one or more substantial disorders of the cognitive,
volitional, or emotional processes that grossly impairs judgment or capacity to recognize reality
or to control behavior. An intellectual or developmental disability is insufficient to either justify
or exclude a finding of a mental health disorder pursuant to the provisions of this article 65.
(23) "Minor" means a person under eighteen years of age; except that the term does not
include a person who is fifteen years of age or older who is living separately and apart from the
person's parent or legal guardian and is managing the person's own financial affairs, regardless
of the person's source of income, or who is married and living separately and apart from the
person's parent or legal guardian.
(24) "Patient representative" means a person designated by a mental health facility to
process patient complaints or grievances or to represent patients who are minors pursuant to
section 27-65-104 (4).
(25) "Petitioner" means any person who files any petition in any proceeding in the
interest of any person who allegedly has a mental health disorder or is allegedly gravely
disabled.
(26) "Physician" means a person licensed to practice medicine in this state.
(27) "Professional person" means a person licensed to practice medicine in this state, a
psychologist licensed to practice in this state, or a person licensed and in good standing to
practice medicine in another state or a psychologist licensed to practice and in good standing in
another state who is providing medical or clinical services at a treatment facility in this state that
is operated by the armed forces of the United States, the United States public health service, or
the United States department of veterans affairs.
(28) "Residential child care facility" has the same meaning as set forth in section 26-6-
903 (29). A residential child care facility may be eligible for designation by the commissioner
pursuant to this article 65.
(29) "Respondent" means either a person alleged in a petition filed pursuant to this
article 65 to have a mental health disorder or be gravely disabled or a person certified pursuant to
the provisions of this article 65.
(30) "Screening" means a review of all petitions, to consist of an interview with the
petitioner and, whenever possible, the respondent; an assessment of the problem; an explanation
of the petition to the respondent; and a determination of whether the respondent needs and, if so,
will accept on a voluntary basis, a comprehensive evaluation, treatment, referral, and other
appropriate services, either on an inpatient or an outpatient basis.
(31) "Secure transportation provider" means a provider licensed pursuant to section 25-
3.5-310 to provide public or private secure transportation services.

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