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Chapter 260C

Section 260C.007

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260C.007 DEFINITIONS.
    Subdivision 1. Scope. As used in this chapter, the terms defined in this section have the
same meanings given to them.
    Subd. 2. Agency. "Agency" means the responsible social services agency or a licensed
child-placing agency.
    Subd. 3. Case plan. "Case plan" means any plan for the delivery of services to a child and
parent or guardian, or, when reunification is not required, the child alone, that is developed
according to the requirements of section 245.4871, subdivision 19 or 21; 245.492, subdivision 16;
256B.092; 260C.212, subdivision 1; or 626.556, subdivision 10.
    Subd. 4. Child. "Child" means an individual under 18 years of age.
    Subd. 5. Child abuse. "Child abuse" means an act that involves a minor victim and that
constitutes a violation of section 609.221, 609.222, 609.223, 609.224, 609.2242, 609.322,
609.324, 609.342, 609.343, 609.344, 609.345, 609.377, 609.378, 617.246, or an act committed
in another state that involves a minor victim and would constitute a violation of one of these
sections if committed in this state.
    Subd. 6. Child in need of protection or services. "Child in need of protection or services"
means a child who is in need of protection or services because the child:
(1) is abandoned or without parent, guardian, or custodian;
(2)(i) has been a victim of physical or sexual abuse, (ii) resides with or has resided with a
victim of domestic child abuse as defined in subdivision 5, (iii) resides with or would reside with
a perpetrator of domestic child abuse or child abuse as defined in subdivision 5, or (iv) is a victim
of emotional maltreatment as defined in subdivision 8;
(3) is without necessary food, clothing, shelter, education, or other required care for the
child's physical or mental health or morals because the child's parent, guardian, or custodian
is unable or unwilling to provide that care;
(4) is without the special care made necessary by a physical, mental, or emotional condition
because the child's parent, guardian, or custodian is unable or unwilling to provide that care,
including a child in voluntary placement due solely to the child's developmental disability
or emotional disturbance;
(5) is medically neglected, which includes, but is not limited to, the withholding of medically
indicated treatment from a disabled infant with a life-threatening condition. The term "withholding
of medically indicated treatment" means the failure to respond to the infant's life-threatening
conditions by providing treatment, including appropriate nutrition, hydration, and medication
which, in the treating physician's or physicians' reasonable medical judgment, will be most likely
to be effective in ameliorating or correcting all conditions, except that the term does not include
the failure to provide treatment other than appropriate nutrition, hydration, or medication to an
infant when, in the treating physician's or physicians' reasonable medical judgment:
(i) the infant is chronically and irreversibly comatose;
(ii) the provision of the treatment would merely prolong dying, not be effective in
ameliorating or correcting all of the infant's life-threatening conditions, or otherwise be futile in
terms of the survival of the infant; or
(iii) the provision of the treatment would be virtually futile in terms of the survival of the
infant and the treatment itself under the circumstances would be inhumane;
(6) is one whose parent, guardian, or other custodian for good cause desires to be relieved of
the child's care and custody, including a child in placement according to voluntary release by the
parent under section 260C.212, subdivision 8;
(7) has been placed for adoption or care in violation of law;
(8) is without proper parental care because of the emotional, mental, or physical disability, or
state of immaturity of the child's parent, guardian, or other custodian;
(9) is one whose behavior, condition, or environment is such as to be injurious or dangerous
to the child or others. An injurious or dangerous environment may include, but is not limited to,
the exposure of a child to criminal activity in the child's home;
(10) is experiencing growth delays, which may be referred to as failure to thrive, that have
been diagnosed by a physician and are due to parental neglect;
(11) has engaged in prostitution as defined in section 609.321, subdivision 9;
(12) has committed a delinquent act or a juvenile petty offense before becoming ten years old;
(13) is a runaway;
(14) is a habitual truant; or
(15) has been found incompetent to proceed or has been found not guilty by reason of mental
illness or mental deficiency in connection with a delinquency proceeding, a certification under
section 260B.125, an extended jurisdiction juvenile prosecution, or a proceeding involving a
juvenile petty offense.
    Subd. 7. Child-placing agency. "Child-placing agency" means anyone licensed under
sections 245A.01 to 245A.16 and 252.28, subdivision 2.
    Subd. 8. Compelling reasons. "Compelling reasons" means an individualized determination
by the responsible social services agency, which is approved by the court, related to a request
by the agency not to initiate proceedings to terminate parental rights or transfer permanent legal
and physical custody of a child to the child's relative or former noncustodial parent under section
260C.301, subdivision 3.
    Subd. 9. Court. "Court" means juvenile court unless otherwise specified in this section.
    Subd. 10. Custodian. "Custodian" means any person who is under a legal obligation to
provide care and support for a minor or who is in fact providing care and support for a minor.
This subdivision does not impose upon persons who are not otherwise legally responsible for
providing a child with necessary food, clothing, shelter, education, or medical care a duty to
provide that care. For an Indian child, custodian means any Indian person who has legal custody
of an Indian child under tribal law or custom or under state law or to whom temporary physical
care, custody, and control has been transferred by the parent of the child, as provided in section
260.755, subdivision 10.
    Subd. 11. Delinquent child. "Delinquent child" means a child:
(1) who has violated any state or local law, except as provided in section 260B.225,
subdivision 1
, and except for juvenile offenders as described in subdivisions 19 and 28; or
(2) who has violated a federal law or a law of another state and whose case has been referred
to the juvenile court if the violation would be an act of delinquency if committed in this state or
a crime or offense if committed by an adult.
    Subd. 12. Developmental disability. "Developmental disability" means developmental
disability as defined in United States Code, title 42, section 6001(8).
    Subd. 13. Domestic child abuse. "Domestic child abuse" means:
(1) any physical injury to a minor family or household member inflicted by an adult family
or household member other than by accidental means; or
(2) subjection of a minor family or household member by an adult family or household
member to any act which constitutes a violation of sections 609.321 to 609.324, 609.342, 609.343,
609.344, 609.345, or 617.246.
    Subd. 14. Egregious harm. "Egregious harm" means the infliction of bodily harm to a
child or neglect of a child which demonstrates a grossly inadequate ability to provide minimally
adequate parental care. The egregious harm need not have occurred in the state or in the county
where a termination of parental rights action is otherwise properly venued. Egregious harm
includes, but is not limited to:
(1) conduct towards a child that constitutes a violation of sections 609.185 to 609.21,
609.222, subdivision 2, 609.223, or any other similar law of any other state;
(2) the infliction of "substantial bodily harm" to a child, as defined in section 609.02,
subdivision 7a
;
(3) conduct towards a child that constitutes felony malicious punishment of a child under
section 609.377;
(4) conduct towards a child that constitutes felony unreasonable restraint of a child under
section 609.255, subdivision 3;
(5) conduct towards a child that constitutes felony neglect or endangerment of a child under
section 609.378;
(6) conduct towards a child that constitutes assault under section 609.221, 609.222, or
609.223;
(7) conduct towards a child that constitutes solicitation, inducement, or promotion of, or
receiving profit derived from prostitution under section 609.322;
(8) conduct towards a child that constitutes murder or voluntary manslaughter as defined by
United States Code, title 18, section 1111(a) or 1112(a);
(9) conduct towards a child that constitutes aiding or abetting, attempting, conspiring, or
soliciting to commit a murder or voluntary manslaughter that constitutes a violation of United
States Code, title 18, section 1111(a) or 1112(a); or
(10) conduct toward a child that constitutes criminal sexual conduct under sections 609.342
to 609.345.
    Subd. 15. Emotional maltreatment. "Emotional maltreatment" means the consistent,
deliberate infliction of mental harm on a child by a person responsible for the child's care, that
has an observable, sustained, and adverse effect on the child's physical, mental, or emotional
development. "Emotional maltreatment" does not include reasonable training or discipline
administered by the person responsible for the child's care or the reasonable exercise of authority
by that person.
    Subd. 16. Emotionally disturbed. "Emotionally disturbed" means emotional disturbance as
described in section 245.4871, subdivision 15.
    Subd. 17. Family or household members. "Family or household members" means spouses,
former spouses, parents and children, persons related by blood, and persons who are presently
residing together or who have resided together in the past, and persons who have a child in
common regardless of whether they have been married or have lived together at any time.
    Subd. 18. Foster care. "Foster care" means 24 hour substitute care for children placed
away from their parents or guardian and for whom a responsible social services agency has
placement and care responsibility. "Foster care" includes, but is not limited to, placement in foster
family homes, foster homes of relatives, group homes, emergency shelters, residential facilities
not excluded in this subdivision, child care institutions, and proadoptive homes. A child is in
foster care under this definition regardless of whether the facility is licensed and payments are
made for the cost of care. Nothing in this definition creates any authority to place a child in a
home or facility that is required to be licensed which is not licensed. "Foster care" does not
include placement in any of the following facilities: hospitals, in-patient chemical dependency
treatment facilities, facilities that are primarily for delinquent children, any corrections facility or
program within a particular correction's facility not meeting requirements for Title IV-E facilities
as determined by the commissioner, facilities to which a child is committed under the provision of
chapter 253B, forestry camps, or jails.
    Subd. 19. Habitual truant. "Habitual truant" means a child under the age of 16 years who is
absent from attendance at school without lawful excuse for seven school days if the child is in
elementary school or for one or more class periods on seven school days if the child is in middle
school, junior high school, or high school, or a child who is 16 or 17 years of age who is absent
from attendance at school without lawful excuse for one or more class periods on seven school
days and who has not lawfully withdrawn from school under section 120A.22, subdivision 8.
    Subd. 20. Indian. "Indian," consistent with section 260.755, subdivision 7, means a person
who is a member of an Indian tribe or who is an Alaskan native and a member of a regional
corporation as defined in section 7 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, United States
Code, title 43, section 1606.
    Subd. 21. Indian child. "Indian child," consistent with section 260.755, subdivision 8,
means an unmarried person who is under age 18 and is:
(1) a member of an Indian tribe; or
(2) eligible for membership in an Indian tribe.
    Subd. 22. Legal custody. "Legal custody" means the right to the care, custody, and control
of a child who has been taken from a parent by the court in accordance with the provisions of
section 260C.201 or 260C.317. The expenses of legal custody are paid in accordance with the
provisions of section 260C.331.
    Subd. 23. Minor. "Minor" means an individual under 18 years of age.
    Subd. 24. Neglected and in foster care. "Neglected and in foster care" means a child
(a) Who has been placed in foster care by court order; and
(b) Whose parents' circumstances, condition, or conduct are such that the child cannot be
returned to them; and
(c) Whose parents, despite the availability of needed rehabilitative services, have failed to
make reasonable efforts to adjust their circumstances, condition or conduct, or have willfully
failed to meet reasonable expectations with regard to visiting the child or providing financial
support for the child.
    Subd. 25. Parent. "Parent" means the birth or adoptive parent of a minor. For an Indian
child, parent includes any Indian person who has adopted a child by tribal law or custom, as
provided in section 260.755, subdivision 14.
    Subd. 26. Person. "Person" includes any individual, association, corporation, partnership,
and the state or any of its political subdivisions, departments, or agencies.
    Subd. 27. Relative. "Relative" means a person related to the child by blood, marriage, or
adoption, or an individual who is an important friend with whom the child has resided or had
significant contact. For an Indian child, relative includes members of the extended family as
defined by the law or custom of the Indian child's tribe or, in the absence of law or custom, nieces,
nephews, or first or second cousins, as provided in the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978, United
States Code, title 25, section 1903.
    Subd. 28. Runaway. "Runaway" means an unmarried child under the age of 18 years who is
absent from the home of a parent or other lawful placement without the consent of the parent,
guardian, or lawful custodian.
    Subd. 29. Secure detention facility. "Secure detention facility" means a physically
restricting facility, including but not limited to a jail, a hospital, a state institution, a residential
treatment center, or a detention home used for the temporary care of a child pending court action.
    Subd. 30. Shelter care facility. "Shelter care facility" means a physically unrestricting
facility, such as but not limited to, a hospital, a group home or a licensed facility for foster care,
used for the temporary care of a child pending court action.
History: 1999 c 139 art 3 s 2; art 4 s 2; 1999 c 245 art 8 s 43-45; 2000 c 260 s 34; 2001 c
73 s 1; 2001 c 178 art 1 s 5-10,44; 2003 c 2 art 1 s 26; 1Sp2003 c 14 art 11 s 11; 2004 c 288 art 3
s 28; 2005 c 159 art 2 s 13; 2006 c 212 art 1 s 13

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