Glossary

Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.)- A worldwide fellowship of men and women who help each other maintain sobriety and who offer to share their recovery experience freely with others who may have a drinking problem.

Addict - A person whose use of chemical substances is frequent enough to be injurious.

ARC - Pennsylvania - The Association for Retarded Citizens (ARC) is a voluntary, non-profit organization committed to advocating for the rights of all people who are mentally retarded.

Asperger's Syndrome -  The essential features are severe and sustained impairment in social interaction and the development of restricted repetitive patterns of behaviors. Other features include a special interest and ability in reading, poor motor skills, and social withdrawal.

Assessment - The process of determining an individual's current and potential strengths, weaknesses, and needs. Uses formal and informal recurrent diagnosis and evaluation information provided by each service.

Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) - Neurological condition that is often evident from childhood. ADD may cause restlessness, disorganization, hyperactivity, distractibility, and mood swings.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) - Characterized by a very short attention span, impulsiveness, and hyperactivity.

Authorization - A document specifying the type, amount, and maximum payment for approved services sent to the service provider. See "Pre-Certification."

Autism - A lifelong, non-progressive neurological disorder typically appearing before the age of three years. It is characterized by language and communication deficits, withdrawal from social contacts, and extreme reactions to changes in the immediate environment.

Base Service Unit (BSU) - performs the functions of centralized intake, client/patient monitoring, MR case management, statistical evaluation, and centralized record keeping for all persons receiving services paid for by MH\MR funds. This unit is based at The Center for Community Resources, Inc.

Behavioral Health - Refers to mental health and/or substance abuse services which, under managed care in Pennsylvania, are separated from physical health services.

Case Management - The client advocate aspect of an organized system of coordinative activities developed and administered by the Single County Authority (SCA) to ensure client continuity of service, efficient and effective utilization of available resources, and appropriateness of service to meet the needs of the client. This can include linkages with other social services, housing, and medical assistance 

Case Manager - The person responsible for ensuring continuity of services. (Also called service coordinator)

Caseload - The total number of clients who are actively using services or have completed service, but are being followed prior to discharge. A counselor’s caseload is the number of such clients for which he\she is responsible.

CHIP - Refers to the Children's Health Insurance Program which offers coverage for children of low-income families that cannot otherwise afford the health insurance. This program is managed by the Pennsylvania Insurance Department.

CHIPP - Is the Community Hospital Integration Program Project which provides funding to county mental health offices to improve infrastructure and place residents of state mental hospitals in community setting with adequate treatment and supports.

Clinical Psychologist - Works in the areas of personality assessment and prevention and treatment of emotional and mental disorders. One would usually work with individuals, groups, or families who have personal, social, emotional, or behavioral problems.

Community Services - The  environment which provides a community with knowledge and experiences to promote intelligent decisions concerning drug and alcohol use.

Compliance - Title VI, Civil Rights Act – Assurance required from all federal grant recipients which states that the agency will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, or national origin in providing services during the term of the grant award.

Consumer - A person who is receiving or has received behavioral health or mental retardation services from MH/MR or its providers.

Confidentiality - Requirement of both federal and state law which requires that all persons treated and/or rehabilitated, including all former persons treated and\or rehabilitated for drug and alcohol abuse and dependence, be secure in their right to privacy except as disclosure is permitted by law.

Correction Facility - State, county, or federal institution for housing alleged criminals and\or persons convicted of a crime.

Crisis Intervention - Provision of services intended to help a person dealing with a specific turning point in his\her life for which customary modes of adaptation have proven inadequate. The approach is aimed at assisting in decision making and supporting the client until he deals with the situation independently.

Detoxification - The process whereby a drug or alcohol intoxicated or dependent client is assisted through the period of time necessary to eliminate, by metabolic or other means, the presence of intoxicating substance or dependency factors, while keeping the physiological or psychological risk to the client at a minimum.

D.P.W (Department of Public Welfare) - State welfare office.

Drug Free - The provision of guidance, advice, and psychological treatment as a means to deal with the client’s emotional structure on concurrent problems without the use of maintenance substance. Temporary medication for treatment of physiological conditions or as an adjunct to psychological treatment may be utilized in this approach.

Early Intervention - Home-based services for children from birth through age two who have a developmental delay or disability. Services are designed to support families and foster normal development and sound experience in natural settings.

Environment - The conditions under which the client contract occurs. For example, school services are received within a school; inpatient hospital services are received by a client who has been admitted for more than twenty-four hours to a hospital.

Evaluation - Investigation of the process and outcome of services being provided to the community.

Fee-For-Service - Purchase of service agreement whereby a specific amount of money is allocated for a service and paid to the service provider at an agreed upon unit of cost.

Grievance - A request for reconsideration of a decision by MH/MR or the provider to deny authorization or payment for a service which was prescribed for the consumer.

Halfway House - The provision of supportive services in a semi-protected home-like environment to assist a client in their gradual re-entry into the community. No formal treatment – counseling\psychotherapy takes place at the facility.

Intake, Evaluation, and Referral - The provision of intake and referral by a facility designated by the Single County Authority (SCA) to perform those services centrally to two or more facilities within that SCA.

Lapse - The monies received through an agreement which cannot and will not be spent during the funding period and which either revert to the funding source or become surplus to be carried over into the next funding period.

Liability - The responsibility of payment for the services rendered.

Medical Assistance (MA) - A federal/state program operated by the Department of Public Welfare to ensure the availability of medical care and ancillary services for low income individuals and their families.

Mental Disability - The inability to meet individual and societal needs because of emotional or mental retardation problems.

Mental Health - A relatively enduring state of being in which an individual is reasonably satisfying to self, as reflected in his/her zest for living and feeling of self-realization. It also implies a large degree of adjustment to the social environment, as indicated by the satisfaction derived from interpersonal relationships, as well as achievements.

Mental Illness - A state of being in which an individual has difficulty in handling situations and feelings of an everyday nature. In certain instances, conditions are characterized by impairment of intellectual functions, the experience of shallow and unstable emotions, and difficulty in adapting to one's environment.

Mental Retardation - Significantly below average general intellectual functioning which originates during the developmental period and is associated with impairment in adaptive behavior. Mental retardation may be caused by genetic or metabolic defects, by problems before a child is born, by deprivation in early childhood, by a disease of the nervous system, by poisons, or by brain injury.

MH/MR - Mental Health/Mental Retardation.

Neurosis - One of the major categories of emotional maladjustments, classified according to the predominant symptom of defense mechanism. Anxiety is the chief symptom, with the possibility of some impairment of thinking and judgment.

Ombudsman - A public official or representative appointed to investigate citizens' complaints against local agencies and programs that may be infringing on the rights of individuals.

Outpatient - The provision of counseling or psychotherapeutic services on a regular and predetermined schedule. The client resides outside of the facility.

Outreach - Identifying persons who are in need of services and altering them to the availability and location of services.

PCP (Primary Care Provider) - A Primary Care Provider such as a family practitioner, general internist, pediatrician, and sometimes ob/gyn. Generally, a PCP supervises, coordinates, and provides medical care to members of a plan. The PCP may initiate all referrals for specialty care. Within behavioral health, case managers are often the PCP or it may be a role of the outpatient therapist.

Personality Disorder - A group of disorders characterized by pathological trends in personality structure. It may show itself by lack of good judgment or poor relationships with others, accompanied by little anxiety and no personal sense of distress.

Pervasive Developmental Disorders - When a child does not meet the criteria for autism, the child may be given this diagnosis.

Program Funded - The funding of drug and alcohol facilities for their personnel, operating, and fixed asset expenses as predetermined in agreement with the funding source.

Provider Organization - A practice, clinic, mental health center, hospital, or other organization that is employed by managed health care or MH/MR programs to provide treatment services.

Psychiatrist - A specialist in psychiatry, specifically a graduate of a medical school, licensed to practice and to prescribe medications, with postgraduate training in the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of mental and emotional disturbances. The disturbances may be of physical or emotional origin or result from a situational crisis.

Psychosis - A severe impairment of mental functioning that interferes with an individual's ability to meet the ordinary demands of life.

Referral - Providing relevant information on community resources and making arrangements for a client to use medical, functional, psychological, social, or vocational services.

Single County Authority (SCA) - The governmental or private agency in a county or cluster of counties (joinder) designated by the Board of County Commissioners or the department which is responsible for planning, administering, funding, and evaluating the Drug and Alcohol Program in that county or joinder.

Service Units - A standard for measuring client oriented services.

Title XVIII - The federal legislation which established Medicare, a program of hospital and medical insurance which pays for services for most consumers over age 65.

Title XIX - The federal legislation which established Medicaid, a joint federal and state program that provides Medical Assistance to low-income consumers of all ages who need care but cannot afford it.

Title XX - The federal legislation which established a variety of services to low-income individuals and families.

Triage - A formal system used to identify, classify, and treat people according to the severity of their condition(s).

Unit Cost - The cost for providing a specified unit of service.