{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-209.020","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 209.020","heading":"Definitions for chapter.","body":"As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:\n(1) \"Secretary\" means the secretary of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services;\n(2) \"Cabinet\" means the Cabinet for Health and Family Services;\n(3) \"Department\" means the Department for Com munity Based Services of the Cabinet\nfor Health and Family Services;\n(4) \"Adult\" means a person eighteen (18) years of age or older who, because of mental\nor physical dysfunctioning, is unable to manage his or her own resources, carry out\nthe activity of d aily living, or protect himself or herself from neglect, exploitation,\nor a hazardous or abusive situation without assistance from others, and who may be\nin need of protective services;\n(5) \"Protective services\" means agency services undertaken with or on behalf of an\nadult in need of protective services who is being abused, neglected, or exploited.\nThese services may include but are not limited to conducting investigations of\ncomplaints of possible abuse, neglect, or exploitation to ascertain whether or not the\nsituation and condition of the adult in need of protective services warrants further\naction; social services aimed at preventing and remedying abuse, neglect, and\nexploitation; and services directed toward seeking legal determination of whether or\nnot the adult in need of protective services has been abused, neglected, or exploited\nand to ensure that he or she obtains suitable care in or out of his or her home;\n(6) \"Caretaker\" means an individual or institution who has been entrusted with or who\nhas the responsibility for the care of the adult as a result of family relationship, or\nwho has assumed the responsibility for the care of the adult person voluntarily or by\ncontract, employment, legal duty, or agreement;\n(7) \"Deception\" means but is not limited to:\n(a) Creating or reinforcing a false impression, including a false impression as to\nlaw, value, intention, or other state of mind;\n(b) Preventing another from acquiring information that would affect his or her\njudgment of a transaction; or\n(c) Failing to correct a false impression that the deceiver previously created or\nreinforced, or that the deceiver knows to be influencing another to whom the\nperson stands in a fiduciary or confidential relationship;\n(8) \"Abuse\" means the infliction of injury, sexua l abuse, unreasonable confinement,\nintimidation, or punishment that results in physical pain or injury, including mental\ninjury;\n(9) \"Exploitation\" means obtaining or using another person's resources, including but\nnot limited to funds, assets, or property , by deception, intimidation, or similar\nmeans, with the intent to deprive the person of those resources;\n(10) \"Investigation\" shall include but is not limited to:\n(a) A personal interview with the individual reported to be abused, neglected, or\nexploited. When abuse or neglect is allegedly the cause of death, a coroner's or\ndoctor's report shall be examined as part of the investigation;\n(b) An assessment of individual and environmental risk and safety factors;\n(c) Identification of the perpetrator, if possible; and\n(d) Identification by the Office of Inspector General of instances of failure by an\nadministrator or management personnel of a regulated or licensed facility to\nadopt or enforce appropriate policies and procedures, if that failure\ncontributed to or caused an adult under the facility's care to be abused,\nneglected, or exploited;\n(11) \"Emergency\" means that an adult is living in conditions which present a substan tial\nrisk of death or immediate and serious physical harm to himself or herself or others;\n(12) \"Emergency protective services\" are protective services furnished an adult in an\nemergency;\n(13) \"Protective placement\" means the transfer of an adult from his or her present living\narrangement to another;\n(14) \"Court\" means the Circuit Court or the District Court if no judge of that Circuit\nCourt is present in the county;\n(15) \"Records\" means the medical, mental, health, and financial records of the adult that\nare in the possession of any hospital, firm, corporation, or other facility, if necessary\nto complete the investigation mandated in this chapter. These records shall not be\ndisclosed for any purpose other than the purpose for which they have been obtained;\n(16) \"Neglect\" means a situation in which an adult is unable to perform or obtain for\nhimself or herself the goods or services that are necessary to maintain his or her\nhealth or welfare, or the deprivation of services by a caretaker that are necessary to\nmaintain the health and welfare of an adult; and\n(17) \"Authorized agency\" means:\n(a) The Cabinet for Health and Family Services;\n(b) A law enforcement agency or the Department of Kentucky State Police;\n(c) The office of a Commonwealth's attorney or county attorney; or\n(d) The appropriate division of the Office of the Attorney General.","path":["KRS Chapter 209"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=8181","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:52:09Z","sha256":"d5ae3afe80323a292c57569cf3c116f4533eb839c9e969898b7aa5b299c08252","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-209.010","next":"us-ky/krs-209.030"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}