{"data":{"id":"us-mo/mo.-rev.-stat.-210.1253","jurisdiction":"us-mo","citation":"Mo. Rev. Stat. § 210.1253","heading":"Definitions.","body":"As used in sections 210.1250 to 210.1286, unless the context clearly provides otherwise, the following terms mean:\n(1) \"Child\" , a person who is under eighteen years of age;\n(2) \"Department\" , the department of social services, or the children's division within the department of social services, as determined by the department;\n(3) \"Director\" , a person who is responsible for the operation of the residential care facility;\n(4) \"Exempt-from-licensure\" or \"license-exempt\" , a residential care facility that is not required to be licensed under section 210.516;\n(5) \"Person\" , an individual, partnership, organization, association, or corporation;\n(6) \"Residential care facility\" , any place, facility, or home operated by any person who receives children who are not related to the operator and whose parent or guardian is not a resident of the same facility and that provides such children with supervision, care, lodging, and maintenance for twenty-four hours a day, with or without transfer of custody.","path":["Title XII - PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE","Chapter 210 - Child Protection and Reformation"],"source_url":"https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=210.1253","current_through":"2026 legislative session (floor)","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-03T22:23:26Z","sha256":"a0f859e93b09995958876e35be00425828d11c436513151e5817d7aec1896b6c","source_id":"us-mo","stale":false,"prev":"us-mo/mo.-rev.-stat.-210.1250","next":"us-mo/mo.-rev.-stat.-210.1256"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}