SECTION 354.3003. Definitions

The following words and terms, when used in this subchapter, have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

(1) Adult--A person who is 21 years or older.

(2) Certification entity--An organization approved by HHSC to certify:

(A) peer specialists;

(B) peer specialist supervisors; and

(C) peer specialist training entities.

(3) Closed--A certification entity record for a revoked or relinquished certification, including the record for a person who is deceased or no longer certified for another reason.

(4) Dual relationship--A peer specialist's familial, financial, business, professional, close personal, sexual, or any other non-therapeutic relationship with a recipient, or any activity with another person that interferes or conflicts with the peer specialist's professional obligation to a recipient.

(5) HHSC--The Texas Health and Human Services Commission or its designee.

(6) Lived experience--When a person has experienced a significant life disruption due to the person's own mental health condition and/or substance use disorder and is now in recovery.

(7) LPHA--Licensed Practitioner of the Healing Arts. A person licensed as one of following and acting within the authorized scope of the person's license:

(A) physician;

(B) licensed professional counselor;

(C) licensed clinical social worker;

(D) psychologist;

(E) advanced practice registered nurse;

(F) physician assistant; or

(G) licensed marriage and family therapist.

(8) Mental health--A state of well-being in which an individual realizes one's own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, and is able to be productive.

(9) Mental health condition--A condition (excluding a single diagnosis of an intellectual or developmental disability or a substance use disorder) that substantially impairs:

(A) an individual's thought, perception of reality, emotional process, or judgement;

(B) an individual's behavior; or

(C) an individual's ability to participate in daily routines.

(10) Mental health rehabilitative services--Services that are individualized, age-appropriate, and provide training and instructional guidance that restore an individual's functional deficits due to serious mental illness. The services are designed to improve or maintain the individual's ability to remain in the community as a fully integrated and functioning member of that community.

(11) Peer specialist--A person who uses lived experience, in addition to skills learned in formal training, to deliver strengths-based, person-centered services to promote a recipient's recovery and resiliency.

(12) Person-centered--The provision of services:

(A) directed by the recipient;

(B) aligned with the hopes, goals, and preferences of the recipient; and

(C) designed to build on the recipient's interests and strengths.

(13) Person-centered recovery plan--A written plan that serves as a plan of care and:

(A) is developed with the person, others whose inclusion is requested by the person and who agree to participate, and the persons planning or providing services;

(B) amended at any time based on the person's needs;

(C) guides the recovery process and fosters resiliency;

(D) identifies the person's changing strengths, capacities, goals, preferences, needs, and desired outcomes; and

(E) identifies services and supports to meet the person's goals, preferences, needs and desired outcomes.

(14) Prevalent language--A non-English language determined to be spoken by at least 10 percent of persons in a community where a peer specialist will be providing services or in a community in which a training is offered. Persons are only counted toward the minimum 10 percent if they do not speak English as their primary language and if they have a limited ability to read, speak, write, or understand English.

(15) QCC--Qualified Credentialed Counselor. A person licensed as one of the following and acting within the authorized scope of the person's license:

(A) licensed professional counselor;

(B) licensed clinical social worker;

(C) licensed marriage and family therapist;

(D) psychologist;

(E) physician;

(F) physician's assistant;

(G) licensed chemical dependency counselor;

(H) certified addictions registered nurse; or

(I) advanced practice registered nurse licensed by the Texas Board of Nursing as a psychiatric-mental health clinical nurse specialist or nurse practitioner.

(16) QMHP-CS--Qualified Mental Health Professional-Community Services. A QMHP-CS must demonstrate competency in the work to be performed and:

(A) be a Registered Nurse; or

(B) have a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university with a minimum number of hours that is equivalent to a major in psychology, social work, medicine, nursing, rehabilitation, counseling, sociology, human growth and development, physician's assistant, gerontology, special education, educational psychology, early childhood education, or early childhood intervention.

(17) QPS--Qualified Peer Supervisor. A QPS must:

(A) be a certified peer specialist under this subchapter; and

(B) have one of the following combinations:

(i) a high school diploma or General Equivalency Diploma (GED) and at least four years of work experience as a peer specialist, up to two years of which may be substituted by work experience supervising others; or

(ii) an associate's degree or higher from an accredited college or university and at least two years of work experience as a peer specialist.

(18) Recipient--Refers to a person receiving Medicaid services under this subchapter.

(19) Recovery--A process of change through which a person:

(A) improves one's health and wellness;

(B) lives a self-directed life;

(C) strives to reach one's self-defined full potential; and

(D) participates in one's personal community.

(20) Relationship-focused--Requires a peer specialist to deliver services through a relationship with the recipient that is respectful, trusting, empathetic, collaborative, and mutual.

(21) Self-directed recovery--The point at which an individual takes proactive steps to plan and implement the individual's own recovery.

(22) Substance use disorder--A recurrent use of alcohol or drugs that causes clinically and functionally significant impairment, such as health problems, disability, and failure to meet major responsibilities at work, school, or home.

(23) Trauma-informed--A program, organization, or system that is trauma-informed realizes the widespread impact of trauma and understands potential paths for recovery; recognizes the signs and symptoms of trauma in clients, families, staff, and others involved with the system; and responds by fully integrating knowledge about trauma into policies, procedures, and practices, and seeks to actively resist re-traumatization.

Source Note: The provisions of this §354.3003 adopted to be effective January 1, 2019, 43 TexReg 8573