Iowa § 237C.1 - 237C.1 Definitions.

§ 237C.1. 237C.1 Definitions.

As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires: 1. “Child” or “children” means an individual or individuals under eighteen years of age. 2. “Children’s residential facility” means a private facility designed to serve children who have been voluntarily placed for reasons other than an exclusively recreational activity outside of their home by a parent or legal guardian and who are not under the custody or authority of the department, juvenile court, or another governmental agency, that provides twenty-four-hour care, including food, lodging, supervision, education, or other care on a full-time basis by a person other than a relative or guardian of the child, but does not include an entity providing any of the following: a. Care furnished by an individual who receives the child of a personal friend as an occasional and personal guest in the individual’s home, free of charge and not as a business. b. Care furnished by an individual with whom a child has been placed for lawful adoption, unless that adoption is not completed within two years after placement. c. Child care furnished by a child care facility as defined in section 237A.1. d. Care furnished in a hospital licensed under chapter 135B or care furnished in a health care facility as defined in section 135C.1. e. Care furnished by a juvenile detention home or juvenile shelter care home approved under section 232.142. f. Care furnished by a child foster care licensee or approved kinship caregiver under chapter 237. g. Care furnished by an institution listed in section 218.1. h. Care furnished by a facility licensed under chapter 125. i. Care furnished by a psychiatric medical institution for children licensed under chapter 135H. j. Care furnished to persons sixteen years of age and older by a residential program to which the department applies accreditation, certification, or standards of review under the provisions of a federally approved medical assistance home and community-based services waiver, or other provision of the medical assistance program. 3. “Department” means the department of health and human services. 4. “Director” means the director of health and human services. 5. “Protective locked environment” means a setting that prevents egress from a building or grounds as a protective measure to ensure safety and security. 2016 Acts, ch 1114, §1; 2023 Acts, ch 19, §751; 2025 Acts, ch 86, §35, 40; 2025 Acts, ch 135, §30 Rules adopted by the department of health and human services shall require that the care furnished by an entity under subsection 2, paragraph j, as enacted in 2025 Acts, ch 86, §40, shall be provided to persons under eighteen years of age in settings separate from individuals over the age of twenty-one; 2025 Acts, ch 86, §41 Subsection 2, paragraph f amended Subsection 2, NEW paragraph j NEW subsection 5 Thu Dec 11 19:12:41 2025 Iowa Code 2026, Section 237C.1 (18, 3)