Okla. Stat. tit. 43A, § 43A-10-103

A. When used in the Protective Services for Vulnerable Adults

Act:

1. “Protective services” means services which are necessary to

aid a vulnerable adult in meeting the essential requirements for

mental or physical health and safety that the vulnerable adult is

unable to provide or obtain without assistance. The term

“protective services” includes but is not limited to services

provided to or obtained for such person in order to prevent or

remedy the abuse, neglect, or exploitation of such person;

2. “Services which are necessary to aid an individual to meet

essential requirements for mental or physical health and safety”

include, but shall not be limited to:

a. the identification of vulnerable adults in need of the

services,

b. the provision of medical care for physical and mental

health needs,

c. the provision of social services assistance in

personal hygiene, food, clothing, and adequately

heated and ventilated shelter,

d. protection from health and safety hazards,

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e. protection from physical mistreatment,

f. guardianship referral,

g. outreach programs, and

h. the transportation necessary to secure any of such

services.

The term shall not include taking the person into physical custody

without the consent of the person except as provided for in Sections

10-107 and 10-108 of this title, and the evaluation, monitoring, and

provision of protective placements;

3. “Meet essential requirements for mental or physical health

and safety” means those actions necessary to provide the health

care, food, shelter, clothing, personal hygiene and other care

without which physical injury or illness to the vulnerable adult is

likely to occur;

4. “Incapacitated person” means:

a. any person eighteen (18) years of age or older:

(1) who is impaired by reason of mental or physical

illness or disability, dementia or related

disease, developmental or intellectual disability

or other cause, and

(2) whose ability to receive and evaluate information

effectively or to make and to communicate

responsible decisions is impaired to such an

extent that such person lacks the capacity to

manage his or her financial resources or to meet

essential requirements for his or her mental or

physical health or safety without assistance from

others, or

b. a person for whom a guardian, limited guardian, or

conservator has been appointed pursuant to the

Oklahoma Guardianship and Conservatorship Act;

5. “Vulnerable adult” means an individual who is an

incapacitated person or who, because of physical or mental

disability, including persons with Alzheimer’s disease or other

dementias, incapacity, or other disability, is substantially

impaired in the ability to provide adequately for the care or

custody of himself or herself, or is unable to manage his or her

property and financial affairs effectively, or to meet essential

requirements for mental or physical health or safety, or to protect

himself or herself from abuse, verbal abuse, neglect, or

exploitation without assistance from others;

6. “Caretaker” means a person who has:

a. the responsibility for the care of a vulnerable adult

or the financial management of the resources of a

vulnerable adult as a result of a family relationship,

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b. assumed the responsibility for the care of a

vulnerable adult voluntarily, by contract, or as a

result of the ties of friendship, or

c. been appointed a guardian, limited guardian, or

conservator pursuant to the Oklahoma Guardianship and

Conservatorship Act;

7. “Department” means, unless the context clearly indicates

otherwise, the Department of Human Services;

8. “Abuse” means causing or permitting:

a. the infliction of physical pain, injury, sexual abuse,

sexual exploitation, unreasonable restraint or

confinement, mental anguish or personal degradation,

or
ardian, or

conservator pursuant to the Oklahoma Guardianship and

Conservatorship Act;

7. “Department” means, unless the context clearly indicates

otherwise, the Department of Human Services;

8. “Abuse” means causing or permitting:

a. the infliction of physical pain, injury, sexual abuse,

sexual exploitation, unreasonable restraint or

confinement, mental anguish or personal degradation,

or

b. the deprivation of nutrition, clothing, shelter,

health care, or other care or services without which

serious physical or mental injury is likely to occur

to a vulnerable adult by a caretaker or other person

providing services to a vulnerable adult;

9. “Exploitation” or “exploit” means an unjust or improper use

of the resources of a vulnerable adult for the profit or advantage,

pecuniary or otherwise, of a person other than the vulnerable adult

through the use of undue influence, coercion, harassment, duress,

deception, false representation or false pretense;

10. “Financial neglect” means repeated instances by a

caretaker, or other person, who has assumed the role of financial

management, of failure to use the resources available to restore or

maintain the health and physical well-being of a vulnerable adult,

including, but not limited to:

a. squandering or negligently mismanaging the money,

property, or accounts of a vulnerable adult,

b. refusing to pay for necessities or utilities in a

timely manner, or

c. providing substandard care to a vulnerable adult

despite the availability of adequate financial

resources;

11. “Neglect” means:

a. the failure to provide protection for a vulnerable

adult who is unable to protect his or her own

interest,

b. the failure to provide a vulnerable adult with

adequate shelter, nutrition, health care, or clothing,

or

c. negligent acts or omissions that result in harm or the

unreasonable risk of harm to a vulnerable adult

through the action, inaction, or lack of supervision

by a caretaker providing direct services;

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12. “Personal degradation” means a willful act by a caretaker

intended to shame, degrade, humiliate or otherwise harm the personal

dignity of a vulnerable adult, or where the caretaker knew or

reasonably should have known the act would cause shame, degradation,

humiliation or harm to the personal dignity of a reasonable person.

Personal degradation includes the taking, transmitting, or display

of an electronic image of a vulnerable adult by a caretaker, where

the caretaker’s actions constitute a willful act intended to shame,

degrade, humiliate or otherwise harm the personal dignity of the

dependent adult, or where the caretaker knew or reasonably should

have known the act would cause shame, degradation, humiliation or

harm to the personal dignity of a reasonable person. Personal

degradation does not include:

a. the taking, transmission or display of an electronic

image of a vulnerable adult for the purpose of

reporting vulnerable adult abuse to law enforcement,

the Department of Human Services or other regulatory

agency that oversees caretakers or enforces abuse or

neglect laws or rules,

b. the taking, transmission or display of an electronic

image of a vulnerable adult for the purpose of

treatment or diagnosis, or

c. the taking, transmission or display of an electronic

image of a vulnerable adult as part of an ongoing

investigation;

13. “Sexual abuse” means:

a. oral, anal, or vaginal penetration of a vulnerable

adult by or through the union with the sexual organ of

a caretaker or other person providing services to the

vulnerable adult, or the anal or vaginal penetration

of a vulnerable adult by a caretaker or other person

providing services to the vulnerable adult with any

other object,

b. for the purpose of sexual gratification, the touching,

feeling or observation of the body or private parts of

a vulnerable adult by a caretaker or other person
of

a caretaker or other person providing services to the

vulnerable adult, or the anal or vaginal penetration

of a vulnerable adult by a caretaker or other person

providing services to the vulnerable adult with any

other object,

b. for the purpose of sexual gratification, the touching,

feeling or observation of the body or private parts of

a vulnerable adult by a caretaker or other person

providing services to the vulnerable adult, or

c. indecent exposure by a caretaker or other person

providing services to the vulnerable adult;

14. “Indecent exposure” means forcing or requiring a vulnerable

adult to:

a. look upon the body or private parts of another person

or upon sexual acts performed in the presence of the

vulnerable adult, or

b. touch or feel the body or private parts of another;

15. “Self-neglect” means the action or inaction of a vulnerable

adult which causes that person to fail to meet the essential

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requirements for physical or mental health and safety due to the

vulnerable adult’s lack of awareness, incompetence or incapacity;

16. “Sexual exploitation” includes, but is not limited to, a

caretaker’s causing, allowing, permitting or encouraging a

vulnerable adult to engage in prostitution or in the lewd, obscene,

or pornographic photographing, filming or depiction of the

vulnerable adult as those acts are defined by state law;

17. “Verbal abuse” means the use of words, sounds, or other

communication including, but not limited to, gestures, actions or

behaviors, by a caretaker or other person providing services to a

vulnerable adult that are likely to cause a reasonable person to

experience humiliation, intimidation, fear, shame or degradation;

and

18. “Appropriate state entity” means:

a. the Office of Client Advocacy within the State

Department of Health, if the allegation concerns a

vulnerable adult who is:

(1) a certified member of the plaintiff class in

Homeward Bound, Inc., et al. v. The Hissom

Memorial Center, et al., Case Number 85-C-437-E,

United States District Court for the Northern

District of Oklahoma,

(2) a resident of the Robert M. Greer Center or

successor facility, or

(3) receiving services from a community services

provider, community services worker, Medicaid

personal care services provider, or Medicaid

personal care assistant, as those terms are

defined in Section 1025.1 of Title 56 of the

Oklahoma Statutes, when such provider or worker

is the alleged perpetrator, or

b. the Department of Human Services, if the allegation

concerns a vulnerable adult who does not meet the

description of subparagraph a of this paragraph.

B. Nothing in this section shall be construed to mean a

vulnerable adult is abused or neglected for the sole reason the

vulnerable adult, in good faith, selects and depends upon spiritual

means alone through prayer, in accordance with the practices of a

recognized religious method of healing, for the treatment or cure of

disease or remedial care, or a caretaker or other person

responsible, in good faith, is furnishing such vulnerable adult

spiritual means alone through prayer, in accordance with the tenets

and practices of a recognized church or religious denomination, for

the treatment or cure of disease or remedial care in accordance with

the practices of or express consent of the vulnerable adult.