GENERAL PROVISIONS
§ 23.1. Definitions.
The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
Act—The Optometric Practice and Licensure Act (63 P.S. § § 244.1—244.12).
Board—The State Board of Optometry of the Commonwealth.
Bodily injury—Impairment of physical condition or substantial pain.
Bureau—The Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs within the Department of State of the Commonwealth.
Child—An individual under 18 years of age.
Child abuse—Intentionally, knowingly or recklessly doing any of the following:(i) Causing bodily injury to a child through any recent act or failure to act.
(ii) Fabricating, feigning or intentionally exaggerating or inducing a medical symptom or disease which results in a potentially harmful medical evaluation or treatment to the child through any recent act.
(iii) Causing or substantially contributing to serious mental injury to a child through any act or failure to act or a series of these acts or failures to act.
(iv) Causing sexual abuse or exploitation of a child through any act or failure to act.
(v) Creating a reasonable likelihood of bodily injury to a child through any recent act or failure to act.
(vi) Creating a likelihood of sexual abuse or exploitation of a child through any recent act or failure to act.
(vii) Causing serious physical neglect of a child.
(viii) Engaging in any of the following recent acts:
(A) Kicking, biting, throwing, burning, stabbing or cutting a child in a manner that endangers the child.
(B) Unreasonably restraining or confining a child, based on consideration of the method, location or the duration of the restraint or confinement.
(C) Forcefully shaking a child under 1 year of age.
(D) Forcefully slapping or otherwise striking a child under 1 year of age.
(E) Interfering with the breathing of a child.
(F) Causing a child to be present at a location while a violation of 18 Pa.C.S. § 7508.2 (relating to operation of methamphetamine laboratory) is occurring, provided that the violation is being investigated by law enforcement.
(G) Leaving a child unsupervised with an individual, other than the child’s parent, who the actor knows or reasonably should have known:
(I) Is required to register as a Tier II or Tier III sexual offender under 42 Pa.C.S. Chapter 97, Subchapter H (relating to registration of sexual offenders), when the victim of the sexual offense was under 18 years of age when the crime was committed.
(II) Has been determined to be a sexually violent predator under 42 Pa.C.S. § 9799.24 (relating to assessments) or any of its predecessors.
(III) Has been determined to be a sexually violent delinquent child as defined in 42 Pa.C.S. § 9799.12 (relating to definitions).
(IV) Has been determined to be a sexually violent predator under 42 Pa.C.S. § 9799.58 (relating to assessments) or has to register for life under 42 Pa.C.S. § 9799.55(b) (relating to registration).
(ix) Causing the death of the child through any act or failure to act.
(x) Engaging a child in a severe form of trafficking in persons or sex trafficking, as those terms are defined under section 103 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (Division A of Pub.L. No. 106-386).
ChildLine—An organizational unit of the Department of Human Services, which operates a 24-hour a day Statewide toll-free telephone system for receiving reports of suspected child abuse, referring reports for investigation and maintaining the reports in the appropriate file.
Clinical skills assessment examination—A clinical skills competency examination developed, prepared, administered and scored by the NBEO, which the Board adopts as the State clinical examination for licensure.
Contact lens—A medical device or any other item or device of any material, tissue or power, including plano or zero-powered, that is required to be dispensed by prescription, and is placed directly on the cornea or the cornea and sclera to do any of the following:(i) Correct vision conditions.
(ii) Act as a diagnostic or therapeutic device.
(iii) Provide a cosmetic or decorative effect.
Continuing education hour—Fifty minutes of continuing education.
Continuing education program—A group, self-study, correspondence or other program approved by the Board for which continuing education hours are given.
Inactive status—The status of not having one’s license currently registered.
Mandated reporter—A person who is required under 23 Pa.C.S. § 6311 (relating to persons required to report suspected child abuse) to make a report of suspected child abuse. For the purposes of this chapter, the term includes all licensed optometrists.
NBEO—The National Board of Examiners in Optometry.
National Board Examination—A written academic examination developed, prepared, administered and scored by the NBEO, which the Board adopts as the National uniform written examination for licensure.
Parent—A biological parent, adoptive parent or legal guardian.
Perpetrator—A person who has committed child abuse as defined in this section. The following apply:(i) This term includes only the following:
(A) A parent of the child.
(B) A spouse or former spouse of the child’s parent.
(C) A paramour or former paramour of the child’s parent.
(D) An individual 14 years of age or older who is a person responsible for the child’s welfare or who has direct contact with children as an employee of child-care services, a school or through a program, activity or service.
(E) An individual 14 years of age or older who resides in the same home as the child.
(F) An individual 18 years of age or older who does not reside in the same home as the child but is related within the third degree of consanguinity or affinity by birth or adoption to the child.
(G) An individual 18 years of age or older who engages a child in severe forms of trafficking in persons or sex trafficking, as those terms are defined under section 103 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000.
(ii) Only the following may be considered a perpetrator for failing to act, as provided in this section:
(A) A parent of the child.
(B) A spouse or former spouse of the child’s parent.
(C) A paramour or former paramour of the child’s parent.
(D) A person responsible for the child’s welfare who is 18 years of age or older.
(E) A person 18 years of age or older who resides in the same home as the child.
Person responsible for the child’s welfare—A person who provides permanent or temporary care, supervision, mental health diagnosis or treatment, training or control of a child in lieu of parental care, supervision and control.
Program, activity or service—Any of the following in which children participate and which is sponsored by a school or a public or private organization:(i) A youth camp or program.
(ii) A recreational camp or program.
(iii) A sports or athletic program.
(iv) A community or social outreach program.
(v) An enrichment or educational program.
(vi) A troop, club or similar organization.
Recent act or failure to act—An act or failure to act committed within 2 years of the date of the report to the Department of Human Services or county agency.
Retired practitioner—One who is no longer engaged in the practice of optometry as defined in section 2 of the act (63 P.S. § 244.2; see definition of ‘‘practice of optometry’’).
Serious mental injury—A psychological condition, as diagnosed by a physician or licensed psychologist, including the refusal of appropriate treatment, that does one or more of the following:(i) Renders a child chronically and severely anxious, agitated, depressed, socially withdrawn, psychotic or in reasonable fear that the child’s life or safety is threatened.
(ii) Seriously interferes with a child’s ability to accomplish age-appropriate developmental and social tasks.
Serious physical neglect—Any of the following when committed by a perpetrator that endangers a child’s life or health, threatens a child’s well-being, causes bodily injury or impairs a child’s health, development or functioning:(i) A repeated, prolonged or egregious failure to supervise a child in a manner that is appropriate considering the child’s developmental age and abilities.
(ii) The failure to provide a child with adequate essentials of life, including food, shelter or medical care.
Sexual abuse or exploitation—Any of the following:(i) The employment, use, persuasion, inducement, enticement or coercion of a child to engage in or assist another individual to engage in sexually explicit conduct, which includes the following:
(A) Looking at sexual or other intimate parts of a child or another individual for the purpose of arousing or gratifying sexual desire in any individual.
(B) Participating in sexually explicit conversation either in person, by telephone, by computer or by a computer-aided device for the purpose of sexual stimulation or gratification of any individual.
(C) Actual or simulated sexual activity or nudity for the purpose of sexual stimulation or gratification of any individual.
(D) Actual or simulated sexual activity for the purpose of producing visual depiction, including photographing, videotaping, computer depicting or filming.
(ii) Any of the following offenses committed against a child:
(A) Rape as defined in 18 Pa.C.S. § 3121 (relating to rape).
(B) Statutory sexual assault as defined in 18 Pa.C.S. § 3122.1 (relating to statutory sexual assault).
(C) Involuntary deviate sexual intercourse as defined in 18 Pa.C.S. § 3123 (relating to involuntary deviate sexual intercourse).
(D) Sexual assault as defined in 18 Pa.C.S. § 3124.1 (relating to sexual assault).
(E) Institutional sexual assault as defined in 18 Pa.C.S. § 3124.2 (relating to institutional sexual assault).
(F) Aggravated indecent assault as defined in 18 Pa.C.S. § 3125 (relating to aggravated indecent assault).
(G) Indecent assault as defined in 18 Pa.C.S. § 3126 (relating to indecent assault).
(H) Indecent exposure as defined in 18 Pa.C.S. § 3127 (relating to indecent exposure).
(I) Incest as defined in 18 Pa.C.S. § 4302 (relating to incest).
(J) Prostitution as defined in 18 Pa.C.S. § 5902 (relating to prostitution and related offenses).
(K) Sexual abuse as defined in 18 Pa.C.S. § 6312 (relating to sexual abuse of children).
(L) Unlawful contact with a minor as defined in 18 Pa.C.S. § 6318 (relating to unlawful contact with minor).
(M) Sexual exploitation as defined in 18 Pa.C.S. § 6320 (relating to sexual exploitation of children).
(iii) For the purposes of subparagraph (i), the term does not include consensual activities between a child who is 14 years of age or older and another person who is 14 years of age or older and whose age is within 4 years of the child’s age.
TMOD—Treatment and Management of Ocular Disease Examination—An examination developed, prepared, administered and scored by NBEO, which the Board adopts as the examination for certification in pharmaceutical agents for therapeutic purposes.
Vision therapy—A term meaning any of the following:(i) Design of treatment plans for problems of eye teaming, focusing, tracking, sensory adaptation and visual information processing.
(ii) Prescription of devices and procedures that modify the oculomotor and sensory aspects of the visual process.
(iii) Orthoptics.
Visual rehabilitation—A term meaning any of the following:(i) Diagnosis of a visual impairment.
(ii) Prescription of lenses, prisms, filters, occluders mirrors, and optical and electrooptical magnification and minification.
(iii) Design of treatment plans to compensate for central and peripheral visual field defects.
Vision screening—The limited process of surveying an individual for problem areas such as visual acuity, eye muscle coordination and refractive error.
Authority The provisions of this § 23.1 added and amended under the Optometric Practice and Licensure Act (63 P.S. § § 244.1—244.12); section 812.1 of The Administrative Code of 1929 (71 P.S. § 279.3a); and 23 Pa.C.S. § 6383(b)(2).
Source The provisions of this § 23.1 adopted September 16, 1965; amended April 16, 1982, effective April 17, 1982, 12 Pa.B. 1231; amended June 22, 1990, effective June 23, 1990, 20 Pa.B. 3497; amended May 31, 1991, effective June 1, 1991, 26 Pa.B. 2552; amended November 8, 1996, effective November 9, 1996, 26 Pa.B. 5395; amended June 5, 1998, effective June 6, 1998, 28 Pa.B. 2586; amended June 3, 2005, 35 Pa.B. 3220; amended May 14, 2021, effective May 15, 2021, 51 Pa.B. 2633; amended January 26, 2024, effective January 27, 2024, 54 Pa.B. 368. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (415871) to (415872) and (415591) to (415592).
Cross References This section cited in 49 Pa. Code § 23.115 (relating to confidentiality—waived).
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