C

Glossary – C


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CAF – Common Application Form

CAFS – Child Abuse and Family Services

CAO – County Assistance Office

CAPTA – Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act

Career Development – Education, support, and employment planning as well as access to services for individuals, ranging from career awareness and exploration, counseling, education and training opportunities and certifications, to long-range “career pathway” plans leading to better jobs, greater job satisfaction or higher pay.

CareerLink – Pennsylvania’s one-stop delivery system of employment, education, and training services available to job seekers, those who want to further their careers, and employers; universal access gained virtually through websites and through regional CareerLink sites.

Caregiver – A person who has special training to help people with mental health problems.

Case Management – A service that assists clients to obtain and coordinate community resources such as income assistance, education, housing, medical care, treatment, vocational preparation, and recreation.

Case Management for Homeless Persons – A Case Manager will work with individuals and families with serious mental illness who are also homeless. Services focus on identifying and accessing resources to assist with ending the individual’s homelessness.

Case Manager – Individual who organizes services for a client

CASSP – Child and Adolescent Service System Program

CBO – Congressional Budget Office

CCAP – County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania

CCDBG – Child Care and Development Block Grant (Welfare Reform Consolidation)

CCRD – Child Care Resource Developer

CCYA – County Child and Youth Agency

CDC – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Federal Agency)

Cerebral Palsy (CP) – Refers to a group of symptoms including poor muscle control, spasticity, paralysis, and other neurologic problems resulting from brain injury before, during, or shortly after birth. Symptoms range from barely noticeable clumsiness to severe spasticity and may include intellectual disability, behavioral problems, difficulty seeing or hearing properly, and seizure disorders.

CFS – Child and Family Services Review (Federal)

CHC – Community Health Center

Chickenpox – A highly contagious infection with the varicella-zoster virus that produces a characteristic itchy rash, consisting of small, raised, blistered, or crusted spots. Before the rash appears, children have a mild headache, moderate fever, loss of appetite, and a general feeling of illness.

Childhood Disintegrative Disorder – Causes apparently normal children to begin to act younger (regress) after age three. In most children, physical and mental development occurs in spurts, and it is common for children to take steps backwards.

Child Welfare – A field of social service concerned with the care and well being of children.

Child Welfare Agency – An administrative organization providing protection to children, and supportive services to children and their families.

Chronic Care – Care and treatment rendered to individuals whose health problems are of a long-term and continuing nature. Rehabilitation facilities, nursing homes, and mental hospitals may be considered chronic care facilities.

CJPT – Criminal Justice Policy Team

CLEAN – Commonwealth Law Enforcement Assistance Network

Clinical Social Worker – A mental health professional trained to provide services to individuals, families, and groups. They cannot prescribe medication.

Clinical Psychologists – Mental health professionals who have earned a doctoral degree in Psychology and have received extensive clinical training. They are trained in research, assessment, and the application of different psychological therapies.

Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) – A form of psychological therapy that focuses on directly modifying both cognitive processes and behavior. CBT draws heavily on cognitive theory and research, as well as more traditional techniques.

Collaborative Learning – Education environment that stresses interaction among learners and with instructors, mutual support and respect rather than competition, and the construction rather than transmission of knowledge; learners often work together in pairs or small groups on a common problem.

Communication Disorders – Can involve hearing, voice, speech, language or a combination. There are several types, including speech disorders, voice disorders, hearing impairment and specific language impairment.

Community Partnerships – Linkage and coordination of various public and private community organizations with the goal of creating a collaborative and seamless system to meet the various needs of community members.

Community Support System – An organized system of care to assist adults with long-term psychiatric disabilities to meet their needs and develop their potentials without being unnecessarily isolated or excluded from the community.

Conduct Disorder – Involves a repetitive pattern of behavior that violates the basic rights of others. Children with a conduct disorder are selfish and insensitive to the feelings of others and may bully, damage property, lie, or steal without guilt.

Consumer Recovery Center – A Drop-in Center that provides mental health consumers with opportunities to interact with peers in social, educational and recreational activities.

Content Standards – Describe the range of desirable knowledge and skills within a subject area.

Conversion Disorder – Somatoform disorder in which children may seem to have a paralyzed arm or leg, become deaf or blind, or have shaking that resembles seizures. These symptoms begin suddenly, usually after a distressing event, and may or may not resolve abruptly.

Core Services – Refers to universally available services through the CareerLink system for all individuals and employers. Core services for individuals include initial assessment, job search assistance, information about labor market, financial aid, providers, and support services. Core services for employers include orientation to CareerLink system, multiple methods to list job openings, access to resumes, job matching, and information on training providers, human resources and labor market.

CPS – Child Protective Services

CPSL – Child Protective Services Law

Croup – An inflammation of the windpipe and voice box typically caused by a contagious viral infection that causes cough, a loud squeaking noise, and sometimes difficulty while breathing in.

CSAT – Center for Substance and Abuse Treatment

CTC – Communities That Care

Cultural Competence – An awareness and acceptance of cultural differences, an awareness of one’s own cultural values, an understanding of the “dynamics of difference” in the helping process, basic knowledge about the client’s culture, and the ability to adapt practice skills to fit the client’s cultural context.

CWLA – Child Welfare League of America, Ltd.

CWT – Child Welfare Training

CWTSC – Child Welfare Training Steering Committee

CYS – Children and Youth Services

Cystic Fibrosis – A hereditary disease that causes certain glands to produce abnormal secretion, resulting in tissue and organ damage, especially in the lungs and the digestive tract. Typical symptoms include vomiting and abdominal bloating in newborns, poor weight gain, coughing, wheezing, and frequent respiratory tract infections.