093_SB1951enr

 
SB1951 Enrolled                      LRB093 08901 RCE 09133 b

 1        AN ACT in relation to children.

 2        WHEREAS,  Untreated  mental  health  problems in children
 3    have serious fiscal consequences for the State  because  they
 4    affect   children's  ability  to  learn  and  increase  their
 5    propensity for violence, alcohol  and  substance  abuse,  and
 6    other  delinquent  behaviors  that  are  extremely  costly to
 7    treat; and

 8        WHEREAS, One in 10 children in Illinois  suffers  from  a
 9    mental   illness   severe  enough  to  cause  some  level  of
10    impairment; yet, in any given year only about  20%  of  these
11    children receive mental health services; and

12        WHEREAS,   Many   mental   health  problems  are  largely
13    preventable or can be  minimized  with  promotion  and  early
14    intervention  services  that  have been shown to be effective
15    and that reduce the need for more costly interventions; and

16        WHEREAS,  Children's  social  development  and  emotional
17    development are essential underpinnings to  school  readiness
18    and academic success; and

19        WHEREAS,  A  comprehensive, coordinated children's mental
20    health  system  can  help  maximize  resources  and  minimize
21    duplication of services; and

22        WHEREAS, The Illinois Children's Mental Health Task Force
23    engaged  a  broad,  multi-disciplinary  group  that   reached
24    consensus  on recommendations that serve as the basis for the
25    provisions of this Act; therefore

26        Be it  enacted  by  the  People  of  the  State  of  Illinois,
27    represented in the General Assembly:

28        Section 1.  Short title. This Act may  be  cited  as  the
29    Children's Mental Health Act of 2003.
 
SB1951 Enrolled            -2-       LRB093 08901 RCE 09133 b
 1        Section 5.  Children's Mental Health Plan.
 2        (a)  The  State  of  Illinois  shall develop a Children's
 3    Mental  Health  Plan  containing  short-term  and   long-term
 4    recommendations  to provide comprehensive, coordinated mental
 5    health prevention, early intervention, and treatment services
 6    for children from birth  through  age  18.  This  Plan  shall
 7    include but not be limited to:
 8             (1)  Coordinated  provider  services and interagency
 9        referral networks for children from birth through age  18
10        to   maximize   resources  and  minimize  duplication  of
11        services.
12             (2)  Guidelines   for   incorporating   social   and
13        emotional development into school learning standards  and
14        educational programs, pursuant to Section 15 of this Act.
15             (3)  Protocols   for   implementing   screening  and
16        assessment of children  prior  to  any  admission  to  an
17        inpatient  hospital for psychiatric services, pursuant to
18        subsection (a) of Section 5-5.23 of the  Illinois  Public
19        Aid Code.
20             (4)  Recommendations  regarding  a  State budget for
21        children's mental health prevention, early  intervention,
22        and treatment across all State agencies.
23             (5)  Recommendations  for State and local mechanisms
24        for integrating federal, State, and local funding sources
25        for children's mental health.
26             (6)  Recommendations for building  a  qualified  and
27        adequately  trained  workforce prepared to provide mental
28        health services for children from birth  through  age  18
29        and their families.
30             (7)  Recommendations  for  facilitating  research on
31        best practices and model programs, and  dissemination  of
32        this information to Illinois policymakers, practitioners,
33        and   the  general  public  through  training,  technical
34        assistance, and educational materials.
 
SB1951 Enrolled            -3-       LRB093 08901 RCE 09133 b
 1             (8)  Recommendations    for     a     comprehensive,
 2        multi-faceted  public  awareness  campaign  to reduce the
 3        stigma  of  mental  illness  and  educate  families,  the
 4        general  public,  and  other  key  audiences  about   the
 5        benefits  of children's social and emotional development,
 6        and how to access services.
 7             (9)  Recommendations for creating  a  quality-driven
 8        children's    mental    health    system    with   shared
 9        accountability among key State agencies and programs that
10        conducts  ongoing   needs   assessments,   uses   outcome
11        indicators   and  benchmarks  to  measure  progress,  and
12        implements quality data tracking and reporting systems.
13        (b)  The Children's Mental Health Partnership  (hereafter
14    referred to as "the Partnership") is created. The Partnership
15    shall  have  the  responsibility of developing and monitoring
16    the implementation of the Children's Mental  Health  Plan  as
17    approved  by  the  Governor.  The  Children's  Mental  Health
18    Partnership  shall  be  comprised  of: the Secretary of Human
19    Services or his or her designee; the State Superintendent  of
20    Education  or  his  or  her  designee;  the  directors of the
21    departments of Children  and  Family  Services,  Public  Aid,
22    Public Health, and Corrections, or their designees;  the head
23    of  the Illinois Violence Prevention Authority, or his or her
24    designee; the Attorney General or his or her designee; up  to
25    25 representatives of community mental health authorities and
26    statewide  mental health, children and family advocacy, early
27    childhood,  education,  health,  substance  abuse,   violence
28    prevention,    and    juvenile   justice   organizations   or
29    associations, to be appointed by the Governor; and 2  members
30    of  each  caucus  of  the House of Representatives and Senate
31    appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives  and
32    the President of the Senate, respectively. The Governor shall
33    appoint   the   Partnership   Chair  and  shall  designate  a
34    Governor's staff liaison to work with the Partnership.
 
SB1951 Enrolled            -4-       LRB093 08901 RCE 09133 b
 1        (c)  The Partnership shall submit a Preliminary  Plan  to
 2    the Governor on September 30, 2004 and shall submit the Final
 3    Plan  on  June  30, 2005. Thereafter, on September 30 of each
 4    year, the Partnership shall submit an annual  report  to  the
 5    Governor   on   the   progress  of  Plan  implementation  and
 6    recommendations for revisions in the Plan. The Final Plan and
 7    annual reports submitted in subsequent  years  shall  include
 8    estimates  of  savings  achieved  in prior fiscal years under
 9    subsection (a) of Section 5-5.23 of the Illinois  Public  Aid
10    Code  and  federal  financial  participation  received  under
11    subsection   (b)   of  Section  5-5.23  of  that  Code.   The
12    Department of Public Aid shall provide  technical  assistance
13    in developing these estimates and reports.

14        Section 10.  Office of Mental Health services. The Office
15    of  Mental  Health  within  the  Department of Human Services
16    shall allow grant and purchase-of-service moneys to  be  used
17    for services for children from birth through age 18.

18        Section 15.  Mental health and schools.
19        (a)  The  Illinois State Board of Education shall develop
20    and implement a plan  to  incorporate  social  and  emotional
21    development  standards  as  part  of  the  Illinois  Learning
22    Standards   for   the  purpose  of  enhancing  and  measuring
23    children's school readiness and ability to  achieve  academic
24    success.  The  plan  shall  be submitted to the Governor, the
25    General Assembly, and the Partnership by December 31, 2004.
26        (b)  Every  Illinois  school  district  shall  develop  a
27    policy for incorporating  social  and  emotional  development
28    into  the  district's  educational  program. The policy shall
29    address teaching and assessing social  and  emotional  skills
30    and   protocols  for  responding  to  children  with  social,
31    emotional, or mental health problems,  or  a  combination  of
32    such  problems,  that  impact learning ability. Each district
 
SB1951 Enrolled            -5-       LRB093 08901 RCE 09133 b
 1    must submit this  policy  to  the  Illinois  State  Board  of
 2    Education by August 31, 2004.

 3        Section  95.  The  Illinois Public Aid Code is amended by
 4    adding Section 5-5.23 as follows:

 5        (305 ILCS 5/5-5.23 new)
 6        Sec. 5-5.23.  Children's mental health services.
 7        (a)  The Department of Public Aid, by rule, shall require
 8    the  screening  and  assessment  of  a  child  prior  to  any
 9    Medicaid-funded  admission  to  an  inpatient  hospital   for
10    psychiatric  services to be funded by Medicaid. The screening
11    and  assessment  shall  include  a   determination   of   the
12    appropriateness   and  availability  of  out-patient  support
13    services for necessary treatment. The  Department,  by  rule,
14    shall  establish  methods  and  standards  of payment for the
15    screening,  assessment,  and  necessary  alternative  support
16    services.
17        (b)  The  Department  of  Public  Aid,  to   the   extent
18    allowable  under  federal law, shall secure federal financial
19    participation for Individual Care Grant expenditures made  by
20    the  Department  of  Human Services for the Medicaid optional
21    service authorized  under  Section  1905(h)  of  the  federal
22    Social  Security  Act,  pursuant to the provisions of Section
23    7.1 of  the  Mental  Health  and  Developmental  Disabilities
24    Administrative Act.
25        (c)  The Department of Public Aid shall work jointly with
26    the Department of Human Services to implement subsections (a)
27    and (b).

28        Section 99.  Effective date.  This Act takes  effect upon
 
SB1951 Enrolled            -6-       LRB093 08901 RCE 09133 b
 1    becoming law.