Bill Text: HI SCR140 | 2016 | Regular Session | Amended


Bill Title: Child & Adolescent Mental Health Division; Review

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2016-04-18 - Report adopted. referred to the committee(s) on FIN as amended in HD 1 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Fukumoto Chang, Har, Oshiro, Souki, Ward excused (5). [SCR140 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2016-SCR140-Amended.html

THE SENATE

S.C.R. NO.

140

TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2016

S.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

H.D. 1

 

 

 

 

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THE LEGISLATIVE REFERENCE BUREAU TO CONDUCT A REVIEW OF THE CHILD AND ADOLESCENT MENTAL HEALTH DIVISION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH.

 

 


     WHEREAS, the program objective of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Division of the Department of Health is the following:

 

To improve the emotional well-being of children and adolescents and to preserve and strengthen their families by assuring easy access to a child and adolescent-focused, family-centered community-based coordinated system of care that addresses the children's and adolescents' physical, social, emotional and other developmental needs within the least restrictive natural environment.  To ensure that the child and adolescent mental health system provides timely and accessible mental health services, with a commitment to continuous monitoring and evaluation for effectiveness and efficiency; and

 

     WHEREAS, the clients of the Division, who are among the most vulnerable in the community, consist of youths who through little or no fault of their own or immature life choices have encountered mental health difficulties; and

 

     WHEREAS, the cost of the child and adolescent mental health program is substantial--$63,000,000 for fiscal year 2016-2017, of which $41,600,000 is general funds; and

 

     WHEREAS, given the substantial cost, the Legislature finds that the program should be reviewed for its effectiveness and efficiency; and

 

     WHEREAS, moreover, the Legislature has major concerns about the availability of treatment programs and services on the neighbor islands, lack of payment increases for privately provided residential treatment, and related issues; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Division has a statewide mandate as a result of the Felix Consent Decree to work with the Department of Education to provide services to special education youth with severe mental health conditions, is designated by the Department of Human Services, MedQUEST Division as the sole provider of high end intensive behavioral health services to QUEST enrolled youth, and should be able to receive payment from MedQUEST for reimbursement for services provided to Medicaid eligible children and adolescents; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Division is designated by the Department of Human Services Office of Youth Services to provide mental health services to youth in the juvenile correctional facility and detention home and is frequently court-ordered to provide intensive mental health services as an alternative to incarceration for juvenile justice involved youth and youth leaving juvenile justice care; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Legislature is also concerned about the progress of the current reorganization of the Division, which complicates legislative budget review of program efficiencies and the benefits to, or impacts upon, the children and adolescents who are served by the Division; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Legislature recognizes that much of its concerns may result from the current level of appropriations for the program; and

 

     WHEREAS, before committing additional resources to the child and adolescent mental health program, however, the Legislature finds that a review of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Division should be performed to determine the Division's current state of effectiveness and efficiency, the reasons for and status of its reorganization plan, and its plans for future operation; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-Eighth Legislature, Regular Session of 2016, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to conduct a review of the goals, objectives, and rationale of the Department of Health Child and Adolescent Mental Health Division's reorganization plan; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, as part of its review of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Division of the Department of Health, the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to include and consider the following:

 

     (1)  How the Division operated and provided services to its clients prior to initiating its reorganization plan;

 

     (2)  If available from the Department of Health, data that would assist the Legislature in determining the Division's baseline effectiveness in meeting its mandated duties prior to the initiation of its reorganization plan;

 

     (3)  How the Division developed its reorganization plan, the reasons for the reorganization, and the timetable for the implementation of the plan;

 

     (4)  How the Division's reorganization plan meets current best practices;

 

     (5)  What performance benchmarks and monitoring protocols the Division has included in its reorganization plan in order to measure the reorganization's effectiveness;

 

     (6)  If data is available from the Department of Health, projected client population growth over the next five fiscal years and how the reorganized Division plans on meeting the needs of the increased population;

 

     (7)  How the Division will be ensuring that it is maximizing reimbursements from and cost sharing opportunities with the federal government;

 

(8)  How the Division is collaborating with the Department of Health's other relevant divisions or sister agencies, including but not limited to the Department of Human Services, the Department of Education, the Office of Youth Services, and the Judiciary;

 

     (9)  A description of the information technology component of the Division's planned reorganization, to include:

 

(A)  The objectives of the information technology component;

 

(B)  The development, implementation, and operation costs of the information technology component;

 

(C)  Actual and projected federal matching funds to be received for the development, implementation, and operation costs of the information technology component;

 

(D)  Protocols that the Division has or will have in place to ensure that vendor and maintenance costs remain at or below a level that is considered acceptable based on industry or best practices standards; and

 

(E)  Protocols that the Division has or will have in place to ensure that the information technology component will operate according to the Division's contract specifications; and

 

(10) The initial costs of the reorganization plan, costs of any foreseeable disruptions in client service or provider reimbursements, and estimated ongoing annual operating costs for the next five fiscal years to maintain the Division in its reorganized form; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health and other relevant state departments and agencies are requested to cooperate with the Legislative Reference Bureau in the conduct of the review; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health and other relevant state departments and agencies are requested to submit all information requested by the Legislature Reference Bureau by no later than August 1, 2016; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to submit a report to the Legislature at least twenty days before the convening of the Regular Session of 2017; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Health, Acting Director of the Legislative Reference Bureau, Chief of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Division, Director of Human Services, Superintendent of Education, Chief Justice, and the Executive Director of Youth Services.

Report Title:

Child & Adolescent Mental Health Division; Review

 

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