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
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THE SENATE |
S.C.R. NO. |
140 |
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TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2016 |
S.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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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 effectiveness and efficiency of its 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 Child and Adolescent Mental Health Division of the Department of Health; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, as part of the review, the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to include and consider the following and provide a comparative analysis to other similar states' systems:
(1) How the Division assures the accessibility and timeliness of treatment, including to rural populations;
(2) Interaction of the Division with the Department of Health's other relevant divisions or agencies, the Department of Human Services, the Department of Education, and the Office of Youth Services;
(3) How the Division manages a statewide system of care to assure continuity of care, effective case management, and communications among patients, families, and service providers;
(4) The Division's approach to services delivery, measurement, and quality improvement, including assuring access to an array of high-quality clinical services driven by youth care plans, and availability and uniformity of care across the State;
(5) Reimbursement and revenue enhancement through optimizing Medicaid reimbursement, as well as joint ventures with other child-serving agencies, including progress and compliance in meeting Medicaid regulations;
(6) Adequacy of payments to the Division's contracted private providers of therapeutic services;
(7) The structure and function of the Division in regard to its reorganization and mission as the safety net provider of behavioral health services for youth with severe mental health conditions;
(8) Comparisons of the Division's system of care to other states' systems of care, including: effectiveness of services, use of out-of-state care providers and placement, access to care in rural areas, evidence-based practices, costs of services, adequacy of Medicaid reimbursement contracted provider payment, client satisfaction, and timeline of provider payment; and
(9) The interface between the Division's system of care for youth with severe mental health disorders as a safety net provider and the systems in place to serve youth with mild-to-moderate mental health conditions, including the Department of Education and the private mental health systems; 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 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, and Chief of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Division.
Child & Adolescent Mental Health Division; Review
