§ 20-47-703 - Findings. - Arkansas Statutes

20-47-703. Findings.

The General Assembly finds:

(1) The system for providing behavioral health care services to children, youth, and their families should ensure that those services are appropriate, cost-effective, and provided in the least restrictive settings;

(2) Behavioral health and other services identified in 20-47-502(10) are provided to children and youth by various departments, agencies, and providers at both the state and local level, often without appropriate or effective collaboration;

(3) Providing effective services for children with the most severe needs requires many areas of expertise and shared responsibility among the aforementioned departments, agencies, and providers; and

(4) The system of behavioral health care should be built upon the foundation established by the Child and Adolescent Service System Program principles identified in 20-47-503. The guiding principles for establishing the system of care should be:

(A) The system should be family-driven, child-centered, and youth-guided and should include family participation at all levels of the services system;

(B) The system should be community-based with decision-making responsibility and management at the regional and local levels; and

(C) The system should be culturally competent, with agencies, programs, and services responsive to the cultural and individual differences of the populations they serve.