SECTIONS 5861-5864 - California Statutes

WELFARE AND INSTITUTIONS CODE

SECTION 5861-5864

5861. Proposals for a system of care may be submitted for a region
by several smaller counties acting jointly, as independent countywide
proposals, or proposals to serve a discrete subset of the targeted
population in a larger county, such as court dependents, court wards,
or special education pupils.

5862. (a) Each county wishing to participate under this part shall
develop a three-year program proposal for phasing in the children's
comprehensive mental health services system.
(b) The three-year program proposal shall include all of the
following:
(1) The components of the system the county proposes to implement
in the first year, which shall include a case management component.
(2) The components of the system the county intends to implement
in the second year.
(3) The remaining components of the system the county intends to
implement in the third year. All components shall be in place by the
end of the third year.
(c) Approval for participation shall be made by the department at
the end of the three-year period.

5863. In addition to the requirements of Section 5862, each county
program proposal shall contain all of the following:
(a) Methods and protocols for the county mental health department
to identify and screen the eligible target population children. These
protocols shall be developed with collaborative partners and shall
ensure that eligible children can be referred from all collaborating
agencies.
(b) Measurable system performance goals for client outcome and
cost avoidance. Outcomes shall be made available to collaborating
partners and used for program improvement.
(c) Methods to achieve interagency collaboration by all publicly
funded agencies serving children experiencing emotional disturbances.
(d) Appropriate written interagency protocols and agreements with
all other programs in the county that serve similar populations of
children. Agreements shall exist with wrap-around programs (Chapter 4
(commencing with Section 18250) of Part 6 of Division 9), Family
Preservation programs (Part 4.4 (commencing with Section 16600) of
Division 9), Juvenile Crime Enforcement and Accountability Challenge
Grant programs (Article 18.7 (commencing with Section 749.2) of
Chapter 2 of Part 1 of Division 1), programs serving children with a
dual diagnosis including substance abuse or whose emotional
disturbance is related to family substance abuse, and programs
serving families enrolled in CalWORKs (Chapter 2 (commencing with
Section 11200.5) of Part 3 of Division 9).
(e) A description of case management services for the target
population. Each county program proposal shall include protocols
developed in the county for case management designed to provide
assessment, linkage, case planning, monitoring, and client advocacy
to facilitate the provision of appropriate services for the child and
family in the least restrictive environment as close to home as
possible.
(f) Mental health services that enable a child to remain in his or
her usual family setting and that offer an appropriate alternative
to out-of-home placement.
(g) Methods to conduct joint interagency placement screening of
target population children prior to out-of-home placement.
(h) Identification of the number and level of county evaluation
staff and the resources necessary to meet requirements established by
the State Department of Mental Health to measure client and cost
outcome and other system performance measures.
(i) A budget specifying all new and currently funded mental health
expenditures provided as part of the proposed system of care. The
department shall establish reporting requirements for direct and
indirect administrative overhead, to be included in the request for
proposals. Weight shall be given to counties with lower
administrative overhead costs. In no case shall administrative costs
exceed those of existing county mental health programs and services.
Expenditures for evaluation staff and resources shall not be
considered administrative costs for this purpose.
(j) Any requirements for interagency collaboration, agreements, or
protocols contained in this section shall not diminish requirements
for the confidentiality of medical information or information
maintained by a county agency or department.

5864. Participating counties shall, prior to the submission of
their program proposals, develop baseline data on children served by
the county in the mental health services system, social services
system, the juvenile justice system, and the special education
system. Data shall include, but not be limited to, the numbers of
children and current expenditures for group homes, nonpublic school
placements, and state hospital placements. This baseline data shall
be submitted to the department as part of the program proposal.