SECTIONS 5865-5867.5 - California Statutes

WELFARE AND INSTITUTIONS CODE

SECTION 5865-5867.5

5865. Each county shall have in place, with qualified mental health
personnel, all of the following within three years of funding by the
state:
(a) A comprehensive, interagency system of care that serves the
target population as defined in Section 5856.
(b) A method to screen and identify children in the target
population. County mental health staff shall consult with the
representatives from special education, social services, and juvenile
justice agencies, the mental health advisory board, family advocacy
groups, and others as necessary to help identify all of the persons
in the target populations, including persons from ethnic minority
cultures which may require outreach for identification.
(c) A defined mental health case management system designed to
facilitate the outcome goals for children in the target population.
(d) A defined range of mental health services and program
standards that involve interagency collaboration and ensure
appropriate service delivery in the least restrictive environment
with community-based alternatives to out-of-home placement.
(e) A defined mechanism to ensure that services are culturally
competent.
(f) A defined mechanism to ensure that services are child-centered
and family-focused, with parent participation in planning and
delivery of services.
(g) A method to show measurable improvement in individual and
family functional status for children enrolled in the system of care.
(h) A method to measure and report cost avoidance and client
outcomes for the target population which includes, but is not limited
to, state hospital utilization, group home utilization, nonpublic
school residential placement, school attendance and performance, and
recidivism in the juvenile justice system.
(i) A plan to ensure that system of care services are planned to
complement and coordinate with services provided under the federal
Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment services
(Section 1396d(a)(4)(B) of Title 42 of the United States Code),
including foster children served under Section 5867.5, where those
services are medically necessary but children do not meet the
requirements of Section 5600.3.
(j) A plan to ensure that system of care services are planned to
complement and coordinate with services provided to CalWORKs (Chapter
2 (commencing with Section 11200.5) of Part 3 of Division 9)
recipients whose families receive mental health treatment services.
(k) A defined partnership between the children's system of care
program and family members of children who have been or are currently
being served in the county mental health system. This partnership
shall include family member involvement in ongoing discussions and
decisions regarding policy development, program administration,
service development, and service delivery.

5865.1. When a county system of care serves children 15 to 21 years
of age, the following structures and services shall, to the extent
possible, be available, and if not available, the county plan shall
identify a timeline for the development of these services:
(a) Collaborative agreements with schools, community colleges,
independent living programs, child welfare services, job training
agencies, CalWORKs providers, regional center services, and
transportation and recreation services as needed.
(b) Collaborative teams involving the youth and two or more
agencies to develop a transition plan that identifies needs and
resources required to successfully transition to independent living
as an adult.
(c) Service plans that identify the needs of the youth in the
areas of employment, job training, health care, education,
counseling, socialization, housing, and independent living skills, to
be provided by any of the collaborative agencies and access points
for the youth identified.
(d) Assistance with identifying the means for health insurance and
educational linkages when the young person is more than 18 years of
age.
(e) Specific plans for the young adult to identify individuals and
community services that can provide support during the transition to
21 years of age.
(f) Assurances that goals for young adults are individual,
identified by the youth, and developmentally appropriate.
(g) 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.

5865.3. When a county system of care services children, zero to
five years of age, the following structures and services shall be
available, and when not available, the county plan shall identify a
timeline for the development of these services:
(a) Collaborative agreements with public health systems, regional
center services, child care programs, CalWORKs providers, drug and
alcohol treatment programs, child welfare services, and other
agencies that may identify children and families at risk of mental
health problems that affect young children.
(b) Outreach protocols that can assist parents to identify child
behaviors that may be addressed early to prevent mental or emotional
disorders and assure normal child development.
(c) Identification of trained specialists that can assist the
parents of very young children at risk for emotional, social, or
developmental problems with treatment.
(d) Performance measures that ensure that services to families of
very young children are individual, identified by the family, and
developmentally appropriate.

5866. (a) Counties shall develop a method to encourage interagency
collaboration with shared responsibility for services and the client
and cost outcome goals.
(b) The local mental health director shall form or facilitate the
formation of a county interagency policy and planning committee. The
members of the council shall include, but not be limited to, family
members of children who have been or are currently being served in
the county mental health system and the leaders of participating
local government agencies, to include a member of the board of
supervisors, a juvenile court judge, the district attorney, the
public defender, the county counsel, the superintendent of county
schools, the public social services director, the chief probation
officer, and the mental health director.
(c) The duties of the committee shall include, but not be limited
to, all of the following:
(1) Identifying those agencies that have a significant joint
responsibility for the target population and ensuring collaboration
on countywide planning and policy.
(2) Identifying gaps in services to members of the target
population, developing policies to ensure service effectiveness and
continuity, and setting priorities for interagency services.
(3) Implementing public and private collaborative programs
whenever possible to better serve the target population.
(d) The local mental health director shall form or facilitate the
formation of a countywide interagency case management council whose
function shall be to coordinate resources to specific target
population children who are using the services of more than one
agency concurrently. The members of this council shall include, but
not be limited to, representatives from the local special education,
juvenile probation, children's social services, and mental health
services agencies, with necessary authority to commit resources from
their agency to an interagency service plan for a child and family.
The roles, responsibilities, and operation of these councils shall be
specified in written interagency agreements or memoranda of
understanding, or both.
(e) The local mental health director shall develop written
interagency agreements or memoranda of understanding with the
agencies listed in this subdivision, as necessary. Written
interagency agreements or memoranda shall specify jointly provided or
integrated services, staff tasks and responsibilities, facility and
supply commitments, budget considerations, and linkage and referral
services. The agreements shall be reviewed and updated annually.
(f) The agreements required by subdivision (e) may be established
with any of the following:
(1) Special education local planning area consortiums.
(2) The court juvenile probation department.
(3) The county child protective services agency.
(4) The county public health department.
(5) The county department of drug and alcohol services.
(6) Other local public or private agencies serving children.

5867. Counties shall demonstrate a maintenance of effort in
children's mental health services. Any reduction of existing
Bronzan-McCorquodale children's services provided under Part 2
(commencing with Section 5600) shall be identified and justified in
the program proposal developed under this chapter.

5867.5. (a) Beginning in the 1998-99 fiscal year, county mental
health departments that receive full system of care funding, as
determined by the State Department of Mental Health in consultation
with counties, shall provide to children served by county social
services and probation departments mental health screening,
assessment, participation in multidisciplinary placement teams and
specialty mental health treatment services for children placed out of
home in group care, for those children who meet the definition of
medical necessity, to the extent resources are available. These
counties shall give first priority to children currently receiving
psychoactive medication.
(b) The State Department of Mental Health shall develop, by June
1, 1999, an estimate of the extent to which mental health assessment
and treatment resources are available to meet all of the following
needs:
(1) Children placed in group care by county departments of social
services and probation.
(2) Children placed in out-of-home care by county departments of
social services.
(3) Children at risk of placement out of home who are receiving
services from county departments of social services or probation.
(c) The estimate required by subdivision (b) shall include
identification of specific resource gaps, including human resource
gaps, in the delivery of specialty mental health services to children
identified by county social services and probation.
(d) The State Department of Mental Health shall develop, with the
assistance of the State Department of Social Services and the
Judicial Council, with participation by county mental health
departments, county health departments, and county social services
departments, and in consultation with group home providers and
representatives of current or former foster youth and representatives
of pediatricians and child and adolescent psychiatrists, by July 1,
1999, a procedure for review of treatment plans for children
receiving prescribed psychoactive medication and who are placed in
out-of-home care.