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2011 Session

Budget Amendments - SB800 (Member Request)

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Chief Patron: Howell
Replace Language Regarding Assessment of Children's MH Services (language only)

Item 297 #27s

Item 297 #27s

Health And Human Resources
Medical Assistance Services, Department of

Language
Page 267, strike lines 41 through 53, and insert:
"OOOO.  Effective July 1, 2011, the Department of Medical Assistance Services shall amend the State Plans under Title XIX and XXI of the Social Security Act to require an assessment and reevaluation of children who are in need of state plan community mental health rehabilitative services and who are at risk of out of home placement.  Assessments and reevaluations shall be the responsibilities of the Community Services Board or Behavioral Health Authority serving the locality(ies).  The assessments and reevaluations shall be a completed behavioral assessment of the child and the family and consider other health-related issues.  If the child is a member of a Medicaid-contracted managed care organization (MCO), the assessment shall be communicated to the MCO.  Intensive In-Home services for children and Therapeutic Day Treatment services for children and adolescents shall not be authorized for payment until the assessment is completed and a determination made that the child meets the criteria established by DMAS for receiving state plan community mental health rehabilitation services.  The department shall have authority to promulgate emergency regulations to implement this amendment within 280 days or less from the enactment date of this act."


Explanation
(This amendment replaces proposed budget language requiring an independent assessment of children's mental health services prior to services being authorized. This amendment designates community services boards (CSBs) as the responsible party for the assessment and reevaluation. CSBs are the single point of entry into the publicly-funded system of community services. Diagnostic evaluations as a CSB responsibility will insure that children and youth with behavioral conditions are assessed for a level of need for behavioral health services and that the children and families will be linked to providers of the family’s choice who are able to deliver the level of services needed based upon the evaluation and DMAS criteria for those services.)