Report Title:
Child/Adolescent Mental Health Division
Description:
Transfers child and adolescent mental health division, including child mental health branch, and their functions and duties from DOH to DOE.
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
1431 |
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TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2001 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating to child and adolescent mental health.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that, at present, as a result of the Felix consent decree and other factors, the responsibility for delivery of state child and adolescent mental health services is divided between the departments of education and health.
The legislature further finds that the most efficient means of delivering the services is to consolidate the responsibility in one department, and inasmuch as most of the services are being delivered in an educational context, that consolidation should be in the department of education.
SECTION 2. Chapter 302A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new part to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:
"PART . MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH
§302A-A Children's mental health services; department responsibility. It shall be the responsibility of the department of education to:
(1) Provide preventative health services for children and youth;
(2) Provide diagnostic and treatment services for emotionally disturbed children and youth; and
(3) Provide treatment and rehabilitative services for mentally ill children and youth.
The services shall be delivered at the earliest possible moment after the need for such services is established. All eligible children and youth between the ages of birth and seventeen shall receive the necessary mental health services to ensure their proper and full development. If there is any adjudication or settlement of any legal action involving the delivery of children's mental health services, the department of education shall be responsible for the coordination of carrying out the terms of the judgment or settlement.
§302A-B Children's mental health services branch. There is established within the department of education, a children's mental health services branch, that shall coordinate the effective and efficient delivery of mental health services to children and youth, including services provided by private nonprofit agencies under contract to the department of education, and be responsible for the development and implementation of centralized and highly specialized programs for children and youth.
§302A-C Preventive, early identification services for children and youth. The department of education shall provide a children's mental health services team which, in conjunction with other public and private agencies, shall develop and provide a network of preventative, early identification, screening, diagnostic, treatment, and rehabilitative services for children and youth based on the needs of each geographic region in which the team is located. The children's mental health services teams shall cooperate with and promote the coordination of the activities of local public and private agencies serving children and youth in their particular geographic area.
§302A-D Statewide children's mental health services plan. (a) Commencing on September 1, 1980, and every four years thereafter, the children's mental health services branch, on or before September 1, of each four-year cycle, shall develop and present to the governor and the legislature, as well as release for public inspection and comment, a current statewide children's mental health services plan that shall include:
(1) A survey of the children and youth in the State who are:
(A) In need of; and
(B) Receiving mental health services,
showing the total number of such children and youth and their geographic distribution;
(2) Identification of the public and private providers of mental health services to children and youth;
(3) Identification of the criteria and standards for the treatment to be received by emotionally disturbed or mentally ill children and youth;
(4) A program for the recruitment, orientation, and in- service training of personnel in community mental health services to children and youth, and to allied fields, including participation, as appropriate, by:
(A) Institutions of higher learning;
(B) State and local agencies; and
(C) Other public and private agencies having relevant expertise;
(5) A description of the provisions for prevention, early identification, diagnosis, screening, treatment, and rehabilitation (including, with regard to treatment and rehabilitation, services provided through inpatient, outpatient, and community residential facilities) of children and youth in need of mental health services;
(6) An implementation plan for providing mental health services to all children and youth in the State in each of the above-mentioned areas; and
(7) Any additional matters that may be necessary or appropriate, including:
(A) Recommendations for amendment of laws;
(B) Changes in administrative practices and patterns of organization; and
(C) Changes in levels and patterns of financial support relating to children's mental health services.
(b) Prior to the submission of the statewide children's mental health services plan under subsection (a) to the governor and the legislature, the department of education shall hold hearings on the plan in accordance with chapter 91. There shall be at least one hearing in each county; except that the city and county of Honolulu shall have three hearings in strategic geographic locations to provide the widest exposure of the plan to the population.
(c) Any amendments to the statewide children's mental health services plan shall be adopted in accordance with chapter 91.
§302A-E Biennial review of progress. Every two years, starting January 1, 2003, the department of education, on or before January 1, of each two-year cycle, shall submit to the legislature and the governor a report setting forth:
(1) A detailed analysis of the progress made toward fulfilling the statewide children's mental health services plan developed under section 302A-D; and
(2) Other matters that are necessary or appropriate, including recommendations for any amendment to any law, any change in the administrative practices and patterns of organization, and any change in the levels and patterns of financial support.
§302A-F Rules. The superintendent of education may adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91 necessary to carry out the purposes of this part."
SECTION 3. Section 334-10, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:
"(c) The council shall advise the department and the department of education on allocation of resources, statewide needs, and programs affecting two or more service areas. The council shall review and comment on the state plan and the statewide children's mental health services plan and shall serve as an advocate for [adults]:
(1) Adults with serious mental illness[, children];
(2) Children with serious emotional disturbances[, other];
(3) Other individuals with mental illnesses or emotional problems[,] and [individuals];
(4) Individuals with combined mental illness substance abuse disorders."
SECTION 4. Part XV of chapter 321, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.
SECTION 5. All rights, powers, functions, and duties of the department of health with respect to the child and adolescent mental health division, including the children's mental health services branch, are transferred to the department of education.
All officers and employees whose functions are transferred by this Act shall be transferred with their functions and shall continue to perform their regular duties upon their transfer, subject to the state personnel laws and this Act.
No officer or employee of the State having tenure shall suffer any loss of salary, seniority, prior service credit, vacation, sick leave, or other employee benefit or privilege as a consequence of this Act, and such officer or employee may be transferred or appointed to a civil service position without the necessity of examination; provided that the officer or employee possesses the minimum qualifications for the position to which transferred or appointed; and provided that subsequent changes in status may be made pursuant to applicable civil service and compensation laws.
Any incumbent officer or employee of the State who does not have tenure and who may be transferred or appointed to a civil service position as a consequence of this Act, shall be granted regular civil service status without loss of seniority, prior service credit, vacation, sick leave, or other employee benefits, and without the necessity of examination; provided they possess the minimum qualifications for the class to which their positions are assigned. The pay rate of non-tenured employees affected by this Act shall be determined in the same manner as the pay rate of other civil service employees in comparable positions with the same length of service. Any officer or employee converted by this Act shall have performed work satisfactorily in the position for a period of not less than six months prior to the effective date of this Act.
In the event that an office or position held by an officer or employee having tenure is abolished, the officer or employee shall not thereby be separated from public employment, but shall remain in the employment of the State with the same pay and classification and shall be transferred to some other office or position for which the officer or employee is eligible under the personnel laws of the State as determined by the head of the department or the governor.
SECTION 6. All appropriations, records, equipment, machines, files, supplies, contracts, books, papers, documents, maps, and other personal property heretofore made, used, acquired, or held by the department of health with respect to the child and adolescent mental health division, including the children's mental health services branch, relating to the functions transferred to the department of education shall be transferred with the functions to which they relate.
SECTION 7. This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun, before its effective date.
SECTION 8. If any provision of this Act, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of the Act which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this Act are severable.
SECTION 9. In codifying the new part added to chapter 302A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, by section 1 of this Act, the revisor of statutes shall substitute appropriate section numbers for the letters used in the new sections' designations in this Act.
SECTION 10. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 11. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
INTRODUCED BY: