SB489: Community policy and management teams; required to identify children in residential care facilities.

SENATE BILL NO. 489
Offered January 9, 2008
Prefiled January 9, 2008
A BILL to amend and reenact § 2.2-5206 of the Code of Virginia, relating to community policy and management teams; duties.
Patron-- Hanger

Referred to Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1.  That § 2.2-5206 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 2.2-5206. Community policy and management teams; powers and duties.

The community policy and management team shall manage the cooperative effort in each community to better serve the needs of troubled and at-risk youths and their families and to maximize the use of state and community resources. Every such team shall:

1. Develop interagency policies and procedures to govern the provision of services to children and families in its community;

2. Develop interagency fiscal policies governing access to the state pool of funds by the eligible populations including immediate access to funds for emergency services and shelter care;

3. Establish policies to assess the ability of parents or legal guardians to contribute financially to the cost of services to be provided and, when not specifically prohibited by federal or state law or regulation, provide for appropriate parental or legal guardian financial contribution, utilizing a standard sliding fee scale based upon ability to pay;

4. Coordinate long-range, community-wide planning that ensures the development of resources and services needed by children and families in its community including consultation on the development of a community-based system of services established under § 16.1-309.3;

5. Establish policies governing referrals and reviews of children and families to the family assessment and planning teams or a collaborative, multidisciplinary team process approved by the Council and a process to review the teams' recommendations and requests for funding;

6. Establish quality assurance and accountability procedures for program utilization and funds management;

7. Establish procedures for obtaining bids on the development of new services;

8. Manage funds in the interagency budget allocated to the community from the state pool of funds, the trust fund, and any other source;

9. Authorize and monitor the expenditure of funds by each family assessment and planning team or a collaborative, multidisciplinary team process approved by the Council;

10. Submit grant proposals that benefit its community to the state trust fund and enter into contracts for the provision or operation of services upon approval of the participating governing bodies;

11. Serve as its community's liaison to the Office of Comprehensive Services for At-Risk Youth and Families, reporting on its programmatic and fiscal operations and on its recommendations for improving the service system, including consideration of realignment of geographical boundaries for providing human services;

12. Collect and provide uniform data to the Council on, but not limited to, expenditures, number of youth served in specific CSA activities, length of stay for residents in core licensed residential facilities, and proportion of youth placed in treatment settings suggested by a uniform assessment instrument for CSA-funded services;

13. Administer funds pursuant to § 16.1-309.3;

14. Have authority, upon approval of the participating governing bodies, to enter into a contract with another community policy and management team to purchase coordination services provided that funds described as the state pool of funds under § 2.2-5211 are not used; and

15. Submit to the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services information on children under the age of 14 and adolescents ages 14 through 17 for whom an admission to an acute care psychiatric or residential treatment facility licensed pursuant to Article 2 (§ 37.2-403 et seq.) of Chapter 4 of Title 37.2, exclusive of group homes, was sought but was unable to be obtained by the reporting entities. Such information shall be gathered from the family assessment and planning team or participating community agencies authorized in § 2.2-5207. Information to be submitted shall include:

a. The child or adolescent's date of birth;

b. Date admission was attempted; and

c. Reason the patient could not be admitted into the hospital or facility. ; and

16. Identify children in residential care facilities who can be appropriately served in their homes and communities and develop a plan for the return of those children from residential care facilities to their homes and communities. Such plan shall identify any necessary community-based services required for the continued service to those children and provide for the coordination of services and monitoring of children who have returned from residential services to their homes and communities.