Public Act 93-0495
SB1951 Enrolled LRB093 08901 RCE 09133 b
AN ACT in relation to children.
WHEREAS, Untreated mental health problems in children
have serious fiscal consequences for the State because they
affect children's ability to learn and increase their
propensity for violence, alcohol and substance abuse, and
other delinquent behaviors that are extremely costly to
treat; and
WHEREAS, One in 10 children in Illinois suffers from a
mental illness severe enough to cause some level of
impairment; yet, in any given year only about 20% of these
children receive mental health services; and
WHEREAS, Many mental health problems are largely
preventable or can be minimized with promotion and early
intervention services that have been shown to be effective
and that reduce the need for more costly interventions; and
WHEREAS, Children's social development and emotional
development are essential underpinnings to school readiness
and academic success; and
WHEREAS, A comprehensive, coordinated children's mental
health system can help maximize resources and minimize
duplication of services; and
WHEREAS, The Illinois Children's Mental Health Task Force
engaged a broad, multi-disciplinary group that reached
consensus on recommendations that serve as the basis for the
provisions of this Act; therefore
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
Children's Mental Health Act of 2003.
Section 5. Children's Mental Health Plan.
(a) The State of Illinois shall develop a Children's
Mental Health Plan containing short-term and long-term
recommendations to provide comprehensive, coordinated mental
health prevention, early intervention, and treatment services
for children from birth through age 18. This Plan shall
include but not be limited to:
(1) Coordinated provider services and interagency
referral networks for children from birth through age 18
to maximize resources and minimize duplication of
services.
(2) Guidelines for incorporating social and
emotional development into school learning standards and
educational programs, pursuant to Section 15 of this Act.
(3) Protocols for implementing screening and
assessment of children prior to any admission to an
inpatient hospital for psychiatric services, pursuant to
subsection (a) of Section 5-5.23 of the Illinois Public
Aid Code.
(4) Recommendations regarding a State budget for
children's mental health prevention, early intervention,
and treatment across all State agencies.
(5) Recommendations for State and local mechanisms
for integrating federal, State, and local funding sources
for children's mental health.
(6) Recommendations for building a qualified and
adequately trained workforce prepared to provide mental
health services for children from birth through age 18
and their families.
(7) Recommendations for facilitating research on
best practices and model programs, and dissemination of
this information to Illinois policymakers, practitioners,
and the general public through training, technical
assistance, and educational materials.
(8) Recommendations for a comprehensive,
multi-faceted public awareness campaign to reduce the
stigma of mental illness and educate families, the
general public, and other key audiences about the
benefits of children's social and emotional development,
and how to access services.
(9) Recommendations for creating a quality-driven
children's mental health system with shared
accountability among key State agencies and programs that
conducts ongoing needs assessments, uses outcome
indicators and benchmarks to measure progress, and
implements quality data tracking and reporting systems.
(b) The Children's Mental Health Partnership (hereafter
referred to as "the Partnership") is created. The Partnership
shall have the responsibility of developing and monitoring
the implementation of the Children's Mental Health Plan as
approved by the Governor. The Children's Mental Health
Partnership shall be comprised of: the Secretary of Human
Services or his or her designee; the State Superintendent of
Education or his or her designee; the directors of the
departments of Children and Family Services, Public Aid,
Public Health, and Corrections, or their designees; the head
of the Illinois Violence Prevention Authority, or his or her
designee; the Attorney General or his or her designee; up to
25 representatives of community mental health authorities and
statewide mental health, children and family advocacy, early
childhood, education, health, substance abuse, violence
prevention, and juvenile justice organizations or
associations, to be appointed by the Governor; and 2 members
of each caucus of the House of Representatives and Senate
appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and
the President of the Senate, respectively. The Governor shall
appoint the Partnership Chair and shall designate a
Governor's staff liaison to work with the Partnership.
(c) The Partnership shall submit a Preliminary Plan to
the Governor on September 30, 2004 and shall submit the Final
Plan on June 30, 2005. Thereafter, on September 30 of each
year, the Partnership shall submit an annual report to the
Governor on the progress of Plan implementation and
recommendations for revisions in the Plan. The Final Plan and
annual reports submitted in subsequent years shall include
estimates of savings achieved in prior fiscal years under
subsection (a) of Section 5-5.23 of the Illinois Public Aid
Code and federal financial participation received under
subsection (b) of Section 5-5.23 of that Code. The
Department of Public Aid shall provide technical assistance
in developing these estimates and reports.
Section 10. Office of Mental Health services. The Office
of Mental Health within the Department of Human Services
shall allow grant and purchase-of-service moneys to be used
for services for children from birth through age 18.
Section 15. Mental health and schools.
(a) The Illinois State Board of Education shall develop
and implement a plan to incorporate social and emotional
development standards as part of the Illinois Learning
Standards for the purpose of enhancing and measuring
children's school readiness and ability to achieve academic
success. The plan shall be submitted to the Governor, the
General Assembly, and the Partnership by December 31, 2004.
(b) Every Illinois school district shall develop a
policy for incorporating social and emotional development
into the district's educational program. The policy shall
address teaching and assessing social and emotional skills
and protocols for responding to children with social,
emotional, or mental health problems, or a combination of
such problems, that impact learning ability. Each district
must submit this policy to the Illinois State Board of
Education by August 31, 2004.
Section 95. The Illinois Public Aid Code is amended by
adding Section 5-5.23 as follows:
(305 ILCS 5/5-5.23 new)
Sec. 5-5.23. Children's mental health services.
(a) The Department of Public Aid, by rule, shall require
the screening and assessment of a child prior to any
Medicaid-funded admission to an inpatient hospital for
psychiatric services to be funded by Medicaid. The screening
and assessment shall include a determination of the
appropriateness and availability of out-patient support
services for necessary treatment. The Department, by rule,
shall establish methods and standards of payment for the
screening, assessment, and necessary alternative support
services.
(b) The Department of Public Aid, to the extent
allowable under federal law, shall secure federal financial
participation for Individual Care Grant expenditures made by
the Department of Human Services for the Medicaid optional
service authorized under Section 1905(h) of the federal
Social Security Act, pursuant to the provisions of Section
7.1 of the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities
Administrative Act.
(c) The Department of Public Aid shall work jointly with
the Department of Human Services to implement subsections (a)
and (b).
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.