093_HB0041

 
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 1        AN ACT concerning children.

 2        Be  it  enacted  by  the People of the State of Illinois,
 3    represented in the General Assembly:

 4        Section 5.  The  Children  and  Family  Services  Act  is
 5    amended by adding Section 5.25 as follows:

 6        (20 ILCS 505/5.25 new)
 7        Sec. 5.25.  Mental health services.
 8        (a) Every child placed under this Act with a diagnosis of
 9    mental   illness   shall   receive  necessary  mental  health
10    services, including but not limited  to  medical  management,
11    individual  and  group  therapy, psychosocial rehabilitation,
12    vocational services, and hospitalization.  Services shall  be
13    appropriate to meet the needs of the individual child; may be
14    provided  by  a  program,  a  facility, a home, or an outside
15    mental health services provider; and may be provided  to  the
16    child  at the site of the program, facility, or home or at an
17    otherwise appropriate location. A program, facility, or  home
18    shall  assist  in  arranging  for  a  child to receive mental
19    health services from an outside provider when those  services
20    are  necessary  in  meeting  the  child's needs and the child
21    wishes to receive them.
22        (b)  As used in this Section, "mental  illness"  means  a
23    mental   or   emotional  disorder  verified  by  a  diagnosis
24    contained in the Diagnostic and  Statistical Manual of Mental
25    Disorders,   Third   Edition-Revised   (or   any   subsequent
26    edition),  or   International  Classification  of   Diseases,
27    Ninth  Revision,  Clinical  Modification  (or  any subsequent
28    revision)  that  substantially   impairs   the   individual's
29    cognitive,  emotional,  or  behavioral functioning; excluding
30    (i) V codes, (ii) organic  disorders  such  as  dementia  and
31    those  associated  with  known or unknown physical conditions
 
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 1    such as hallucinosis, amnestic disorder, and delirium,  (iii)
 2    psychoactive substance induced organic disorders, (iv) mental
 3    retardation, and (v) psychoactive substance use disorder. Not
 4    excluded, however, is a dual diagnosis of mental illness  and
 5    mental  retardation  or  of  mental  illness and psychoactive
 6    substance use disorder.
 7        (c)  No later than January 1, 2004, in  cooperation  with
 8    the  Illinois Department of Human Services, the Department of
 9    Children and Family Services shall file a proposed rule or  a
10    proposed   amendment   to  an  existing  rule  regarding  the
11    provision of mental health services to children  who  have  a
12    serious  mental  illness.  The proposal shall address, but is
13    not  limited  to,    the  implementation  of  the  following:
14    assessment, care planning, treatment, and discharge  planning
15    for  those  who  are  under  the supervision or admitted to a
16    child welfare agency,  secure  child  care  facility,  foster
17    family  home,  group home, or child care institution licensed
18    or funded by the Department.
19        (d)  The Department shall  provide  or  arrange  for  the
20    training  of staff responsible for the oversight of childcare
21    agencies  or  facilities  in  the   following   areas:    (i)
22    assessment,  (ii)  care  planning, and (iii) care of children
23    with mental illness.  The training shall enable  these  staff
24    surveyors  to determine whether an agency, program, facility,
25    or home is complying  with  State  and  federal  requirements
26    concerning  the  assessment, care planning, and care of those
27    children.
28        (e)  The program, facility, or home in which a  child  is
29    placed  under  this  Act  shall, to the extent that resources
30    permit, be located in or near  the  community  in  which  the
31    child  resided prior to the placement, or in the community in
32    which the child's family or nearest  next  of  kin  presently
33    reside.   Placement  of the child in programs, facilities, or
34    homes located outside of this State shall not be made by  the
 
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 1    Department   unless   there   are  no  appropriate  programs,
 2    facilities,   or   homes   available   within   this   State.
 3    Out-of-state placements shall be subject to the return of the
 4    children  so  placed  upon  the  availability  of   programs,
 5    facilities, or homes within this State, except when placement
 6    in  a  contiguous  state  results  in  locating  a child in a
 7    program, facility, or home closer  to  the  child's  home  or
 8    family.    If  an  appropriate  program,  facility,  or  home
 9    equidistant or closer to the child's home or  family  becomes
10    available,  the  child shall be returned to and placed at the
11    appropriate program, facility, or home within this State.
12        (f)  Prior to any placement by the Department under  this
13    Act,  a  determination  shall  be  made  by  personnel of the
14    Department as  to  the  capability  and  suitability  of  the
15    program,  facility,  or  home to adequately meet the needs of
16    the  child  being  placed.   When  specialized  programs  are
17    necessary, the Department shall place the  children  so  that
18    specialized   care   can   be  provided  in  accordance  with
19    Department  standards,  which  may   include   a   restricted
20    admission  policy,  special  staffing,  and  programming  for
21    social   and   vocational   rehabilitation,  in  addition  to
22    licensing requirements.   The Department shall not place  any
23    children in a program, facility, or home the license of which
24    has  been revoked or not renewed on the grounds of inadequate
25    programming, staffing, or  medical  or  adjunctive  services,
26    regardless  of  the  pendency of an action for administrative
27    review regarding the revocation or failure to renew.
28        (g)  Prior to placement of any child under this Act,  the
29    Department shall ensure that an appropriate training plan for
30    staff  is provided by the program, facility, or home in which
31    the  child  is  to  be  placed.  The  training  may   include
32    instruction   and   demonstrations  by  Department  personnel
33    qualified in the area of mental illness, as applicable to the
34    child being placed.  The training shall  be  on  a  continual
 
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 1    basis  as  the  needs  of  the  program,  facility, home, and
 2    children change.
 3        The Department shall not place any child into a  program,
 4    facility,  or  home  that does not have appropriately trained
 5    staff in numbers sufficient to accommodate  the  children  in
 6    the program, facility, or home.  As a condition of further or
 7    future placements of children, the Department may require the
 8    employment   of  additional  trained  staff  members  at  the
 9    program, facility, or home  where  the  children  are  to  be
10    placed.   The  Director,  or  his  or  her  designate,  shall
11    establish  written  guidelines  for  placement  of persons in
12    programs, facilities, and  homes  under  this  Section.   The
13    Department   shall   keep  written  records  detailing  which
14    programs, facilities, or homes have been determined  to  have
15    appropriately  trained  staff  or have been determined not to
16    have appropriately trained staff, and all training  that  the
17    Department has provided or required under this Section.
18        (h)  The  Department  shall  cause  all  children who are
19    placed under this Act to be visited at least once during  the
20    first   month   following  placement  and  once  every  month
21    thereafter.  Visits shall be made by personnel qualified  and
22    trained  in  the  area  of  mental  health  or  developmental
23    disabilities  applicable  to  the child visited, and shall be
24    made on a more frequent basis when indicated.  The Department
25    may not use any personnel connected with  or  responsible  to
26    the  representatives  of  any  program,  facility, or home in
27    which children have been placed  under  this  Act.    In  the
28    course  of  the  visits consideration shall be given to areas
29    including, but not limited to (i)  the  physical  and  mental
30    health  of  the person, (ii) the sufficiency of care required
31    by the person, (iii) the sufficiency of staff personnel, (iv)
32    the ability of staff personnel to provide care for the child,
33    (v) the availability of  educational,  social,  recreational,
34    and  programmatic  activities,  and  (vi)  other  appropriate
 
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 1    aspects  of  the  child's  environment.   A report containing
 2    these observations shall be made to the Department and to any
 3    other appropriate agency after each visitation.   The  report
 4    shall  contain  a detailed assessment of whether the child is
 5    receiving adequate and humane care and services in the  least
 6    restrictive environment.  If the child is not receiving those
 7    services,  the  Department  shall  require  that the program,
 8    facility, or home to either  modify  the  treatment  plan  to
 9    ensure  that those services are provided or make arrangements
10    necessary to provide those services elsewhere.
11        (i)  Upon the complaint of any child placed in accordance
12    with this Act or any responsible citizen, or  upon  discovery
13    that  the  child  has  been  abused, neglected, or improperly
14    cared for or that the placement does not provide the type  of
15    care   required   by   the  child's  current  condition,  the
16    Department shall immediately investigate and determine if the
17    well-being, health, care, or safety of the child is affected.
18    If abuse, neglect,  improper  care,  or  inadequate  care  is
19    verified,  the  Department shall immediately remove the child
20    to another program, facility, or home if  the  child's  needs
21    can be met at the new program, facility, or home.
22        (j)  The  Department  shall  arrange  for the independent
23    expert evaluation of every child with a primary or  secondary
24    diagnosis  of  mental  illness  residing  in  every  program,
25    facility,  or  home  licensed  under  the  Child  Care Act or
26    receiving State funds for services provided to children under
27    this Act.  The evaluation shall describe, at a minimum,  each
28    individual's  current  mental  health  status, rehabilitation
29    potential, treatment needs, and the extent that  the  current
30    placement  is  meeting  those  needs.  The  evaluation  shall
31    include a recommendation about the most appropriate treatment
32    setting for the individual. The assessment of treatment needs
33    and rehabilitation potential shall be made without regard for
34    the  current  availability  of the services an individual may
 
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 1    need. Evaluations shall  be  performed  by  qualified  mental
 2    health  professionals.   The    Department  may  use existing
 3    pre-admission screening agencies and pre-admission  agents to
 4    perform the evaluations.
 5        (k)  The Department shall also prepare an  assessment  of
 6    each  mental  health  community service network in the State.
 7    This assessment shall evaluate the resources needed  in  each
 8    network to provide appropriate mental health services for all
 9    children  within  the  network's service area who have mental
10    illness.   The assessments shall include, at  a  minimum,  an
11    analysis of the current availability and needs in each of the
12    following  areas: (i) mental health treatment, (ii) qualified
13    mental  health  professionals,  (iii)  case  managers,   (iv)
14    programs  for  psychosocial  rehabilitation,  (v) housing and
15    supportive services, (vi) vocational  assistance,  and  (vii)
16    programs for substance abuse.
17        By  January  1,  2005,  the Department shall complete all
18    required individual and network assessments and shall  submit
19    a  written  report  to  the Governor and the General Assembly
20    that describes the results of the assessment and  contains  a
21    specific  plan  to  address  the  identified needs for mental
22    health services.
23        (l)  The  Department  shall  adopt  rules  governing  the
24    purchase of care for children who are wards  of  or  who  are
25    receiving services from the Department. The rules shall apply
26    to  all  moneys  expended  by  any  agency  of  the State for
27    services rendered by any person,  corporate  entity,  agency,
28    governmental agency, or political subdivision, whether public
29    or  private,  outside  of  the Department, whether payment is
30    made through a contractual, per-diem, or  other  arrangement.
31    No  funds  shall  be paid to any person, corporation, agency,
32    governmental  entity,  or   political   subdivision   without
33    compliance with these rules. The rules governing the purchase
34    of  care  shall describe the categories and types of services
 
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 1    deemed appropriate for purchase by  the  Department  and  the
 2    accounting  standards  that  provide  assurances  that  those
 3    services have been provided.