Public Act 103-0885
 
SB0726 EnrolledLRB103 03199 CPF 48205 b

    AN ACT concerning health.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing and
renumbering Section 2-3.196, as added by Public Act 103-546,
as follows:
 
    (105 ILCS 5/2-3.203)
    Sec. 2-3.203 2-3.196. Mental health screenings.
    (a) On or before December 15, 2023, the State Board of
Education, in consultation with the Children's Behavioral
Health Transformation Officer, Children's Behavioral Health
Transformation Team, and the Office of the Governor, shall
file a report with the Governor and the General Assembly that
includes recommendations for implementation of mental health
screenings in schools for students enrolled in kindergarten
through grade 12. This report must include a landscape scan of
current district-wide screenings, recommendations for
screening tools, training for staff, and linkage and referral
for identified students.
    (b) On or before October 1, 2024, the State Board of
Education, in consultation with the Children's Behavioral
Health Transformation Team, the Office of the Governor, and
relevant stakeholders as needed shall release a strategy that
includes a tool for measuring capacity and readiness to
implement universal mental health screening of students. The
strategy shall build upon existing efforts to understand
district needs for resources, technology, training, and
infrastructure supports. The strategy shall include a
framework for supporting districts in a phased approach to
implement universal mental health screenings. The State Board
of Education shall issue a report to the Governor and the
General Assembly on school district readiness and plan for
phased approach to universal mental health screening of
students on or before April 1, 2025.
(Source: P.A. 103-546, eff. 8-11-23; revised 9-25-23.)
 
    (105 ILCS 155/Act rep.)
    Section 10. The Wellness Checks in Schools Program Act is
repealed.
 
    Section 15. The Illinois Public Aid Code is amended by
changing Section 5-30.1 as follows:
 
    (305 ILCS 5/5-30.1)
    Sec. 5-30.1. Managed care protections.
    (a) As used in this Section:
    "Managed care organization" or "MCO" means any entity
which contracts with the Department to provide services where
payment for medical services is made on a capitated basis.
    "Emergency services" include:
        (1) emergency services, as defined by Section 10 of
    the Managed Care Reform and Patient Rights Act;
        (2) emergency medical screening examinations, as
    defined by Section 10 of the Managed Care Reform and
    Patient Rights Act;
        (3) post-stabilization medical services, as defined by
    Section 10 of the Managed Care Reform and Patient Rights
    Act; and
        (4) emergency medical conditions, as defined by
    Section 10 of the Managed Care Reform and Patient Rights
    Act.
    (b) As provided by Section 5-16.12, managed care
organizations are subject to the provisions of the Managed
Care Reform and Patient Rights Act.
    (c) An MCO shall pay any provider of emergency services
that does not have in effect a contract with the contracted
Medicaid MCO. The default rate of reimbursement shall be the
rate paid under Illinois Medicaid fee-for-service program
methodology, including all policy adjusters, including but not
limited to Medicaid High Volume Adjustments, Medicaid
Percentage Adjustments, Outpatient High Volume Adjustments,
and all outlier add-on adjustments to the extent such
adjustments are incorporated in the development of the
applicable MCO capitated rates.
    (d) An MCO shall pay for all post-stabilization services
as a covered service in any of the following situations:
        (1) the MCO authorized such services;
        (2) such services were administered to maintain the
    enrollee's stabilized condition within one hour after a
    request to the MCO for authorization of further
    post-stabilization services;
        (3) the MCO did not respond to a request to authorize
    such services within one hour;
        (4) the MCO could not be contacted; or
        (5) the MCO and the treating provider, if the treating
    provider is a non-affiliated provider, could not reach an
    agreement concerning the enrollee's care and an affiliated
    provider was unavailable for a consultation, in which case
    the MCO must pay for such services rendered by the
    treating non-affiliated provider until an affiliated
    provider was reached and either concurred with the
    treating non-affiliated provider's plan of care or assumed
    responsibility for the enrollee's care. Such payment shall
    be made at the default rate of reimbursement paid under
    Illinois Medicaid fee-for-service program methodology,
    including all policy adjusters, including but not limited
    to Medicaid High Volume Adjustments, Medicaid Percentage
    Adjustments, Outpatient High Volume Adjustments and all
    outlier add-on adjustments to the extent that such
    adjustments are incorporated in the development of the
    applicable MCO capitated rates.
    (e) The following requirements apply to MCOs in
determining payment for all emergency services:
        (1) MCOs shall not impose any requirements for prior
    approval of emergency services.
        (2) The MCO shall cover emergency services provided to
    enrollees who are temporarily away from their residence
    and outside the contracting area to the extent that the
    enrollees would be entitled to the emergency services if
    they still were within the contracting area.
        (3) The MCO shall have no obligation to cover medical
    services provided on an emergency basis that are not
    covered services under the contract.
        (4) The MCO shall not condition coverage for emergency
    services on the treating provider notifying the MCO of the
    enrollee's screening and treatment within 10 days after
    presentation for emergency services.
        (5) The determination of the attending emergency
    physician, or the provider actually treating the enrollee,
    of whether an enrollee is sufficiently stabilized for
    discharge or transfer to another facility, shall be
    binding on the MCO. The MCO shall cover emergency services
    for all enrollees whether the emergency services are
    provided by an affiliated or non-affiliated provider.
        (6) The MCO's financial responsibility for
    post-stabilization care services it has not pre-approved
    ends when:
            (A) a plan physician with privileges at the
        treating hospital assumes responsibility for the
        enrollee's care;
            (B) a plan physician assumes responsibility for
        the enrollee's care through transfer;
            (C) a contracting entity representative and the
        treating physician reach an agreement concerning the
        enrollee's care; or
            (D) the enrollee is discharged.
    (f) Network adequacy and transparency.
        (1) The Department shall:
            (A) ensure that an adequate provider network is in
        place, taking into consideration health professional
        shortage areas and medically underserved areas;
            (B) publicly release an explanation of its process
        for analyzing network adequacy;
            (C) periodically ensure that an MCO continues to
        have an adequate network in place;
            (D) require MCOs, including Medicaid Managed Care
        Entities as defined in Section 5-30.2, to meet
        provider directory requirements under Section 5-30.3;
            (E) require MCOs to ensure that any
        Medicaid-certified provider under contract with an MCO
        and previously submitted on a roster on the date of
        service is paid for any medically necessary,
        Medicaid-covered, and authorized service rendered to
        any of the MCO's enrollees, regardless of inclusion on
        the MCO's published and publicly available directory
        of available providers; and
            (F) require MCOs, including Medicaid Managed Care
        Entities as defined in Section 5-30.2, to meet each of
        the requirements under subsection (d-5) of Section 10
        of the Network Adequacy and Transparency Act; with
        necessary exceptions to the MCO's network to ensure
        that admission and treatment with a provider or at a
        treatment facility in accordance with the network
        adequacy standards in paragraph (3) of subsection
        (d-5) of Section 10 of the Network Adequacy and
        Transparency Act is limited to providers or facilities
        that are Medicaid certified.
        (2) Each MCO shall confirm its receipt of information
    submitted specific to physician or dentist additions or
    physician or dentist deletions from the MCO's provider
    network within 3 days after receiving all required
    information from contracted physicians or dentists, and
    electronic physician and dental directories must be
    updated consistent with current rules as published by the
    Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services or its
    successor agency.
    (g) Timely payment of claims.
        (1) The MCO shall pay a claim within 30 days of
    receiving a claim that contains all the essential
    information needed to adjudicate the claim.
        (2) The MCO shall notify the billing party of its
    inability to adjudicate a claim within 30 days of
    receiving that claim.
        (3) The MCO shall pay a penalty that is at least equal
    to the timely payment interest penalty imposed under
    Section 368a of the Illinois Insurance Code for any claims
    not timely paid.
            (A) When an MCO is required to pay a timely payment
        interest penalty to a provider, the MCO must calculate
        and pay the timely payment interest penalty that is
        due to the provider within 30 days after the payment of
        the claim. In no event shall a provider be required to
        request or apply for payment of any owed timely
        payment interest penalties.
            (B) Such payments shall be reported separately
        from the claim payment for services rendered to the
        MCO's enrollee and clearly identified as interest
        payments.
        (4)(A) The Department shall require MCOs to expedite
    payments to providers identified on the Department's
    expedited provider list, determined in accordance with 89
    Ill. Adm. Code 140.71(b), on a schedule at least as
    frequently as the providers are paid under the
    Department's fee-for-service expedited provider schedule.
        (B) Compliance with the expedited provider requirement
    may be satisfied by an MCO through the use of a Periodic
    Interim Payment (PIP) program that has been mutually
    agreed to and documented between the MCO and the provider,
    if the PIP program ensures that any expedited provider
    receives regular and periodic payments based on prior
    period payment experience from that MCO. Total payments
    under the PIP program may be reconciled against future PIP
    payments on a schedule mutually agreed to between the MCO
    and the provider.
        (C) The Department shall share at least monthly its
    expedited provider list and the frequency with which it
    pays providers on the expedited list.
    (g-5) Recognizing that the rapid transformation of the
Illinois Medicaid program may have unintended operational
challenges for both payers and providers:
        (1) in no instance shall a medically necessary covered
    service rendered in good faith, based upon eligibility
    information documented by the provider, be denied coverage
    or diminished in payment amount if the eligibility or
    coverage information available at the time the service was
    rendered is later found to be inaccurate in the assignment
    of coverage responsibility between MCOs or the
    fee-for-service system, except for instances when an
    individual is deemed to have not been eligible for
    coverage under the Illinois Medicaid program; and
        (2) the Department shall, by December 31, 2016, adopt
    rules establishing policies that shall be included in the
    Medicaid managed care policy and procedures manual
    addressing payment resolutions in situations in which a
    provider renders services based upon information obtained
    after verifying a patient's eligibility and coverage plan
    through either the Department's current enrollment system
    or a system operated by the coverage plan identified by
    the patient presenting for services:
            (A) such medically necessary covered services
        shall be considered rendered in good faith;
            (B) such policies and procedures shall be
        developed in consultation with industry
        representatives of the Medicaid managed care health
        plans and representatives of provider associations
        representing the majority of providers within the
        identified provider industry; and
            (C) such rules shall be published for a review and
        comment period of no less than 30 days on the
        Department's website with final rules remaining
        available on the Department's website.
        The rules on payment resolutions shall include, but
    not be limited to:
            (A) the extension of the timely filing period;
            (B) retroactive prior authorizations; and
            (C) guaranteed minimum payment rate of no less
        than the current, as of the date of service,
        fee-for-service rate, plus all applicable add-ons,
        when the resulting service relationship is out of
        network.
        The rules shall be applicable for both MCO coverage
    and fee-for-service coverage.
    If the fee-for-service system is ultimately determined to
have been responsible for coverage on the date of service, the
Department shall provide for an extended period for claims
submission outside the standard timely filing requirements.
    (g-6) MCO Performance Metrics Report.
        (1) The Department shall publish, on at least a
    quarterly basis, each MCO's operational performance,
    including, but not limited to, the following categories of
    metrics:
            (A) claims payment, including timeliness and
        accuracy;
            (B) prior authorizations;
            (C) grievance and appeals;
            (D) utilization statistics;
            (E) provider disputes;
            (F) provider credentialing; and
            (G) member and provider customer service.
        (2) The Department shall ensure that the metrics
    report is accessible to providers online by January 1,
    2017.
        (3) The metrics shall be developed in consultation
    with industry representatives of the Medicaid managed care
    health plans and representatives of associations
    representing the majority of providers within the
    identified industry.
        (4) Metrics shall be defined and incorporated into the
    applicable Managed Care Policy Manual issued by the
    Department.
    (g-7) MCO claims processing and performance analysis. In
order to monitor MCO payments to hospital providers, pursuant
to Public Act 100-580, the Department shall post an analysis
of MCO claims processing and payment performance on its
website every 6 months. Such analysis shall include a review
and evaluation of a representative sample of hospital claims
that are rejected and denied for clean and unclean claims and
the top 5 reasons for such actions and timeliness of claims
adjudication, which identifies the percentage of claims
adjudicated within 30, 60, 90, and over 90 days, and the dollar
amounts associated with those claims.
    (g-8) Dispute resolution process. The Department shall
maintain a provider complaint portal through which a provider
can submit to the Department unresolved disputes with an MCO.
An unresolved dispute means an MCO's decision that denies in
whole or in part a claim for reimbursement to a provider for
health care services rendered by the provider to an enrollee
of the MCO with which the provider disagrees. Disputes shall
not be submitted to the portal until the provider has availed
itself of the MCO's internal dispute resolution process.
Disputes that are submitted to the MCO internal dispute
resolution process may be submitted to the Department of
Healthcare and Family Services' complaint portal no sooner
than 30 days after submitting to the MCO's internal process
and not later than 30 days after the unsatisfactory resolution
of the internal MCO process or 60 days after submitting the
dispute to the MCO internal process. Multiple claim disputes
involving the same MCO may be submitted in one complaint,
regardless of whether the claims are for different enrollees,
when the specific reason for non-payment of the claims
involves a common question of fact or policy. Within 10
business days of receipt of a complaint, the Department shall
present such disputes to the appropriate MCO, which shall then
have 30 days to issue its written proposal to resolve the
dispute. The Department may grant one 30-day extension of this
time frame to one of the parties to resolve the dispute. If the
dispute remains unresolved at the end of this time frame or the
provider is not satisfied with the MCO's written proposal to
resolve the dispute, the provider may, within 30 days, request
the Department to review the dispute and make a final
determination. Within 30 days of the request for Department
review of the dispute, both the provider and the MCO shall
present all relevant information to the Department for
resolution and make individuals with knowledge of the issues
available to the Department for further inquiry if needed.
Within 30 days of receiving the relevant information on the
dispute, or the lapse of the period for submitting such
information, the Department shall issue a written decision on
the dispute based on contractual terms between the provider
and the MCO, contractual terms between the MCO and the
Department of Healthcare and Family Services and applicable
Medicaid policy. The decision of the Department shall be
final. By January 1, 2020, the Department shall establish by
rule further details of this dispute resolution process.
Disputes between MCOs and providers presented to the
Department for resolution are not contested cases, as defined
in Section 1-30 of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act,
conferring any right to an administrative hearing.
    (g-9)(1) The Department shall publish annually on its
website a report on the calculation of each managed care
organization's medical loss ratio showing the following:
        (A) Premium revenue, with appropriate adjustments.
        (B) Benefit expense, setting forth the aggregate
    amount spent for the following:
            (i) Direct paid claims.
            (ii) Subcapitation payments.
            (iii) Other claim payments.
            (iv) Direct reserves.
            (v) Gross recoveries.
            (vi) Expenses for activities that improve health
        care quality as allowed by the Department.
    (2) The medical loss ratio shall be calculated consistent
with federal law and regulation following a claims runout
period determined by the Department.
    (g-10)(1) "Liability effective date" means the date on
which an MCO becomes responsible for payment for medically
necessary and covered services rendered by a provider to one
of its enrollees in accordance with the contract terms between
the MCO and the provider. The liability effective date shall
be the later of:
        (A) The execution date of a network participation
    contract agreement.
        (B) The date the provider or its representative
    submits to the MCO the complete and accurate standardized
    roster form for the provider in the format approved by the
    Department.
        (C) The provider effective date contained within the
    Department's provider enrollment subsystem within the
    Illinois Medicaid Program Advanced Cloud Technology
    (IMPACT) System.
    (2) The standardized roster form may be submitted to the
MCO at the same time that the provider submits an enrollment
application to the Department through IMPACT.
    (3) By October 1, 2019, the Department shall require all
MCOs to update their provider directory with information for
new practitioners of existing contracted providers within 30
days of receipt of a complete and accurate standardized roster
template in the format approved by the Department provided
that the provider is effective in the Department's provider
enrollment subsystem within the IMPACT system. Such provider
directory shall be readily accessible for purposes of
selecting an approved health care provider and comply with all
other federal and State requirements.
    (g-11) The Department shall work with relevant
stakeholders on the development of operational guidelines to
enhance and improve operational performance of Illinois'
Medicaid managed care program, including, but not limited to,
improving provider billing practices, reducing claim
rejections and inappropriate payment denials, and
standardizing processes, procedures, definitions, and response
timelines, with the goal of reducing provider and MCO
administrative burdens and conflict. The Department shall
include a report on the progress of these program improvements
and other topics in its Fiscal Year 2020 annual report to the
General Assembly.
    (g-12) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if the
Department or an MCO requires submission of a claim for
payment in a non-electronic format, a provider shall always be
afforded a period of no less than 90 business days, as a
correction period, following any notification of rejection by
either the Department or the MCO to correct errors or
omissions in the original submission.
    Under no circumstances, either by an MCO or under the
State's fee-for-service system, shall a provider be denied
payment for failure to comply with any timely submission
requirements under this Code or under any existing contract,
unless the non-electronic format claim submission occurs after
the initial 180 days following the latest date of service on
the claim, or after the 90 business days correction period
following notification to the provider of rejection or denial
of payment.
    (h) The Department shall not expand mandatory MCO
enrollment into new counties beyond those counties already
designated by the Department as of June 1, 2014 for the
individuals whose eligibility for medical assistance is not
the seniors or people with disabilities population until the
Department provides an opportunity for accountable care
entities and MCOs to participate in such newly designated
counties.
    (h-5) Leading indicator data sharing. By January 1, 2024,
the Department shall obtain input from the Department of Human
Services, the Department of Juvenile Justice, the Department
of Children and Family Services, the State Board of Education,
managed care organizations, providers, and clinical experts to
identify and analyze key indicators and data elements that can
be used in an analysis of lead indicators from assessments and
data sets available to the Department that can be shared with
managed care organizations and similar care coordination
entities contracted with the Department as leading indicators
for elevated behavioral health crisis risk for children,
including data sets such as the Illinois Medicaid
Comprehensive Assessment of Needs and Strengths (IM-CANS),
calls made to the State's Crisis and Referral Entry Services
(CARES) hotline, health services information from Health and
Human Services Innovators, or other data sets that may include
key indicators. The workgroup shall complete its
recommendations for leading indicator data elements on or
before September 1, 2024. To the extent permitted by State and
federal law, the identified leading indicators shall be shared
with managed care organizations and similar care coordination
entities contracted with the Department on or before December
1, 2024 within 6 months of identification for the purpose of
improving care coordination with the early detection of
elevated risk. Leading indicators shall be reassessed annually
with stakeholder input. The Department shall implement
guidance to managed care organizations and similar care
coordination entities contracted with the Department, so that
the managed care organizations and care coordination entities
respond to lead indicators with services and interventions
that are designed to help stabilize the child.
    (i) The requirements of this Section apply to contracts
with accountable care entities and MCOs entered into, amended,
or renewed after June 16, 2014 (the effective date of Public
Act 98-651).
    (j) Health care information released to managed care
organizations. A health care provider shall release to a
Medicaid managed care organization, upon request, and subject
to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of
1996 and any other law applicable to the release of health
information, the health care information of the MCO's
enrollee, if the enrollee has completed and signed a general
release form that grants to the health care provider
permission to release the recipient's health care information
to the recipient's insurance carrier.
    (k) The Department of Healthcare and Family Services,
managed care organizations, a statewide organization
representing hospitals, and a statewide organization
representing safety-net hospitals shall explore ways to
support billing departments in safety-net hospitals.
    (l) The requirements of this Section added by Public Act
102-4 shall apply to services provided on or after the first
day of the month that begins 60 days after April 27, 2021 (the
effective date of Public Act 102-4).
(Source: P.A. 102-4, eff. 4-27-21; 102-43, eff. 7-6-21;
102-144, eff. 1-1-22; 102-454, eff. 8-20-21; 102-813, eff.
5-13-22; 103-546, eff. 8-11-23.)
 
    Section 20. The Children's Mental Health Act is amended by
changing Section 5 as follows:
 
    (405 ILCS 49/5)
    Sec. 5. Children's Mental Health Partnership; Children's
Mental Health Plan.
    (a) The Children's Mental Health Partnership (hereafter
referred to as "the Partnership") created under Public Act
93-495 and continued under Public Act 102-899 shall advise
State agencies and the Children's Behavioral Health
Transformation Initiative on designing and implementing
short-term and long-term strategies to provide comprehensive
and coordinated services for children from birth to age 25 and
their families with the goal of addressing children's mental
health needs across a full continuum of care, including social
determinants of health, prevention, early identification, and
treatment. The recommended strategies shall build upon the
recommendations in the Children's Mental Health Plan of 2022
and may include, but are not limited to, recommendations
regarding the following:
        (1) Increasing public awareness on issues connected to
    children's mental health and wellness to decrease stigma,
    promote acceptance, and strengthen the ability of
    children, families, and communities to access supports.
        (2) Coordination of programs, services, and policies
    across child-serving State agencies to best monitor and
    assess spending, as well as foster innovation of adaptive
    or new practices.
        (3) Funding and resources for children's mental health
    prevention, early identification, and treatment across
    child-serving State agencies.
        (4) Facilitation of research on best practices and
    model programs and dissemination of this information to
    State policymakers, practitioners, and the general public.
        (5) Monitoring programs, services, and policies
    addressing children's mental health and wellness.
        (6) Growing, retaining, diversifying, and supporting
    the child-serving workforce, with special emphasis on
    professional development around child and family mental
    health and wellness services.
        (7) Supporting the design, implementation, and
    evaluation of a quality-driven children's mental health
    system of care across all child services that prevents
    mental health concerns and mitigates trauma.
        (8) Improving the system to more effectively meet the
    emergency and residential placement needs for all children
    with severe mental and behavioral challenges.
    (b) The Partnership shall have the responsibility of
developing and updating the Children's Mental Health Plan and
advising the relevant State agencies on implementation of the
Plan. The Children's Mental Health Partnership shall be
comprised of the following members:
        (1) The Governor or his or her designee.
        (2) The Attorney General or his or her designee.
        (3) The Secretary of the Department of Human Services
    or his or her designee.
        (4) The State Superintendent of Education or his or
    her designee.
        (5) The Director of the Department of Children and
    Family Services or his or her designee.
        (6) The Director of the Department of Healthcare and
    Family Services or his or her designee.
        (7) The Director of the Department of Public Health or
    his or her designee.
        (8) The Director of the Department of Juvenile Justice
    or his or her designee.
        (9) The Executive Director of the Governor's Office of
    Early Childhood Development or his or her designee.
        (10) The Director of the Criminal Justice Information
    Authority or his or her designee.
        (11) One member of the General Assembly appointed by
    the Speaker of the House.
        (12) One member of the General Assembly appointed by
    the President of the Senate.
        (13) One member of the General Assembly appointed by
    the Minority Leader of the Senate.
        (14) One member of the General Assembly appointed by
    the Minority Leader of the House.
        (15) Up to 25 representatives from the public
    reflecting a diversity of age, gender identity, race,
    ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and geographic location,
    to be appointed by the Governor. Those public members
    appointed under this paragraph must include, but are not
    limited to:
            (A) a family member or individual with lived
        experience in the children's mental health system;
            (B) a child advocate;
            (C) a community mental health expert,
        practitioner, or provider;
            (D) a representative of a statewide association
        representing a majority of hospitals in the State;
            (E) an early childhood expert or practitioner;
            (F) a representative from the K-12 school system;
            (G) a representative from the healthcare sector;
            (H) a substance use prevention expert or
        practitioner, or a representative of a statewide
        association representing community-based mental health
        substance use disorder treatment providers in the
        State;
            (I) a violence prevention expert or practitioner;
            (J) a representative from the juvenile justice
        system;
            (K) a school social worker; and
            (L) a representative of a statewide organization
        representing pediatricians.
        (16) Two co-chairs appointed by the Governor, one
    being a representative from the public and one being the
    Director of Public Health a representative from the State.
    The members appointed by the Governor shall be appointed
for 4 years with one opportunity for reappointment, except as
otherwise provided for in this subsection. Members who were
appointed by the Governor and are serving on January 1, 2023
(the effective date of Public Act 102-899) shall maintain
their appointment until the term of their appointment has
expired. For new appointments made pursuant to Public Act
102-899, members shall be appointed for one-year, 2-year, or
4-year terms, as determined by the Governor, with no more than
9 of the Governor's new or existing appointees serving the
same term. Those new appointments serving a one-year or 2-year
term may be appointed to 2 additional 4-year terms. If a
vacancy occurs in the Partnership membership, the vacancy
shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment
for the remainder of the term.
    The Partnership shall be convened no later than January
31, 2023 to discuss the changes in Public Act 102-899.
    The members of the Partnership shall serve without
compensation but may be entitled to reimbursement for all
necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their
official duties as members of the Partnership from funds
appropriated for that purpose.
    The Partnership may convene and appoint special committees
or study groups to operate under the direction of the
Partnership. Persons appointed to such special committees or
study groups shall only receive reimbursement for reasonable
expenses.
    (b-5) The Partnership shall include an adjunct council
comprised of no more than 6 youth aged 14 to 25 and 4
representatives of 4 different community-based organizations
that focus on youth mental health. Of the community-based
organizations that focus on youth mental health, one of the
community-based organizations shall be led by an
LGBTQ-identified person, one of the community-based
organizations shall be led by a person of color, and one of the
community-based organizations shall be led by a woman. Of the
representatives appointed to the council from the
community-based organizations, at least one representative
shall be LGBTQ-identified, at least one representative shall
be a person of color, and at least one representative shall be
a woman. The council members shall be appointed by the Chair of
the Partnership and shall reflect the racial, gender identity,
sexual orientation, ability, socioeconomic, ethnic, and
geographic diversity of the State, including rural, suburban,
and urban appointees. The council shall make recommendations
to the Partnership regarding youth mental health, including,
but not limited to, identifying barriers to youth feeling
supported by and empowered by the system of mental health and
treatment providers, barriers perceived by youth in accessing
mental health services, gaps in the mental health system,
available resources in schools, including youth's perceptions
and experiences with outreach personnel, agency websites, and
informational materials, methods to destigmatize mental health
services, and how to improve State policy concerning student
mental health. The mental health system may include services
for substance use disorders and addiction. The council shall
meet at least 4 times annually.
    (c) (Blank).
    (d) The Illinois Children's Mental Health Partnership has
the following powers and duties:
        (1) Conducting research assessments to determine the
    needs and gaps of programs, services, and policies that
    touch children's mental health.
        (2) Developing policy statements for interagency
    cooperation to cover all aspects of mental health
    delivery, including social determinants of health,
    prevention, early identification, and treatment.
        (3) Recommending policies and providing information on
    effective programs for delivery of mental health services.
        (4) Using funding from federal, State, or
    philanthropic partners, to fund pilot programs or research
    activities to resource innovative practices by
    organizational partners that will address children's
    mental health. However, the Partnership may not provide
    direct services.
        (4.1) The Partnership shall work with community
    networks and the Children's Behavioral Health
    Transformation Initiative team to implement a community
    needs assessment, that will raise awareness of gaps in
    existing community-based services for youth.
        (5) Submitting an annual report, on or before December
    30 of each year, to the Governor and the General Assembly
    on the progress of the Plan, any recommendations regarding
    State policies, laws, or rules necessary to fulfill the
    purposes of the Act, and any additional recommendations
    regarding mental or behavioral health that the Partnership
    deems necessary.
        (6) (Blank). Employing an Executive Director and
    setting the compensation of the Executive Director and
    other such employees and technical assistance as it deems
    necessary to carry out its duties under this Section.
    The Partnership may designate a fiscal and administrative
agent that can accept funds to carry out its duties as outlined
in this Section.
    The Department of Public Health Healthcare and Family
Services shall provide technical and administrative support
for the Partnership.
    (e) The Partnership may accept monetary gifts or grants
from the federal government or any agency thereof, from any
charitable foundation or professional association, or from any
reputable source for implementation of any program necessary
or desirable to carry out the powers and duties as defined
under this Section.
    (f) On or before January 1, 2027, the Partnership shall
submit recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly
that includes recommended updates to the Act to reflect the
current mental health landscape in this State.
(Source: P.A. 102-16, eff. 6-17-21; 102-116, eff. 7-23-21;
102-899, eff. 1-1-23; 102-1034, eff. 1-1-23; 103-154, eff.
6-30-23.)
 
    Section 25. The Interagency Children's Behavioral Health
Services Act is amended by adding Section 6 as follows:
 
    (405 ILCS 165/6 new)
    Sec. 6. Personal support workers. The Children's
Behavioral Health Transformation Team in collaboration with
the Department of Human Services shall develop a program to
provide one-on-one in-home respite behavioral health aids to
youth requiring intensive supervision due to behavioral health
needs.
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.

Effective Date: 8/9/2024