General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6340
January Session, 2011 LCO No. 3255
*03255_______KID*
Referred to Committee on Select Committee on Children
Introduced by:
(KID)
General Assembly
Raised Bill No. 6340
January Session, 2011
LCO No. 3255
*03255_______KID*
Referred to Committee on Select Committee on Children
Introduced by:
(KID)
AN ACT CONCERNING THE PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN IN OUT-OF-STATE TREATMENT FACILITIES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) Not later than July 1, 2013, the Commissioner of Children and Families shall return each child and youth in the commissioner's care and custody who is located in an out-of-state treatment facility to a family or facility in the state of Connecticut, unless the superior court for juvenile matters determines that such out-of-state placement is necessary, appropriate and in the best interest of such child or youth as provided in subsection (b) of this section.
(b) For each child or youth in the commissioner's care and custody who is located or subsequently placed in an out-of-state treatment facility on or after April 1, 2013, the commissioner shall submit a motion for review of such out-of-state placement to the superior court for juvenile matters. The court shall determine whether such out-of-state placement is necessary, appropriate and in the best interest of such child or youth, and there shall be a rebuttable presumption that a placement in the state of Connecticut is in the best interest of a child or youth. If the court determines the child or youth should stay or be placed in an out-of-state treatment facility, the commissioner shall, every three months, submit a report to the court regarding the child or youth's status and the commissioner's plan to return the child to a family or facility in the state of Connecticut.
Sec. 2. (Effective from passage) The Commissioner of Children and Families shall, in consultation with the Court Support Services Division of the Judicial Branch, in-state and out-of-state treatment providers, child welfare and mental health advocates and family consumers of mental health and child welfare services, develop a plan to reallocate funds appropriated to the department and maximize federal and private funding to increase in-state, community-based services for children transitioning from out-of-state facilities. Not later than January 1, 2012, the commissioner shall submit such plan, in accordance with section 11-4a of the general statutes, to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to human services and the select committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to children.
Sec. 3. Section 17a-62 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2011):
On or before February 1, 2010, and annually thereafter, the Commissioner of Children and Families shall submit a report, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a, to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to human services and the select committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to children. The report shall include the following information, for the preceding calendar year, for children and youth in the custody of the Department of Children and Families: (1) The number, [and] age and race of such children and youth who are living in a psychiatric hospital or out-of-state residential treatment center, the average length of stay for such children and youth, the number of children and youth who have overstayed their estimated placement time in such placements and an analysis of the reasons for the placements out of state and overstays; (2) the number, [and] age and race of such children and youth who are runaways or homeless, the number of days that each child or youth has been a runaway or homeless, and an analysis of the trends relating to runaways and homelessness; (3) the number, [and] age and race of children and youth who have a permanency plan of another planned permanency living arrangement and an analysis of the trends relating to permanency plans; and (4) the number, [and] age and race of children and youth who have refused services offered by the department and an analysis of the trends relating to participation in services. The commissioner shall conduct case and service reviews for each child in the groups described in subdivisions (1) to (4), inclusive, of this section.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1 from passage New section
Sec. 2 from passage New section
Sec. 3 October 1, 2011 17a-62
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1
from passage
New section
Sec. 2
from passage
New section
Sec. 3
October 1, 2011
17a-62
Statement of Purpose:
To return to Connecticut the children in the care and custody of the Commissioner of Children and Families that are placed in out-of-state treatment facilities, unless a court determines it is necessary, appropriate and in a child's best interest to be placed in an out-of-state treatment facility, and to track the race of certain groups of children in the custody of the Department of Children and Families.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]