LCO No. 2166 1 of 5
General Assembly Raised Bill No. 5433
February Session, 2022
LCO No. 2166
Referred to Committee on APPROPRIATIONS
Introduced by:
(APP)
AN ACT ESTABLISHING A COUNCIL ON MENTAL AND BEHAVIORAL
HEALTH PROGRAM OVERSIGHT.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) There is established a 1
Council on Mental and Behavioral Health Program Oversight which 2
shall advise the Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction Services 3
on the planning and implementation of the delivery system for mental 4
and behavioral health programs and services, including services for the 5
treatment of substance use disorder. The council shall monitor planning 6
and implementation of matters related to mental and behavioral health 7
program initiatives including, but not limited to, (1) eligibility 8
standards, (2) benefits, (3) access, (4) quality assurance, and (5) outcome 9
measures. 10
(b) The council shall be composed of the following members: 11
(1) The chairpersons and ranking members of the joint standing 12
committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 13
relating to public health, human services, children and appropriations 14
and the budgets of state agencies, or their designees; 15 Raised Bill No. 5433
LCO No. 2166 2 of 5
(2) Five appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives, 16
one of whom shall be a member of the General Assembly, one of whom 17
shall be a community provider of adult mental or behavioral health 18
services, one of whom shall be a consumer of adult mental or behavioral 19
health services or an advocate for such consumers, one of whom shall 20
be a representative of a federally qualified health center that provides 21
psychiatric services and one of whom shall be a member of the 22
Connecticut Hospital Association; 23
(3) Five appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate, one of 24
whom shall be a member of the General Assembly, one of whom shall 25
be a representative of a nonprofit agency that provides mental and 26
behavioral health services, one of whom shall be a representative of a 27
for-profit agency that provides mental or behavioral health services, one 28
of whom shall be a licensed health care provider of mental or behavioral 29
health services and one of whom shall be a licensed alcohol and drug 30
counselor; 31
(4) Three appointed by the majority leader of the House of 32
Representatives, one of whom shall be an advocate for persons with 33
substance use disorder, one of whom shall be a family member of a 34
person with substance use disorder and one of whom shall be a 35
representative of a facility that provides in-patient substance use 36
disorder services; 37
(5) Three appointed by the majority leader of the Senate, one of whom 38
shall be a community provider of mental or behavioral health services 39
for children and young adults, one of whom shall be the family member 40
of a child or young adult who is a consumer of mental or behavioral 41
health services, and one of whom is an advocate for such consumers; 42
(6) Three appointed by the minority leader of the House of 43
Representatives; 44
(7) Three appointed by the minority leader of the Senate; 45
(8) The Commissioners of Public Health, Social Services, Children 46 Raised Bill No. 5433
LCO No. 2166 3 of 5
and Families, and Mental Health and Addiction Services, or their 47
designees, who shall be ex-officio nonvoting members; 48
(9) The Comptroller, or the Comptroller's designee, who shall be an 49
ex-officio nonvoting member; and 50
(10) The Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, or the 51
secretary's designee, who shall be an ex-officio nonvoting member. 52
(c) The council shall choose a chairperson from among its members. 53
The Joint Committee on Legislative Management shall provide 54
administrative support to such chairperson. 55
(d) The council shall monitor and make recommendations 56
concerning: (1) Access to quality mental and behavioral health services 57
and effective outreach; (2) the sufficiency of providers of mental and 58
behavioral health services for adults and children throughout the state; 59
(3) the sufficiency of provider rates to maintain service access; (4) 60
funding and agency personnel resources to ensure timely access to 61
services and effective management of mental and behavioral health 62
programs; (5) the linguistic and cultural competency of providers; (6) 63
program quality, including outcome measures and continuous quality 64
improvement initiatives; (7) timely, accessible and effective consumer 65
grievance procedures; and (8) the need for program quality studies 66
within the areas identified in this section and the Department of Mental 67
Health and Addiction Services' application for available grant funds for 68
such studies. 69
(e) The Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction Services shall 70
provide monthly reports to the council on the matters described in 71
subsection (d) of this section, including, but not limited to, policy 72
changes and proposed regulations that affect mental and behavioral 73
health services. The commissioner shall also provide the council with 74
quarterly financial reports for department expenditures on mental and 75
behavioral health services. 76
(f) The council shall biannually report on its activities and progress to 77 Raised Bill No. 5433
LCO No. 2166 4 of 5
the General Assembly. 78
(g) (1) There is established, within the Council on Mental and 79
Behavioral Health Program Oversight, a standing subcommittee to 80
study and make recommendations to the council on substance use 81
disorder programs and services. The subcommittee shall consist of 82
council members appointed by the chairpersons of the council and other 83
individuals who shall serve for terms prescribed by the cochairpersons 84
to advise the council on specific needs of children and adults with 85
substance use disorder. For the purposes of completing the report 86
required pursuant to this subsection, such individuals shall include, but 87
need not be limited to: (A) The Child Advocate, or the Child Advocate's 88
designee; (B) a family or child advocate; (C) the executive director of the 89
Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents, or the 90
executive director's designee; (D) an expert in the diagnosis, evaluation, 91
education and treatment of children and young adults with substance 92
use disorder; (E) an expert in the diagnosis, evaluation, education and 93
treatment of adults with substance use disorder; and (F) the Healthcare 94
Advocate, or the Healthcare Advocate's designee. 95
(2) Not later than July 1, 2023, the subcommittee shall submit a report, 96
in accordance with section 11-4a of the general statutes to the council, 97
the Governor and the joint standing committees of the General 98
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to children, human 99
services, public health and appropriations and the budgets of state 100
agencies regarding the sufficiency of treatment and services for children 101
and adults with substance use disorder. Such report shall include, but 102
need not be limited to: (A) Metrics for evaluating the quality of available 103
services; (B) statutory changes needed to promote effective service 104
delivery; and (C) any other changes needed to address gaps in services 105
identified by the subcommittee or council. 106
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage New section
Raised Bill No. 5433
LCO No. 2166 5 of 5
Statement of Purpose:
To establish a council on mental and behavioral health program
oversight.
[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.]