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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 5433
February Session, 2022
AN ACT ESTABLISHING A COMMITTEE ON BEHAVIORAL AND
MENTAL HEALTH POLICY AND 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
Behavioral and Mental Health Policy and Oversight Committee. The 2
committee shall evaluate the availability and efficacy of prevention, 3
early intervention, and mental health treatment services and options for 4
children from birth to age eighteen and make recommendations to the 5
General Assembly and executive agencies regarding the governance 6
and administration of the mental health care system for children. 7
(b) The committee shall consist of the following members: 8
(1) The chairpersons and ranking members of the joint standing 9
committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 10
relating to public health, human services, children and appropriations 11
and the budgets of state agencies, or their designees; 12
(2) Three appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives, 13
one of whom shall be a member of the General Assembly and two of 14
whom shall be providers of mental, emotional or behavioral health 15
services for children in the state; 16 Substitute Bill No. 5433
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(3) Three appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate, one 17
of whom shall be a member of the General Assembly and two of whom 18
shall be representatives of private advocacy groups that provide 19
services for children and families in the state; 20
(4) Two appointed by the majority leader of the House of 21
Representatives, who shall be representatives of children's hospitals; 22
(5) One appointed by the majority leader of the Senate, who shall be 23
a representative of public school superintendents in the state; 24
(6) Two appointed by the minority leader of the House of 25
Representatives, who shall be representatives of families with children 26
who have been diagnosed with mental, emotional or behavioral health 27
disorders; 28
(7) Two appointed by the minority leader of the Senate, who shall be 29
providers of mental or behavioral health services; 30
(8) The Commissioners of Children and Fam ilies, Correction, 31
Developmental Services, Early Childhood, Education, Insurance, 32
Mental Health and Addiction Services, Public Health and Social 33
Services, or their designees; 34
(9) The executive director of the Office of Health Strategy, or the 35
executive director's designee; 36
(10) The Child Advocate, or the Child Advocate's designee; 37
(11) The Healthcare Advocate, or the Healthcare Advocate's 38
designee; 39
(12) The executive director of the Court Support Services Division of 40
the Judicial Branch, or the executive director's designee; 41
(13) The executive director of the Commission on Women, Children, 42
Seniors, Equity and Opportunity, or the executive director's designee; 43 Substitute Bill No. 5433
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(14) The Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, or the 44
secretary's designee; and 45
(15) One representative from each administrative services 46
organization under contract with the Department of Social Services to 47
provide such services for recipients of assistance under the HUSKY 48
Health program, who shall be ex-officio nonvoting members. 49
(c) Any member of the task force appointed under subdivisions (1) to 50
(7), inclusive, of subsection (b) of this section may be a member of the 51
General Assembly. 52
(d) Any vacancy shall be filled by the appointing authority. 53
(e) The Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, or the 54
secretary's designee, and a member of the General Assembly selected 55
jointly by the speaker of the House of Representatives and the president 56
pro tempore of the Senate from among the members serving pursuant 57
to subdivision (1), (2) or (3) of subsection (b) of this section shall be co-58
chairpersons of the committee. Such co-chairpersons shall schedule the 59
first meeting of the committee, which shall be held not later than sixty 60
days after May 4, 2022. 61
(f) Members of the committee shall serve without compensation, 62
except for necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their 63
duties. 64
(g) Not later than January 1, 2023 the committee shall report, in 65
accordance with section 11-4a of the general statutes, to the joint 66
standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of 67
matters relating to appropriations and the budgets of state agencies, 68
public health, human services and children, and the Secretary of the 69
Office of Policy and Management, regarding the following: 70
(1) Any statutory and budgetary changes needed concerning the 71
mental health system of prevention, development and treatment that 72
the committee recommends to (A) improve developmental, mental 73 Substitute Bill No. 5433
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health and behavioral health outcomes for children; (B) improve 74
transparency and accountability with respect to state-funded services 75
for children and youth with an emphasis on goals identified by the 76
committee for community-based programs and facility-based 77
interventions; and (C) promote the efficient sharing of information by 78
state and state-funded agencies to ensure the regular collection and 79
reporting of data regarding children and families' access to, utilization 80
of and benefit from services necessary to promote public health and 81
mental and behavioral health outcomes for children and youth and their 82
families. 83
(2) The gaps in services identified by the committee with respect to 84
children and families involved in the mental health system, and 85
recommendations to address such gaps in services; and 86
(3) Strengths and barriers identified by the committee that support or 87
impede the mental health needs of children and youth with specific 88
recommendations for reforms. 89
(4) An examination of the way state agencies can work collaboratively 90
through school-based efforts and other processes to improve mental 91
health and developmental outcomes for children; 92
(5) An examination of disproportionate access and outcomes across 93
the mental health care system for children of color; 94
(6) An examination of disproportionate access and outcomes across 95
the mental health care system for children with developmental 96
disabilities; 97
(7) A plan to ensure a quality assurance framework for facilities and 98
programs that are part of the mental health care system and are operated 99
privately or by the state that includes data regarding efficacy and 100
outcomes; 101
(8) A governance structure for the children's mental health system 102
that will best facilitate the public policy and healthcare goals of the state 103 Substitute Bill No. 5433
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to ensure that all children and families can access high-quality mental 104
health care. 105
(h) The committee shall complete its duties under this section after 106
consultation with one or more organizations that focus on the quality of 107
services for children or research related to the well-being of children, 108
including, but not limited to, The Child Health and Development 109
Institute or Connecticut Voices for Children. The committee may accept 110
administrative support and technical and research assistance from any 111
such organization. The committee shall work in collaboration with any 112
results-first initiative implemented pursuant to any section of the 113
general statutes or any public or special act. The committee shall have 114
allocated funds to provide staffing support for its work. 115
(i) The committee shall be given access to data collected by the state 116
on matters related to children's behavioral health from the relevant state 117
agencies or directly from contracted administrative service 118
organizations, as applicable. 119
(j) The committee shall include two or more subcommittees chaired 120
by a member of the committee to inform its recommendations. The 121
subcommittees may focus on: Workforce-related issues, school-based 122
health, prevention, and intermediate or acute care. All subcommittees 123
shall examine gaps, reimbursement rates, parity in the outcomes of 124
services and the efficacy of services. 125
(k) The committee shall establish a time frame for reviewing and 126
making follow-up reports on the status or progress of the committee's 127
recommendations and activities. Each report submitted by the 128
committee pursuant to this subsection shall include specific 129
recommendations to improve outcomes related to children's mental, 130
emotional or behavioral health and a timeline indicating dates by which 131
specific tasks or outcomes should be achieved. 132
(l) The committee shall develop a strategic plan that integrates the 133
recommendations identified pursuant to subsection (g) of this section. 134 Substitute Bill No. 5433
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The plan may include short-term, medium-term and long-term goals. In 135
developing the plan, the committee shall collaborate with any state 136
agency with responsibilities relating to the mental health system. 137
(m) Not later than August 1, 2023, the committee shall report, in 138
accordance with section 11-4a of the general statutes, such plan together 139
with an account of progress made toward the full implementation of 140
such plan and any recommendations concerning the implementation of 141
identified goals in the plan to the joint standing committees of the 142
General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to 143
appropriations and the budgets of state agencies, public health, human 144
services and children, and the Secretary of the Office of Policy and 145
Management. 146
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage New section
APP Joint Favorable Subst.