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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6900
January Session, 2023
LCO No. 5449
Referred to Committee on APPROPRIATIONS
Introduced by:
(APP)
AN ACT CONCERNING THE BEHAVIORAL AND MENTAL HEALTH
POLICY OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 2-137 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2023): 2
(a) There is established a Children's Behavioral and Mental Health 3
Policy and [Oversight] Planning Committee. The committee shall 4
evaluate the availability and efficacy of prevention, early intervention, 5
and mental health treatment services and options for children from birth 6
to age eighteen and make recommendations to the General Assembly 7
and executive agencies regarding the governance and administration of 8
the mental health care system for children. The committee shall be 9
within the Legislative Department. 10
(b) The committee shall consist 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 Raised Bill No. 6900
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and the budgets of state agencies, or their designees; 15
(2) Three appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives, 16
one of whom shall be a member of the General Assembly and two of 17
whom shall be providers of mental, emotional or behavioral health 18
services for children in the state; 19
(3) Three appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate, one 20
of whom shall be a member of the General Assembly and two of whom 21
shall be representatives of private advocacy groups that provide 22
services for children and families in the state; 23
(4) One appointed by each of the two legislative chairpersons of the 24
committee, selected pursuant to subsection (e) of this section; 25
[(4)] (5) Two appointed by the majority leader of the House of 26
Representatives, who shall be representatives of children's hospitals; 27
[(5)] (6) One appointed by the majority leader of the Senate, who shall 28
be a representative of public school superintendents in the state; 29
[(6)] (7) Two appointed by the minority leader of the House of 30
Representatives, who shall be representatives of families with children 31
who have been diagnosed with mental, emotional or behavioral health 32
disorders; 33
[(7)] (8) Two appointed by the minority leader of the Senate, who 34
shall be providers of mental or behavioral health services; 35
[(8)] (9) The Commissioners of Children and Families, Correction, 36
Developmental Services, Early Childhood, Education, Insurance, 37
Mental Health and Addiction Services, Public Health and Social 38
Services, or their designees; 39
[(9)] (10) The executive director of the Office of Health Strategy, or 40
the executive director's designee; 41
[(10)] (11) The Child Advocate, or the Child Advocate's designee; 42 Raised Bill No. 6900
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[(11)] (12) The Healthcare Advocate, or the Healthcare Advocate's 43
designee; 44
[(12)] (13) The executive director of the Court Support Services 45
Division of the Judicial Branch, or the executive director's designee; 46
[(13)] (14) The executive director of the Commission on Women, 47
Children, Seniors, Equity and Opportunity, or the executive director's 48
designee; 49
[(14)] (15) The Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, or 50
the secretary's designee; and 51
[(15)] (16) One representative from each administrative services 52
organization under contract with the Department of Social Services to 53
provide such services for recipients of assistance under the HUSKY 54
Health program, who shall be ex-officio, nonvoting members. 55
(c) Any member of the committee appointed under subdivisions (1) 56
to [(7)] (8), inclusive, of subsection (b) of this section may be a member 57
of the General Assembly. 58
(d) Any vacancy shall be filled by the appointing authority. 59
(e) The chairpersons of the committee shall be the Secretary of the 60
Office of Policy and Management, or the secretary's designee, and [a 61
member] two members of the General Assembly [selected jointly] one 62
each selected by the speaker of the House of Representatives and the 63
president pro tempore of the Senate from among the members serving 64
pursuant to subdivision (1), (2) or (3) of subsection (b) of this section. 65
[shall be co-chairpersons of the committee. Such co-chairpersons] The 66
three chairpersons shall schedule the first meeting of the committee, 67
which shall be held not later than [sixty days after May 4, 2022] October 68
1, 2023. 69
(f) Members of the committee shall serve without compensation, 70
except for necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their 71
duties. 72 Raised Bill No. 6900
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(g) Not later than January 1, 2023, the committee shall report, in 73
accordance with section 11-4a, to the joint standing committees of the 74
General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to 75
appropriations and the budgets of state agencies, public health, human 76
services and children, and the Secretary of the Office of Policy and 77
Management, regarding the following: 78
(1) Any statutory and budgetary changes needed concerning the 79
mental health system of prevention, development and treatment that 80
the committee recommends to (A) improve developmental, mental 81
health and behavioral health outcomes for children; (B) improve 82
transparency and accountability with respect to state-funded services 83
for children and youth with an emphasis on goals identified by the 84
committee for community-based programs and facility-based 85
interventions; and (C) promote the efficient sharing of information by 86
state and state-funded agencies to ensure the regular collection and 87
reporting of data regarding children and families' access to, utilization 88
of and benefit from services necessary to promote public health and 89
mental and behavioral health outcomes for children and youth and their 90
families; [.] 91
(2) The gaps in services identified by the committee with respect to 92
children and families involved in the mental health system, and 93
recommendations to address such gaps in services; 94
(3) Strengths and barriers identified by the committee that support or 95
impede the mental health needs of children and youth with specific 96
recommendations for reforms; 97
(4) An examination of the way state agencies can work collaboratively 98
through school-based efforts and other processes to improve mental 99
health and developmental outcomes for children; 100
(5) An examination of disproportionate access and outcomes across 101
the mental health care system for children of color; 102
(6) An examination of disproportionate access and outcomes across 103 Raised Bill No. 6900
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the mental health care system for children with developmental 104
disabilities; 105
(7) A plan to ensure a quality assurance framework for facilities and 106
programs that are part of the mental health care system and are operated 107
privately or by the state that includes data regarding efficacy and 108
outcomes; and 109
(8) A governance structure for the children's mental health system 110
that will best facilitate the public policy and healthcare goals of the state 111
to ensure that all children and families can access high-quality mental 112
health care. 113
(h) The committee shall complete its duties under this section after 114
requesting consultation with one or more organizations that focus on 115
the quality of services for children or research related to the well-being 116
of children, including, but not limited to, The Child Health and 117
Development Institute or Connecticut Voices for Children. The 118
committee may accept administrative support and technical and 119
research assistance from any such organization. The committee shall 120
work in collaboration with any results-first initiative implemented 121
pursuant to any section of the general statutes or any public or special 122
act. 123
(i) The committee shall be given access to data collected by the state 124
on matters related to children's behavioral health from the relevant state 125
agencies or directly from contracted administrative service 126
organizations, as applicable. 127
(j) The committee shall include two or more subcommittees chaired 128
by a member of the committee to inform its recommendations. The 129
subcommittees may focus on: Workforce-related issues, school-based 130
health, prevention, and intermediate or acute care. All subcommittees 131
shall examine gaps, reimbursement rates, parity in the outcomes of 132
services and the efficacy of services. 133
(k) The committee shall establish a time frame for reviewing and 134 Raised Bill No. 6900
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making follow-up reports on the status or progress of the committee's 135
recommendations and activities. Each report submitted by the 136
committee pursuant to this subsection shall include specific 137
recommendations to improve outcomes related to children's mental, 138
emotional or behavioral health and a timeline indicating dates by which 139
specific tasks or outcomes should be achieved. 140
(l) The committee shall develop a strategic plan that integrates the 141
recommendations identified pursuant to subsection (g) of this section. 142
The plan may include short-term, medium-term and long-term goals. In 143
developing the plan, the committee shall collaborate with any state 144
agency with responsibilities relating to the mental health system. 145
(m) Not later than August 1, 2023, the committee shall report, in 146
accordance with section 11-4a, such plan together with an account of 147
progress made toward the full implementation of such plan and any 148
recommendations concerning the implementation of identified goals in 149
the plan to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly 150
having cognizance of matters relating to appropriations and the budgets 151
of state agencies, public health, human services and children, and the 152
Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management. 153
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2023 2-137
Statement of Purpose:
To change the name of the committee to reference children and to
change the committee chair appointments.
[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.]