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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 6900
January Session, 2023
AN ACT CONCERNING THE TRANSFORMING CHILDREN'S
BEHAVIORAL HEALTH POLICY AND PLANNING 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 Section 2-137 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1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 Transforming Children's Behavioral [and 3
Mental] Health Policy and [Oversight] Planning Committee. The 4
committee shall evaluate the availability and efficacy of prevention, 5
early intervention, and [mental] behavioral health treatment services 6
and options for children from birth to age eighteen and make 7
recommendations to the General Assembly and executive agencies 8
regarding the governance and administration of the [mental] 9
behavioral health care system for children. The committee shall be 10
within the Legislative Department. For purposes of this section, 11
"behavioral health" means mental health and substance use disorders, 12
as well as overall psychological well-being. 13
(b) The committee shall consist of the following members: 14
(1) The chairpersons and ranking members of the joint standing 15
committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 16
relating to public health, human services, children and appropriations 17
and the budgets of state agencies, or their designees; 18 Substitute Bill No. 6900
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(2) Three appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives, 19
one of whom shall be a member of the General Assembly and two of 20
whom shall be providers of [mental, emotional or] behavioral health 21
services for children in the state; 22
(3) Three appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate, one 23
of whom shall be a member of the General Assembly and two of 24
whom shall be representatives of private advocacy groups that 25
provide services for children and families in the state; 26
(4) (A) Two appointed by the chairperson of the committee selected 27
by the speaker of the House of Representatives pursuant to subsection 28
(e) of this section, one of whom shall be a child or youth advocate; and 29
(B) two appointed by the chairperson of the committee selected by the 30
president pro tempore of the Senate pursuant to subsection (e) of this 31
section, one of whom shall be a child or youth advocate; 32
[(4)] (5) Two appointed by the majority leader of the House of 33
Representatives, who shall be representatives of children's hospitals; 34
[(5)] (6) One appointed by the majority leader of the Senate, who 35
shall be a representative of public school superintendents in the state; 36
[(6)] (7) Two appointed by the minority leader of the House of 37
Representatives, who shall be representatives of families with children 38
who have been diagnosed with [mental, emotional or] behavioral 39
health disorders; 40
[(7)] (8) Two appointed by the minority leader of the Senate, who 41
shall be providers of [mental or] behavioral health services; 42
[(8)] (9) The Commissioners of Children and Families, Correction, 43
Developmental Services, Early Childhood, Education, Insurance, 44
Mental Health and Addiction Services, Public Health and Social 45
Services, or their designees; 46
[(9)] (10) The executive director of the Office of Health Strategy, or 47 Substitute Bill No. 6900
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the executive director's designee; 48
[(10)] (11) The Child Advocate, or the Child Advocate's designee; 49
[(11)] (12) The Healthcare Advocate, or the Healthcare Advocate's 50
designee; 51
[(12)] (13) The executive director of the Court Support Services 52
Division of the Judicial Branch, or the executive director's designee; 53
[(13)] (14) The executive director of the Commission on Women, 54
Children, Seniors, Equity and Opportunity, or the executive director's 55
designee; 56
[(14)] (15) The Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, or 57
the secretary's designee; and 58
[(15)] (16) One representative from each administrative services 59
organization under contract with the Department of Social Services to 60
provide such services for recipients of assistance under the HUSKY 61
Health program, who shall be ex-officio, nonvoting members. 62
(c) Any member of the committee appointed under subdivisions (1) 63
to [(7)] (8), inclusive, of subsection (b) of this section may be a member 64
of the General Assembly. 65
(d) Any vacancy shall be filled by the appointing authority. 66
(e) The chairpersons of the committee shall be (1) the Secretary of 67
the Office of Policy and Management, or the secretary's designee, and 68
[a member] (2) two members of the General Assembly, [selected 69
jointly] one each selected by the speaker of the House of 70
Representatives and the president pro tempore of the Senate from 71
among the members serving pursuant to subdivision (1), (2) or (3) of 72
subsection (b) of this section. [shall be co-chairpersons of the 73
committee. Such co-chairpersons] The three chairpersons shall 74
schedule the first meeting of the committee, which shall be held not 75 Substitute Bill No. 6900
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later than [sixty days after May 4, 2022] July 1, 2023. 76
(f) Members of the committee shall serve without compensation, 77
except for necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their 78
duties. 79
(g) Not later than [January] December 1, 2023, the committee shall 80
report, in accordance with section 11-4a, to the joint standing 81
committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 82
relating to appropriations and the budgets of state agencies, public 83
health, human services and children, and the [Secretary of the] Office 84
of Policy and Management, regarding the following: 85
(1) Any statutory and budgetary changes needed concerning the 86
[mental] behavioral health system of prevention, development and 87
treatment that the committee recommends to (A) improve 88
developmental [, mental health] and behavioral health outcomes for 89
children; (B) improve transparency and accountability with respect to 90
state-funded services for children and youth with an emphasis on 91
goals identified by the committee for community-based programs and 92
facility-based interventions; and (C) promote the efficient sharing of 93
information by state and state-funded agencies to ensure the regular 94
collection and reporting of data regarding children and families' access 95
to, utilization of and benefit from services necessary to promote public 96
health and [mental and] behavioral health outcomes for children and 97
youth and their families; [.] 98
(2) The gaps in services identified by the committee with respect to 99
children and families involved in the [mental] behavioral health 100
system, and recommendations to address such gaps in services; 101
(3) Strengths and barriers identified by the committee that support 102
or impede the [mental] behavioral health needs of children and youth 103
with specific recommendations for reforms; 104
(4) An examination of the way state agencies can work 105
collaboratively through school-based efforts and other processes to 106 Substitute Bill No. 6900
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improve [mental health and] developmental and behavioral health 107
outcomes for children; 108
(5) An examination of disproportionate access and outcomes across 109
the [mental] behavioral health care system for children of color; 110
(6) An examination of disproportionate access and outcomes across 111
the [mental] behavioral health care system for children with 112
developmental disabilities; 113
(7) A plan to ensure a quality assurance framework for facilities and 114
programs that are part of the [mental] behavioral health care system 115
and are operated privately or by the state that includes data regarding 116
efficacy and outcomes; and 117
(8) A governance structure for the children's [mental] behavioral 118
health system that will best facilitate the public policy and healthcare 119
goals of the state to ensure that all children and families, in urban, 120
rural and all other areas of the state, can access high-quality [mental] 121
behavioral health care. 122
(h) The committee [shall] may complete its duties under this section 123
after requesting consultation with one or more organizations that focus 124
on [the quality of services for children or research related to the well-125
being of children, including, but not limited to, The Child Health and 126
Development Institute or Connecticut Voices for Children] children's 127
behavioral health. The committee may accept administrative support 128
and technical and research assistance from any [such] organization. 129
[The committee shall work in collaboration with any results-first 130
initiative implemented pursuant to any section of the general statutes 131
or any public or special act.] 132
(i) The committee shall be given access to data collected by the state 133
on matters related to children's behavioral health from the relevant 134
state agencies or directly from contracted administrative service 135
organizations, as applicable. 136 Substitute Bill No. 6900
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(j) The committee [shall] may include two or more subcommittees 137
chaired by a member of the committee to inform its recommendations. 138
The subcommittees may focus on: Workforce-related issues, school-139
based health, prevention, and intermediate or acute care. [All] Any 140
subcommittees [shall] may examine gaps, reimbursement rates, parity 141
in the outcomes of services [and] or the efficacy of services. 142
(k) The committee shall, annually, establish a [time frame] work 143
plan for reviewing and making follow-up reports on the status or 144
progress of the committee's recommendations and activities. [Each 145
report submitted by the committee pursuant to this subsection] The 146
work plan shall include specific recommendations to improve 147
outcomes related to children's [mental, emotional or] behavioral health 148
and a timeline indicating dates by which specific tasks or outcomes 149
should be achieved. 150
(l) The committee shall develop a strategic plan that integrates the 151
recommendations identified pursuant to subsection (g) of this section. 152
[The plan may include short-term, medium-term and long-term goals.] 153
In developing the plan, the committee [shall] may collaborate with any 154
state agency with responsibilities relating to the [mental] behavioral 155
health system. 156
(m) Not later than [August 1, 2023] December 1, 2024, the committee 157
shall report, in accordance with section 11-4a, such plan, together with 158
an account of progress made toward the full implementation of such 159
plan, and any recommendations concerning the implementation of 160
identified goals in the plan to the joint standing committees of the 161
General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to 162
appropriations and the budgets of state agencies, public health, human 163
services and children, and the [Secretary of the] Office of Policy and 164
Management. 165
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Substitute Bill No. 6900
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Section 1 October 1, 2023 2-137
APP Joint Favorable Subst.