SEARCH SITE

VIRGINIA LAW PORTAL

SEARCHABLE DATABASES

ACROSS SESSIONS

Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.

2003 SESSION


CHAPTER 483
An Act to amend and reenact §§ 2.2-2648, 2.2-5202, 2.2-5206, 2.2-5207 and 2.2-5209 of the Code of Virginia, relating to the Comprehensive Services Act; family assessment and planning team referral.
[H 1714]
Approved March 16, 2003

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 2.2-2648, 2.2-5202, 2.2-5206, 2.2-5207 and 2.2-5209 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 2.2-2648. State Executive Council for Comprehensive Services for At-Risk Youth and Families; membership; meetings.

A. The State Executive Council for Comprehensive Services for At-Risk Youth and Families (the Council) is established as a supervisory council, within the meaning of § 2.2-2100, in the executive branch of state government.

B. The Council shall consist of the Commissioners of Health, of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services, and of Social Services; the Superintendent of Public Instruction; the Executive Secretary of the Virginia Supreme Court; the Director of the Department of Juvenile Justice; the Director of the Department of Medical Assistance Services; two local government representatives to include a member of a county board of supervisors or a city council and a county administrator or city manager, to be appointed by the Governor; a private provider representative from a facility that maintains membership in an association of providers for children's or family services and receives funding as authorized by the Comprehensive Services Act (§ 2.2-5200 et seq.), to be appointed by the Governor, who may appoint from nominees recommended by the Virginia Coalition of Private Provider Associations; and a parent representative. The parent representative shall be appointed by the Governor for a term not to exceed three years and shall not be an employee of any public or private program that serves children and families.

C. The Council shall annually elect a chairman who shall be responsible for convening the council. The Council shall meet, at a minimum, quarterly, to oversee the administration of this article and make such decisions as may be necessary to carry out its purposes.

D. The Council shall have the following powers and duties:

1. Hire and supervise a director of the Office of Comprehensive Services for At-Risk Youth and Families;

2. Appoint the members of the state and local advisory team in accordance with the requirements of § 2.2-5201;

3. Provide for the establishment of interagency programmatic and fiscal policies developed by the Office of Comprehensive Services for At-Risk Youth and Families, which support the purposes of the Comprehensive Services Act (§ 2.2-5200 et seq.), through the promulgation of regulations by the participating state boards or by administrative action, as appropriate;

4. Provide for a public participation process for programmatic and fiscal guidelines and dispute resolution procedures developed for administrative actions that support the purposes of the Comprehensive Services Act (§ 2.2-5200 et seq.). The public participation process shall include, at a minimum, sixty 60 days of public comment and the distribution of these guidelines and procedures to all interested parties;

5. Oversee the administration of and consult with the Virginia Municipal League and the Virginia Association of Counties about state policies governing the use, distribution and monitoring of moneys in the state pool of funds and the state trust fund;

6. Provide for the administration of necessary functions that support the work of the Office of Comprehensive Services for At-Risk Youth and Families;

7. Review and take appropriate action on issues brought before it by the Office of Comprehensive Services for At-Risk Youth and Families, Community Policy and Management Teams (CPMTs), local governments, providers and parents;

8. Advise the Governor and appropriate Cabinet Secretaries on proposed policy and operational changes that facilitate interagency service development and implementation, communication and cooperation;

9. Provide administrative support and fiscal incentives for the establishment and operation of local comprehensive service systems;

10. Oversee coordination of early intervention programs to promote comprehensive, coordinated service delivery, local interagency program management, and co-location of programs and services in communities. Early intervention programs include state programs under the administrative control of the state executive council member agencies;

11. Oversee the development and implementation of a mandatory uniform assessment instrument and process to be used by all localities to identify levels of risk of Comprehensive Services Act (CSA) youth;

12. Oversee the development and implementation of uniform guidelines to include initial intake and screening assessment, development and implementation of a plan of care, service monitoring and periodic follow-up, and the formal review of the status of the youth and the family;

13. Oversee the development and implementation of uniform guidelines for documentation for CSA-funded services;

14. Review and approve a request by a CPMT to establish a collaborative, multidisciplinary team process for referral and reviews of children and families pursuant to § 2.2-5209;

15. Oversee the development and implementation of mandatory uniform guidelines for utilization management; each locality receiving funds for activities under the Comprehensive Services Act shall have a locally determined utilization management plan following the guidelines or use of a process approved by the Council for utilization management, covering all CSA-funded services;

15 16. Oversee the development, implementation, and collection of uniform data collection standards, and the development of outcome measures; including, but not limited to, expenditures, number of youth served in specific CSA activities, length of stay for residents in core licensed residential facilities, and proportion of youth placed in treatment settings suggested by a uniform assessment instrument for CSA-funded services;

16 17. Establish and oversee the operation of an informal review and negotiation process with the Director of the Office of Comprehensive Services and a formal dispute resolution procedure before the State Executive Council, which include formal notice and an appeals process, should the Director or Council find, upon a formal written finding, that a CPMT failed to comply with any provision of this Act. "Formal notice" means the Director or Council provides a letter of notification, which communicates the Director's or the Council's finding, explains the effect of the finding, and describes the appeal process, to the chief administrative officer of the local government with a copy to the chair of the CPMT. The dispute resolution procedure shall also include provisions for remediation by the CPMT that shall include a plan of correction recommended by the Council and submitted to the CPMT. If the Council denies reimbursement from the state pool of funds, the Council and the locality shall develop a plan of repayment;

17 18. Deny state funding to a locality where the CPMT fails to provide services that comply with the Comprehensive Services Act (§ 2.2-5200 et seq.), in accordance with subdivision 16 17; and

18 19. Biennially publish and disseminate to members of the General Assembly and community policy and management teams a state progress report on comprehensive services to children, youth and families and a plan for such services for the next succeeding biennium. The state plan shall:

a. Provide a fiscal profile of current and previous years' federal and state expenditures for a comprehensive service system for children, youth and families;

b. Incorporate information and recommendations from local comprehensive service systems with responsibility for planning and delivering services to children, youth and families;

c. Identify and establish goals for comprehensive services and the estimated costs of implementing these goals, report progress toward previously identified goals and establish priorities for the coming biennium; and

d. Include such other information or recommendations as may be necessary and appropriate for the improvement and coordinated development of the state's comprehensive services system.

§ 2.2-5202. State and local advisory team; powers and duties.

The state and local advisory team may:

1. Advise the Council interagency program on state interagency program policies that promote and support cooperation and collaboration in the provision of services to troubled and at-risk youths and their families at the state and local levels;

2. Advise the Council on state interagency fiscal policies that promote and support cooperation and collaboration in the provision of services to troubled and at-risk youths and their families at the state and local levels;

3. Advise state agencies and localities on training and technical assistance necessary for the provision of efficient and effective services that are responsive to the strengths and needs of troubled and at-risk youths and their families; and

4. Advise the Council on the impacts effects of proposed policies, regulations and guidelines.

§ 2.2-5206. Community policy and management teams; powers and duties.

The community policy and management team shall manage the cooperative effort in each community to better serve the needs of troubled and at-risk youths and their families and to maximize the use of state and community resources. Every such team shall:

1. Develop interagency policies and procedures to govern the provision of services to children and families in its community;

2. Develop interagency fiscal policies governing access to the state pool of funds by the eligible populations including immediate access to funds for emergency services and shelter care;

3. Establish policies to assess the ability of parents or legal guardians to contribute financially to the cost of services to be provided and, when not specifically prohibited by federal or state law or regulation, provide for appropriate parental or legal guardian financial contribution, utilizing a standard sliding fee scale based upon ability to pay;

4. Coordinate long-range, community-wide planning that ensures the development of resources and services needed by children and families in its community including consultation on the development of a community-based system of services established under § 16.1-309.3;

5. Establish policies governing referrals and reviews of children and families to the family assessment and planning teams or a collaborative, multidisciplinary team process approved by the Council and a process to review the teams' recommendations and requests for funding;

6. Establish quality assurance and accountability procedures for program utilization and funds management;

7. Establish procedures for obtaining bids on the development of new services;

8. Manage funds in the interagency budget allocated to the community from the state pool of funds, the trust fund, and any other source;

9. Authorize and monitor the expenditure of funds by each family assessment and planning team or a collaborative, multidisciplinary team process approved by the Council;

10. Submit grant proposals that benefit its community to the state trust fund and to enter into contracts for the provision or operation of services upon approval of the participating governing bodies;

11. Serve as its community's liaison to the Office of Comprehensive Services for At-Risk Youth and Families, reporting on its programmatic and fiscal operations and on its recommendations for improving the service system, including consideration of realignment of geographical boundaries for providing human services;

12. Collect and provide uniform data to the Council on, but not limited to, expenditures, number of youth served in specific CSA activities, length of stay for residents in core licensed residential facilities, and proportion of youth placed in treatment settings suggested by a uniform assessment instrument for CSA-funded services;

13. Administer funds pursuant to § 16.1-309.3;

14. Have authority, upon approval of the participating governing bodies, to enter into a contract with another community policy and management team to purchase coordination services provided that funds described as the state pool of funds under § 2.2-5211 are not used; and

15. Submit to the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services information on children under the age of fourteen 14 and adolescents ages fourteen 14 through seventeen 17 for whom an admission to an acute care psychiatric or residential treatment facility licensed pursuant to Chapter 8 (§ 37.1-179 et seq.) of Title 37.1, exclusive of group homes, was sought but was unable to be obtained by the reporting entities. Such information shall be gathered from the family assessment and planning team or participating community agencies authorized in § 2.2-5207. Information to be submitted shall include:

a. The child or adolescent's date of birth;

b. Date admission was attempted; and

c. Reason the patient could not be admitted into the hospital or facility.

§ 2.2-5207. Family assessment and planning team; membership; immunity from liability.

Each community policy and management team shall establish and appoint one or more family assessment and planning teams as the needs of the community require. Each family assessment and planning team shall include representatives of the following community agencies who have authority to access services within their respective agencies: community services board established pursuant to § 37.1-195, juvenile court services unit, department of health, department of social services, and local school division and. Each family and planning team also shall include a parent representative and may include a representative of the department of health at the request of the chair of the local community policy and management team. Parent representatives who are employed by a public or private program that receives funds pursuant to this chapter or agencies represented on a family assessment and planning team may serve as a parent representative provided that they do not, as a part of their employment, interact directly on a regular and daily basis with children or supervise employees who interact directly on a regular basis with children. Notwithstanding this provision, foster parents may serve as parent representatives. The family assessment and planning team may include a representative of a private organization or association of providers for children's or family services and of other public agencies.

Persons who serve on a family assessment and planning team shall be immune from any civil liability for decisions made about the appropriate services for a family or the proper placement or treatment of a child who comes before the team, unless it is proven that such person acted with malicious intent. Any person serving on such team who does not represent a public agency shall file a statement of economic interests as set out in § 2.2-3117 of the State and Local Government Conflict of Interests Act (§ 2.2-3100 et seq.). Persons representing public agencies shall file such statements if required to do so pursuant to the State and Local Government Conflict of Interests Act.

Persons serving on the team who are parent representatives or who represent private organizations or associations of providers for children's or family services shall abstain from decision-making involving individual cases or agencies in which they have either a personal interest, as defined in § 2.2-3101 of the State and Local Government Conflict of Interests Act, or a fiduciary interest.

§ 2.2-5209. Referrals to family assessment and planning teams.

The community policy and management team shall establish policies governing the referral of troubled youths and families to the family assessment and planning team or a collaborative, multidisciplinary team process approved by the Council. These policies shall include that all youth and families for which CSA-funded treatment services are requested are to be assessed by the family assessment and planning team or a an approved collaborative, multidisciplinary team process approved by the Council and shall consider the criteria set out in subdivisions A. 1. A 1 and A. 2. A 2 of § 2.2-5212. Except for cases involving only the payment of foster care maintenance that shall be at the discretion of the local community policy and management team, cases for which service plans are developed outside of this family assessment and planning team process or approved collaborative, multidisciplinary team process shall not be eligible for state pool funds.

Nothing in this section shall prohibit the use of state pool funds for emergency placements, provided the youth are subsequently assessed by the family assessment and planning team or an approved collaborative, multidisciplinary team process within fourteen 14 days of admission and the emergency placement is approved at the time of placement. In cases involving the denial of state pool funds resulting from parental refusal to consent to release of student records under federal law, where such refusal precludes the development of placement through the family assessment and planning team process or the approved, collaborative, multidisciplinary team process, an appeal for good cause may be made to the Council.