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Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.
1997 SESSION
970115685WHEREAS, the Comprehensive Services Act (CSA) was created in 1992 to establish a comprehensive system of services and funding through interagency planning and collaboration in order to better meet the needs of troubled and at-risk youths and their families; and
WHEREAS, in order to accomplish this is a systematic way, a state pool of funding was created to allow the community policy and management teams and the family assessment teams in the localities to draw upon funding in a manner which would better address the needs of the child and his family; and
WHEREAS, localities received various assurances with regard to maintenance of state funding, payment for unanticipated costs, and a transition process for localities to evolve into the system; and
WHEREAS, increases in the cost of services and in the number of youths who need services has placed a severe strain on existing resources, and future scheduled appropriations do not appear to meet the anticipated needs; and
WHEREAS, total costs for fiscal year 1996 are now estimated at $145 million; and
WHEREAS, some localities are experiencing cost and service delivery difficulties and are apprehensive about the possibility that additional costs are going to be passed on to the localities; and
WHEREAS, the Joint Subcommittee to Study the Comprehensive Services Act heard testimony and received information which has offered some insight into the problems, and also received some information about how to begin to address such issues; and
WHEREAS, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission's study of the Comprehensive Services Act, pursuant to SJR 123 (1996), is not due to be completed until 1998; and
WHEREAS, the joint subcommittee, after identifying a number of potential issues, felt that it would be premature to offer legislation or other corrective measures in light of the pending JLARC study; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the Joint Subcommittee to Study the Comprehensive Services Act encourage JLARC to examine some of these same issues in their study, including (i) the development of financial incentives for localities which implement "best practices," including the appointment on each community policy and management team of a local fiscal agent, the increased collection of a minimum financial contribution by parents of children receiving CSA services, the degree to which services which are being provided by private facilities can be provided at state facilities, and the degree to which localities are able to successfully implement treatment and management goals; (ii) the issue of access through the Juvenile and Domestic Relations judges for those youths who may not be considered "mandated" by law; (iii) clarification of which services are federally or state mandated; (iv) evaluation of a process through which each placement is reviewed every six months to see if appropriate progress is being made and if other alternatives may be more appropriate; (v) the need for more technical assistance for the localities from the state CSA office, which currently has only two and one-half positions; and (vi) the exploration of the coordination of CSA funds with other funding streams, such as the Juvenile Community Crime Control Act funds, in order to leverage additional funds.