Bill Text: WV HB5556 | 2024 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Comprehensive Services Act
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-02-12 - To House Senior, Children, and Family Issues [HB5556 Detail]
Download: West_Virginia-2024-HB5556-Introduced.html
WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE
2024 REGULAR SESSION
Introduced
House Bill 5556
By Delegate Campbell
[Introduced February 12, 2024; Referred to the Committee on Senior, Children, and Family Issues then Health and Human Resources]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new article designated §49-12-1, §49-12-2, §49-12-3, §49-12-4, §49-12-5, §49-12-6, §49-12-7, §49-12-8, §49-12-9, §49-12-10, §49-12-11, and §49-12-12, all relating to creating the Comprehensive Services Act, a collaborative system of services and funding that is child-centered, family-focused and community-based when addressing the strengths and needs of troubled and at-risk youths and their families in this state; intent purpose and definitions; and establishing state and local advisory teams; establishing Community policy and management teams.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
Article 12. Comprehensive Services Act.
§49-12-1. Intent and purpose; definitions.
(a) It is the intention of this article to create a collaborative system of services and funding that is child-centered, family-focused and community-based when addressing the strengths and needs of troubled and at-risk youths and their families in this state.
(b) This article shall be interpreted and construed so as to effectuate the following purposes:
(1) Ensure that services and funding are consistent with the state's policies of preserving families and providing appropriate services in the least restrictive environment, while protecting the welfare of children and maintaining the safety of the public;
(2) Identify and intervene early with young children and their families who are at risk of developing emotional or behavioral problems, or both, due to environmental, physical or psychological stress;
(3) Design and provide services that are responsive to the unique and diverse strengths and needs of troubled youths and families;
(4) Increase interagency collaboration and family involvement in service delivery and management;
(5) Encourage a public and private partnership in the delivery of services to troubled and at-risk youths and their families; and
(6) Provide communities flexibility in the use of funds and to authorize communities to make decisions and be accountable for providing services in concert with these purposes.
(c) As used in this article, unless the context requires a different meaning:
"CSA" means the Children's Services Act.
"Council" means the Bureau for Social Services.
§49-12-2. State and local advisory team; appointment; membership.
The state and local advisory team is established to better serve the needs of troubled and at-risk youths and their families by advising the Council and by managing cooperative efforts at the state level and providing support to community efforts. The team shall be appointed by and be responsible to the Council. The team shall include one representative from each of the following state agencies: the Department of Health, the Division of Juvenile Services, the Bureau for Social Services, the Bureau for Behavioral Health, the Bureau for Family Assistance, the Senior Services Bureau, and the Department of Education. The team shall also include a parent representative who is not an employee of any public or private program that serves children and families and who has a child who has received services that are within the purview of the Children's Services Act; a representative of a private organization or association of providers for children's or family services; a local Children's Services Act coordinator or program manager; a juvenile and domestic relations district court judge; a representative who has previously received services through the Children's Services Act, appointed with recommendations from entities including the Departments of Education and the Bureau for Social Services and the West Virginia Chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness; and one member from each of five different geographical areas of the state who is representative of one of the different participants of community policy and management teams. The nonstate agency members shall serve staggered terms of not more than three years, such terms to be determined by the Council.
The team shall annually elect a chairman from among the local government representatives who shall be responsible for convening the team. The team shall develop and adopt bylaws to govern its operations that shall be subject to approval by the Council. Any person serving on such team who does not represent a public agency shall file a statement of economic interests as set out in §6B-2-1 et seq. of this code (Public Officers and Employees; Conflict of Interest Financial Disclosure). Persons representing public agencies shall file such statements if required to do so pursuant to §6B-2-1 et seq. of this code.
§49-12-3. State and local advisory team; powers and duties.
The state and local advisory team may advise:
(1) The Council 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) 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) 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) The Council on the effects of proposed policies, regulations and guidelines.
§49-12-4. Duties of agencies represented on state and local advisory team.
The state agencies represented on the state and local advisory team shall provide administrative support for the team in the development and implementation of the collaborative system of services and funding authorized by this article. This support shall also include, but not be limited to, the provision of timely fiscal information, data for client- and service-tracking, and assistance in training local agency personnel on the system of services and funding established by this article.
§49-12-5. Community policy and management team; appointment; fiscal agent.
(a) Every county, municipality, or combination of counties or municipalities shall establish a community policy and management team in order to receive funds pursuant to this article. Each such team shall be appointed by the governing body of the participating local political subdivision establishing the team. In making such appointments, the governing body shall ensure that the membership is appropriately balanced among the representatives required to serve on the team.. When any combination of counties, cities or counties and cities establishes a community policy and management team, the board of supervisors of each participating county or the council in the case of each participating municipality shall jointly establish the size of the team and the type of representatives to be selected from each locality. The governing bodies of each participating county and municipality served by the team shall appoint the designated representatives from their localities. The participating governing bodies shall jointly designate an official of one member municipality or county to act as fiscal agent for the team.
(b) The county or municipality that comprises a single team and the county or municipality whose designated official serves as the fiscal agent for the team in the case of joint teams shall annually audit the total revenues of the team and its programs. The county or municipality that comprises a single team and any combination of counties or cities establishing a team shall arrange for the provision of legal services to the team.
§49-12-6. Community policy and management teams; membership; immunity from liability.
(a) The community policy and management team to be appointed by the local governing body shall include, at a minimum, at least one elected official or appointed official or his or her designee from the governing body of a locality that is a member of the team and the local agency heads or their designees of the Departments of Education and the Bureau for Social Services and the West Virginia Chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Juvenile Services Division in §49-4-701 to §49-4-726 of this code, Department of Health, Bureau for of Social Services, and county schoolboards. The team shall also include a representative of a private organization or association of providers for children's or family services if such organizations or associations are located within the locality and a parent representative. Parent representatives who are employed by a public or private program that receives funds pursuant to this article" or agencies represented on a community policy and management team may serve as a parent representative provided that parent representatives who are not employed by a public or private program that receives funds pursuant to this article or agencies represented on a community policy and management team are prioritized for participation where practicable. Those persons appointed to represent community agencies shall be authorized to make policy and funding decisions for their agencies.
(b) The local governing body may appoint other members to the team, including, but not limited to, a local government official, a local law-enforcement official, and representatives of other public agencies.
(c) When any combination of counties, cities or counties, and cities establishes a community policy and management team, the membership requirements previously set out shall be adhered to by the team as a whole.
(d) Persons who serve on the team are 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 §6B-2-1 et seq. of this code (Public Officers and Employees; Conflict of Interest Financial Disclosure), as well as persons representing public agencies.
(e) 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 §6B-2-1 et seq. of this code (Public Officers and Employees; Conflict of Interest Financial Disclosure) or a fiduciary interest.
§49-12-7. 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 with the Department of Human Services on the development of a community-based system of services established.
(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, including a process for parents and persons who have primary physical custody of a child to refer children in their care to the teams, 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 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 Department of Human Services, 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 as requested by the Department of Human Services;
(13) Review and analyze data in management reports provided by the Department of Human Services to help evaluate child and family outcomes and public and private provider performance in the provision of services to children and families through the Department of Human Services. Every team shall also review local and statewide data provided in the management reports on the number of children served, children placed out of state, demographics, types of services provided, duration of services, service expenditures, child and family outcomes, and performance measures. Additionally, teams shall track the utilization and performance of residential placements using data and management reports to develop and implement strategies for returning children placed outside of the Commonwealth, preventing placements, and reducing lengths of stay in residential programs for children who can appropriately and effectively be served in their home, relative's homes, family-like setting, or their community;
(14) Administer funds;
(15) 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 are not used;
(16) Establish policies for providing intensive care coordination services for children who are at risk of entering, or are placed in, residential care through the Department of Human Services, consistent with guidelines developed; and
(17) Establish policies and procedures for appeals by youth and their families of decisions made by local family assessment and planning teams regarding services to be provided to the youth and family pursuant to an individual family services plan developed by the local family assessment and planning team. These policies and procedures may not apply to appeals made pursuant to, or in accordance with, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or federal or state laws or regulations governing the provision of medical assistance pursuant to Title XIX of the Social Security Act.
§49-12-8. 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, Division of Juvenile services pursuant to §49-2-901 through §49-2-919 of this code, Department of Social Services, and county school boards. 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 article or agencies represented on a family assessment and planning team may serve as a parent representative provided that parent representatives who are not employed by a public or private program that receives funds pursuant to this article or agencies represented on a family assessment and planning team are prioritized for participation where practicable. 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 §6B-2-1 et seq. of this code (Public Officers and Employees; Conflict of Interest Financial Disclosure). 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 §6B-2-1 et seq. of this code (Public Officers and Employees; Conflict of Interest Financial Disclosure), or a fiduciary interest.
§49-12-9. Family assessment and planning team; powers and duties.
(a) The family assessment and planning team, in accordance with this article shall assess the strengths and needs of troubled youths and families who are approved for referral to the team and identify and determine the complement of services required to meet these unique needs.
(b) Every such team, in accordance with policies developed by the community policy and management team, shall:
(1) Review referrals of youths and families to the team;
(2) Provide for family participation in all aspects of assessment, planning and implementation of services;
(3) Provide for the participation of foster parents in the assessment, planning and implementation of services when a child has a program goal of permanent foster care or is in a long-term foster care placement. The case manager shall notify the foster parents of a troubled youth of the time and place of all assessment and planning meetings related to such youth. Such foster parents shall be given the opportunity to speak at the meeting or submit written testimony if the foster parents are unable to attend. The opinions of the foster parents shall be considered by the family assessment and planning team in its deliberations;
(4) Develop an individual family services plan for youths and families reviewed by the team that provides for appropriate and cost-effective services;
(5) Identify children who are at risk of entering, or are placed in, residential care through the Children's Services Act program who can be appropriately and effectively served in their homes, relatives' homes, family-like settings, and communities. For each child entering or in residential care, in accordance with the policies of the community policy and management team developed pursuant to this article, the family assessment and planning team or approved alternative multidisciplinary team, in collaboration with the family, shall (i) identify the strengths and needs of the child and his or her family through conducting or reviewing comprehensive assessments, including but not limited to information gathered through the mandatory uniform assessment instrument, (ii) identify specific services and supports necessary to meet the identified needs of the child and his or her family, building upon the identified strengths, (iii) implement a plan for returning the youth to his or her home, relative's home, family-like setting, or community at the earliest appropriate time that addresses his or her needs, including identification of public or private community-based services to support the youth and his or her family during transition to community-based care, and (iv) provide regular monitoring and utilization review of the services and residential placement for the child to determine whether the services and placement continue to provide the most appropriate and effective services for the child and his or her family;
(6) Where parental or legal guardian financial contribution is not specifically prohibited by federal or state law or regulation, or has not been ordered by a Family Court judge, assess the ability of parents or legal guardians, utilizing a standard sliding fee scale, based upon ability to pay, to contribute financially to the cost of services to be provided and provide for appropriate financial contribution from parents or legal guardians in the individual family services plan;
(7) Refer the youth and family to community agencies and resources in accordance with the individual family services plan;
(8) Recommend to the community policy and management team expenditures from the local allocation of the state pool of funds; and
(9) Designate a person who is responsible for monitoring and reporting, as appropriate, on the progress being made in fulfilling the individual family services plan developed for each youth and family, such reports to be made to the team or the responsible local agencies.
§49-12-10. Referrals to family assessment and planning team or collaborative, multidisciplinary team process.
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 an approved collaborative, multidisciplinary team process and shall consider the criteria set out in this article. 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 prohibits 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 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.
§49-12-11. Information sharing; confidentiality.
(a) All public agencies that have served a family or treated a child referred to a family assessment and planning team shall cooperate with this team. The agency that refers a youth and family to the team shall be responsible for obtaining the consent required to share agency client information with the team. After obtaining the proper consent, all agencies shall promptly deliver, upon request and without charge, such records of services, treatment or education of the family or child as are necessary for a full and informed assessment by the team.
(b) Proceedings held to consider the appropriate provision of services and funding for a particular child or family or both who have been referred to the family assessment and planning team and whose case is being assessed by this team or reviewed by the community policy and management team shall be confidential and not open to the public, unless the child and family who are the subjects of the proceeding request, in writing, that it be open. All information about specific children and families obtained by the team members in the discharge of their responsibilities to the team shall be confidential.
(c) Utilizing a secure electronic database, the CPMT and the family assessment and planning team shall provide the Office of Children's Services with client-specific information from the mandatory uniform assessment and information in accordance with this article.
§49-12-12. State pool of funds for community policy and management teams.
(a) There is established a state pool of funds to be allocated to community policy and management teams in accordance with the appropriation act and appropriate state regulations. These funds, as made available by the Legislature, shall be expended for public or private nonresidential or residential services for troubled youths and families. However, funds for private special education services shall only be expended on private educational programs that are licensed by the Board of Education or an equivalent out-of-state licensing agency. Effective July 1, 2024, funds for private special education services shall only be expended on private educational programs that the Office of Children's Services certifies as having reported their tuition rates on a standard reporting template developed by the office. The Office of Children's Services shall consult with private special education services providers in developing the standard reporting template for tuition rates.
The purposes of this system of funding are to:
(1) Place authority for making program and funding decisions at the community level;
(2) Consolidate categorical agency funding and institute community responsibility for the provision of services;
(3) Provide greater flexibility in the use of funds to purchase services based on the strengths and needs of children, youths, and families; and
(4) Reduce disparity in accessing services and to reduce inadvertent fiscal incentives for serving children and youth according to differing required local match rates for funding streams.
(b) The state pool shall consist of funds that serve the target populations identified in subdivisions 1 through 6 in the purchase of residential and nonresidential services for children and youth. References to funding sources and current placement authority for the targeted populations of children and youth are for the purpose of accounting for the funds in the pool. It is not intended that children and youth be categorized by individual funding streams in order to access services. The target population shall be the following:
(1) Children and youth placed for purposes of special education in approved private school educational programs, previously funded by the Department of Education through private tuition assistance;
(2) Children and youth with disabilities placed by local social services agencies or the Division of Juvenile services pursuant to §49-2-901 through §49-2-919 of this code in private residential facilities or across jurisdictional lines in private, special education day schools, if the individualized education program indicates such school is the appropriate placement while living in foster homes or child-caring facilities, previously funded by the Department of Education through the Interagency Assistance Fund for Noneducational Placements of Handicapped Children;
(3) Children and youth for whom foster care services, as defined by §49-4-110 of this code, are being provided;
(4) Children and youth placed by the Division of Juvenile services pursuant to §49-2-901 through §49-2-919 of this code and family court, in a private or locally operated public facility or nonresidential program, or in a community or facility-based treatment program;
(5) Children and youth committed to the Division of Juvenile services pursuant to §49-2-901 through §49-2-919 of this code placed by it in a private home or in a public or private facility; and
(6) Children and youth previously placed in approved private school educational programs for at least six months who will receive transitional services in a public school setting. State pool funds shall be allocated for no longer than 12 months for transitional services. Local agencies may contract with a private school education program provider to provide transition services in the public school.
(c) The Legislature and the governing body of each county and municipality shall annually appropriate such sums of money as shall be sufficient to (i) provide special education services and foster care services for children and youth identified and (ii) meet relevant federal mandates for the provision of these services. The community policy and management team shall anticipate to the best of its ability the number of children and youth for whom such services will be required and reserve funds from its state pool allocation to meet these needs. Nothing in this section prohibits local governments from requiring parental or legal financial contributions, where not specifically prohibited by federal or state law or regulation, utilizing a standard sliding fee scale based upon ability to pay, as provided in the appropriation act.
(d) When a community services board established, local school division, local social service agency, court service unit, or the Division of Juvenile services pursuant to §49-2-901 through §49-2-919 of this code has referred a child and family to a family assessment and planning team and that team has recommended the proper level of treatment and services needed by that child and family and has determined the child's eligibility for funding for services through the state pool of funds, then the community services board, the local school division, local social services agency, court service unit, or Department of Juvenile Justice has met its fiscal responsibility for that child for the services funded through the pool. However, the community services board, the local school division, local social services agency, court service unit, or Department of Juvenile Justice continues to be responsible for providing services identified in individual family service plans that are within the agency's scope of responsibility and that are funded separately from the state pool.
Further, in any instance that an individual 18 through 21 years of age, inclusive, who is eligible for funding from the state pool and is properly defined as a school-aged child with disabilities is placed by a local social services agency that has custody across jurisdictional lines in a group home in the State and the individual's individualized education program (IEP), as prepared by the placing jurisdiction, indicates that a private day school placement is the appropriate educational program for such individual, the financial and legal responsibility for the individual's special education services and IEP shall remain, in compliance with the provisions of federal law, Article 2 of Chapter 13 of Title 22.1, and Board of Education regulations, the responsibility of the placing jurisdiction until the individual reaches the age of 21, inclusive, or is no longer eligible for special education services. The financial and legal responsibility for such special education services shall remain with the placing jurisdiction, unless the placing jurisdiction has transitioned all appropriate services with the individual.
(e) In any matter properly before a court for which state pool funds are to be accessed, the court shall, prior to final disposition, and refer the matter to the community policy and management team for assessment by a local family assessment and planning team authorized by policies of the community policy and management team for assessment to determine the recommended level of treatment and services needed by the child and family. The family assessment and planning team making the assessment shall make a report of the case or forward a copy of the individual family services plan to the court within 30 days of the court's written referral to the community policy and management team. The court shall consider the recommendations of the family assessment and planning team and the community policy and management team. If, prior to a final disposition by the court, the court is requested to consider a level of service not identified or recommended in the report submitted by the family assessment and planning team, the court shall request the community policy and management team to submit a second report characterizing comparable levels of service to the requested level of service. Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection, the court may make any disposition as is authorized or required by law. Services ordered pursuant to a disposition rendered by the court pursuant to this section shall qualify for funding as appropriated under this section.
(f) As used in this section, "transitional services" includes services delivered in a public school setting directly to students with significant disabilities or intensive support needs to facilitate their transition back to public school after having been served in a private special education day school or residential facility for at least six months. "Transitional services" includes one-on-one aides, speech therapy, occupational therapy, behavioral health services, counseling, applied behavior analysis, specially designed instruction delivered directly to the student, or other services needed to facilitate such transition that are delivered directly to the student in their public school over the 12-month period as identified in the child's individualized education program.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create the Comprehensive Services Act, a collaborative system of services and funding that is child-centered, family-focused and community-based when addressing the strengths and needs of troubled and at-risk youths and their families in this state.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
