Department of Children and Families Recommendations

Legislative Program Review and Investigations Committee

Summary of Recommendations
November 30, 1999

Department of Children and Families

The General Assembly shall establish in statute the following language: "It is the policy of the state of Connecticut to promote the well-being of children and families through the development of integrated, comprehensive, child-centered, family-focused, and community-based services that are accessible, cost-effective, of good quality, and delivered in the least restrictive environment possible."

Create a secretary for children responsible for coordinating state efforts to implement the state’s policy on children and families.

The Office of the Secretary for Children shall be an independent executive branch agency and the secretary shall be authorized to employ staff and purchase equipment, hire consultants, and convene advisory groups of public officials and private citizens as needed. The main duties of the secretary for children shall include:

preparing a biennial Connecticut children’s budget that identifies all federal and state resources dedicated to children’s services and making recommendations concerning the allocation of those resources;
developing and implementing a mechanism for pooling resources from multiple state agencies to fund a community-based system of care that will deliver integrated services to children and their families based on individual needs;
preparing a biennial statewide plan for promoting the well-being of children and families through preventive services;
establishing benchmarks to measure the well-being of children in Connecticut and reporting annually to the governor and legislature on their status; and
establishing and maintaining arrangements with local universities to conduct research and evaluations related to children’s service needs and the outcomes of state policies and programs for children and families.

Each state agency with responsibility for serving children and families shall be required to submit to the children’s secretary each year: (1) an assessment of the needs of its client population under the age of 18 and their families, overall and by region; and (2) a status report of each region in terms of children’s well-being benchmarks relevant to the policies and programs it administers.

Each child-serving agency shall be required to forward its proposed biennial budget related to services for persons under 18 and their families to the secretary for children who will use the information to prepare the biennial children’s budget. In the budget submission to the secretary, each agency shall identify all resources it allocates to preventive services for children and families. Each agency shall also identify the amount of resources it proposes to pool with funds from other children’s agencies to support an integrated, community-based care system as well as estimates of the client population to be served and the types and amount of services required to be provided by the system.

The secretary for children shall convene the heads of all state departments serving children at least two times per year, once to provide advice and assistance in planning and implementing preventive services for children and families and once to help evaluate the state’s overall progress in promoting the well-being of children and families and prepare the secretary’s annual children’s status report to the governor and General Assembly. The secretary may convene the department heads or their designees to meet for other purposes and at other times as needed.

The secretary shall be appointed to a five-year term by the governor subject to the approval of the General Assembly. The secretary shall have the following qualifications: an advanced degree in management and administration and at least 10 years experience in a high-level management position requiring skills such as strategic planning, financial analysis, negotiations, and public relations.

To carry out the duties of the Office of the Secretary for Children, the children’s secretary shall have specific authority to propose funding levels for an integrated, community-based service delivery system for children and families.

The Office of the Secretary for Children shall be responsible for funding and overseeing family advocates for children's services.

The secretary shall develop and provide training about community partnerships to all state agencies, making sure to include both management, line staff, and private provider organizations. The secretary shall also conduct public information programs to educate communities and the general public about the partnership model.

A schedule shall be developed by the secretary for children to phase in implementation of the recommendations concerning the responsibilities of the secretary and the community partnerships over a five-year period.

In the first year following passage of the enabling legislation, the secretary for children, with the advice and assistance of representatives from each child-serving agency and the Office of Policy and Management, shall establish the children’s budget process, the service needs assessment process, the process for contracting with community partnerships and shall prepare a plan for phasing in community partnerships statewide over a five-year period.

The secretary shall establish, and the state agencies shall be required to use, standards and guidelines for conducting needs assessment for community-based services.

The children’s secretary, in consultation with officials from the state entities that serve children and with input from the public, shall develop measures to serve as benchmarks of the well-being of Connecticut’s children and families.

The secretary for children shall establish formal relationships with one or more local institutions of higher education to carry out research and evaluation projects related to the well-being of children and families in Connecticut.

The subsequent terms for the secretary for children shall be four years coterminous with the appointing governor.

The Office of the Child Advocate, the Commission on Children, and the Children’s Trust Fund shall be transferred to the Office of the Secretary for Children for administrative purposes only in accordance with C.G.S. §4-38f.

The secretary for children shall replace the commissioners of children and families, mental retardation, public health, education, social services, and correction as the sole ex officio member of the Commission on Children and the commissioners of children and families, public health, social services, and education on the Children’s Trust Fund Council.

The responsibilities of the Department of Children and Families shall be realigned as follows:

children's mental health and substance abuse shall be transferred to the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services;
juvenile justice shall be transferred to the Connecticut Juvenile Authority -- a new statutorily created state agency; and
protective services for abused, neglected, or abandoned children shall remain within DCF.

DCF shall develop an assessment standard and tool to determine which calls require a full investigation response by its staff and which can be referred to a state-contracted community partnership for children for assessment and services. The differential response process shall be fully implemented by the fourth year of the phase-in of community partnerships.

A Division of Children's Behavioral Health shall be established within the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. The division shall have primary responsibility for state mental health and substance abuse services for persons under the age of 18. It shall: develop policy; plan, evaluate, and assure the quality of behavioral health services for children; and oversee the establishment and maintenance of a comprehensive continuum of mental health and substance abuse services responsive to the individualized needs of children.

The children's behavioral health division shall be headed by a deputy commissioner who is a clinically competent professional experienced in the administration of children's mental health and substance abuse services. The deputy commission shall have responsibility for all children's mental health and substance abuse programs, services, and facilities.

All existing statutory requirements relating to children's mental health and substance abuse shall be transferred from DCF to DMHAS. Responsibility for the policies, procedures, administration, and operation of the state's existing children's mental health facilities, Riverview Hospital and the High Meadows residential treatment facility, shall be transferred to the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. DMHAS shall be authorized to establish any other facility or program required to carry out its children's behavioral health mission.

The children's behavioral health division shall have the following specific powers and responsibilities:

establish policy and long-range strategic plans for children's behavioral health;
develop standards and protocols for a continuum of children's mental health and substance abuse facilities, programs, and services that are responsive to the individual needs of children and their families;
conduct evaluation, research, and quality assurance of behavioral health programs and services for children;
establish procedures for the transition of clients from the children's system of behavioral health services to the adult system, when necessary;
provide clinical and technical assistance related to children's mental health and substance abuse issues to other state agencies including the Department of Children and Families and the Connecticut Juvenile Authority;
coordinate efforts with the secretary for children and the Department of Social Services to ensure the provision of medically necessary behavioral health services required by children who are mentally ill or emotionally disturbed and who are covered by the Medicaid program;
assist and cooperate with the secretary for children, including submitting: (1) an annual assessment of the statewide and regional behavioral health needs of children, including those who are abused, neglected, abandoned, or delinquent; (2) a status report on the benchmarks relevant to children's behavioral health; and (3) an estimate of its client population to be served by the community partnerships for children;
submit a proposed biennial budget related to services for children under 18 and their families, separate from the department's adult services budget, to the legislature and the children's secretary and fully participate in the process to pool funds with other state children's agencies to support an integrated, community-based care system and prevention services; and
coordinate efforts with the judicial branch and any other state agency as necessary to effectively and efficiently provide behavioral health services to children.

The composition of the Board of Mental Health and Addiction Services shall be amended to include representation from individuals with experience and interest in children's behavioral health as follows: four of the 10 board members who must be experienced in substance abuse and in mental health shall have expertise in children's services in those areas including one who must be a child psychiatrist and one who must be a child psychologist. Five new members, who shall be individuals interested in children's behavioral health but not service providers and shall represent each region in the state, shall be added to the board.
The commissioner of mental health and addiction services shall be required to establish regional children's behavioral health advisory councils comprised of up to 20 individuals, with the majority being persons who earn less than 50 percent of their salaries from providing services to children and families. The regional councils shall advise the commissioner and deputy commissioner for children's behavioral health on the mental health and substance abuse needs of and services for persons under the age of 18 within their respective regions. Each council shall elect its own chair who shall not be a service provider and will serve as the regional representative to the state mental health and addiction services board.
Create the Connecticut Juvenile Authority, which shall be responsible for ensuring public safety and intervening in delinquent behavior by providing individualized supervision, care, and treatment to juveniles under 16 who require pre-trial detention or who are committed as delinquent by the court.
The Connecticut Juvenile Authority shall be headed by a commissioner who is experienced and qualified as a juvenile justice administrator. The commissioner shall be appointed by the governor. The commissioner shall be assisted by two deputy commissioners, one of whom is experienced and qualified in the administration and operation of secure juvenile facilities and the other in the development and implementation of programs and services to treat delinquent youth.
Responsibility for the policies, procedures, administration, and operation of the state's existing juvenile justice detention facilities, pre-trial detention centers, Connecticut Juvenile Training School, Long Lane School, and the Wilderness Program, shall be transferred from DCF to the Connecticut Juvenile Authority. CJA shall be authorized to establish any other facility or program required to carry out its juvenile justice mission.

All existing statutory requirements relating to juvenile justice shall be transferred from DCF to CJA. The CJA shall also have the following specific powers and responsibilities:

implement the mandates of C.G.S. 46b-121h (reorganization law);
organize its facilities, programs, and services in accordance with geographical boundaries defined by the state's five human service regions;
conduct intake and assessment of all youth in its custody and facilities and provide that information, when necessary, to the judicial branch and other state agencies serving the delinquent population;
establish intake guidelines and protocols for pre-trial detention centers, including eligibility requirements and supervision conditions for pre-trial release supervision;
develop policies and procedures for a minimum-time-served requirement based on a standardized risk assessment and individualized treatment plan for all committed delinquents to determine when and under what conditions the youth may be released from confinement to a residential program or the community;
establish a community supervision program that includes an offender revocation unit and other specialized supervision units for specific populations (e.g., sex offender or sexually reactive youth, violent or repeat offenders, dually diagnosed offenders, etc.);
assist and cooperate with the secretary for children, including submitting: (1) an annual assessment of the statewide and regional needs of the delinquent population; (2) a status report on the benchmarks relevant to juvenile justice; and (3) an estimate of its client population to be served by the community partnerships for children;
submit a proposed biennial budget related to services for delinquent youth under 16 and their families to the children's secretary and fully participate in the process to pool funds with other state children's agencies to support integrated, community-based care systems and prevention services; and
coordinate efforts with the judicial branch and any other state agency necessary to effectively and efficiently provide juvenile justice services.

The law authorizing the judicial branch to order a specific confinement location for committed delinquents shall be repealed.

A team of individuals from outside state government shall be established to develop and oversee implementation of a transition to realign the Department of Children and Families and create the Division of Children's Behavioral Health within the Department of Mental Health and Addication Services and the Connecticut Juvenile Authority.

The team shall be comprised of five public members appointed by the governor. A transition plan shall be developed by the team with the advice and assistance of the commissioners of children and families, mental health and addiction services, the chief court administrator, the secretary of policy and management, and the heads of the new juvenile authority, the children's behavioral health division, and the children's secretary, once they are appointed. The court monitor should also be invited to participate in the planning related to services for children covered under the Juan F. consent decree. The team shall be authorized to hire its own staff and consultants to assist in carrying out its duties.

The plan for transition shall be completed and submitted to the General Assembly for approval within one year after the reorganizing legislation goes into effect.

The Office of the Secretary for Children, the Department of Children and Families, the Division of Children's Behavioral Health with the Department of Mental Health and Addication Services, and the Connecticut Juvenile Authority shall be scheduled to terminate effective July 1, 2006, unless reauthorized by the General Assembly. During the year prior to the automatic termination, the Legislative Program Review and Investigation Committee shall conduct a sunset review and report its findings and recommendations regarding the continuation, modification, or termination of each entity for consideration by the General Assembly during the regular legislative session in 2006.

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