Sec. 17a-4a. Children's Behavioral Health Advisory Committee. Membership. Reports.
Sec. 17a-4a. Children's Behavioral Health Advisory Committee. Membership. Reports. (a) There is established a Children's Behavioral Health Advisory Committee to the State Advisory Council on Children and Families which shall promote and
enhance the provision of behavioral health services for all children in this state.
(b) The Children's Behavioral Health Advisory Committee shall be composed of
the following ex-officio voting members: (1) The Commissioner of Children and Families or the commissioner's designee; (2) the Commissioner of Social Services or the
commissioner's designee; (3) the Executive Director of the Children's Health Council
or said director's designee; (4) the Chief Court Administrator or said administrator's
designee; (5) the Commissioner of Education or the commissioner's designee; (6) the
Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction Services or the commissioner's designee; (7) the Commissioner of Developmental Services or the commissioner's designee;
(8) the executive director of the Office of Protection and Advocacy for Persons with
Disabilities or the director's designee; and the following public members: (A) Two
members appointed by the Governor, one of whom shall be a parent of a child who
receives behavioral health services and one of whom shall be a provider of behavioral
health services; (B) six members, one of whom shall be appointed by the president pro
tempore of the Senate, one of whom shall be appointed by the speaker of the House of
Representatives, one of whom shall be appointed by the majority leader of the Senate,
one of whom shall be appointed by the majority leader of the House of Representatives,
one of whom shall be appointed by the minority leader of the Senate and one of whom
shall be appointed by the minority leader of the House of Representatives, and all of
whom shall be knowledgeable on issues relative to children in need of behavioral health
services and family supports; and (C) sixteen members appointed by the chairperson of
the State Advisory Council on Children and Families. The membership of the advisory
committee shall fairly and adequately represent parents of children who have a serious
emotional disturbance. At least fifty-one per cent of the members of the advisory committee shall be persons who are parents or relatives of a child who has or had a serious
emotional disturbance or persons who had a serious emotional disturbance as children
and no more than half the members of the committee shall be persons who receive
income from a private practice or any public or private agency that delivers behavioral
health services.
(c) All appointments to the advisory committee shall be made no later than sixty
days after July 1, 2000. Any vacancy shall be filled by the appointing authority. Members
shall serve two-year terms and no public member shall serve for more than two consecutive terms.
(d) The advisory committee shall elect two cochairpersons from among its members, one of whom shall be the parent of a child with a serious emotional disturbance.
The advisory committee shall meet at least bimonthly. Members of the advisory committee shall serve without compensation, except for necessary expenses incurred in the
performance of their duties.
(e) Not later than October first of each year, the advisory committee shall submit
a status report on local systems of care and practice standards for state-funded behavioral
health programs to the State Advisory Council on Children and Families.
(f) Not later than October first of each odd-numbered year, the advisory committee
shall submit recommendations concerning the provision of behavioral health services
for all children in the state to the State Advisory Council on Children and Families. The
recommendations shall address, but shall not be limited to, the following: (1) The target
population for children with behavioral health needs, and assessment and benefit options
for children with such needs; (2) the appropriateness and quality of care for children
with behavioral health needs; (3) the coordination of behavioral health services provided
under the HUSKY Plan with services provided by other publicly-funded programs; (4)
performance standards for preventive services, family supports and emergency service
training programs; (5) assessments of community-based and residential care programs;
(6) outcome measurements by reviewing provider practice; and (7) a medication protocol and standards for the monitoring of medication and after-care programs.
(P.A. 00-188, S. 2, 5; P.A. 01-19, S. 1, 2; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-2, S. 51, 69; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-9, S. 93, 129, 131;
P.A. 03-19, S. 30; P.A. 07-73, S. 2(b).)
History: P.A. 00-188 effective July 1, 2000; P.A. 01-19, effective May 15, 2001, and June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-9, effective
July 1, 2001, both amended Subsec. (b) to add executive director of the Office of Protection and Advocacy for Persons
with Disabilities or designee as a committee member; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-2 amended Subsec. (b) to require that the
seven state agency heads be ex-officio voting members, to require that all of the appointed members be public members,
substituting Subparas. designators (A) to (C) for Subdivs. (8) to (10), to increase, from 50% to 51%, the number of advisory
committee members who shall be parents or relatives of a child who has or had a serious emotional disturbance or persons
who had a serious emotional disturbance as a child, and to require that no more than half the members be persons who
receive income from a private practice or any public or private agency that delivers behavioral health services, amended
Subsec. (c) to prohibit public members from serving for more than two consecutive terms, and amended Subsec. (d) to
allow advisory committee members to receive necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties, effective
July 1, 2001; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-9 revised effective date of June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-2 but without affecting this section;
P.A. 03-19 made technical changes in Subsec. (b), effective May 12, 2003; pursuant to P.A. 07-73 "Commissioner of
Mental Retardation" was changed editorially by the Revisors to "Commissioner of Developmental Services", effective
October 1, 2007.