Colorado's Child Welfare System Interim Study Committee. The bill requires the behavioral health administration (BHA), in partnership with the office of children, youth, and families in the department of human services; the department of health care policy and financing; the division of insurance in the department of regulatory agencies; and the department of public health and environment, to develop, establish, and maintain a comprehensive children's behavioral health statewide system of care (system of care). The system of care will serve as the single point of access to address the behavioral health needs of children and youth in Colorado, regardless of payer, insurance, and income.
The system of care shall serve children and youth up to twenty-one years of age who have mental health disorders, substance use disorders, co-occurring behavioral health disorders, or intellectual and developmental disabilities.
The system of care must include, at a minimum, a statewide behavioral health standardized screening and assessment, trauma-informed mobile crisis response and stabilization services for children and youth, tiered care coordination for moderate and intensive levels of need, parent and youth peer support, intensive in-home and community-based services, and respite services.
The bill establishes the office of the children's behavioral health statewide system of care (office) in the BHA. The office is the primary governance entity and is responsible for convening all relevant state agencies involved in the system of care, including, but not limited to, the department of human services office of children, youth, and families, the division of child welfare, and the division of youth services; the department of health care policy and financing; the division of insurance in the department of regulatory agencies; and the department of public health and environment. The office will be directed by the deputy commissioner of the office.
The bill requires the office to create and convene, on or before November 1, 2024, a leadership team responsible for decision-making and oversight. The leadership team is required to provide a report to the house of representatives public and behavioral health and human services committee and the senate health and human services committee, or their successor committees, on or before July 1, 2027.
The office is required to create and convene, on or before January 15, 2025, an implementation team that shall create an implementation plan for the system of care. The implementation plan must receive an annual minimum appropriation of $10 million and include the creation of a capacity-building center, which shall develop, implement, and fund, within available appropriations, the following:
A student loan forgiveness program for students in behavioral health disciplines who make a 3- to 5-year commitment to work in shortage areas in the system of care;
Paid internships and clinical rotations in the system of care and a description of multiple options for payment;
Revisions to graduate medical education programs at Colorado institutions of higher education to support internships, residencies, fellowships, and student programs in child and youth behavioral health;
A financial aid program for youth transitioning out of foster care who wish to pursue a career in children and youth behavioral health, developed in partnership with Colorado institutions of higher education and community colleges; and
An expansion of current BHA efforts related to behavioral health apprenticeships, internships, stipends, and pre-licensure workforce support specific to service children, youth, and families.
On or before January 15, 2025, the office is required to create an advisory council, composed of, at a minimum, family and youth providers, local partners, county departments of human and social services, county commissioners, juvenile justice agencies, families or individuals with lived experience using children's or youths' behavioral health services, consumer advocacy organizations, and university partners.
The BHA shall develop a state-level process to monitor, report on, and promptly resolve complaints, grievances, and appeals, including recipient rights issues. The process must be available to providers, clients, case management entities, and anyone else working with the children and youth in the system of care.
The bill requires the leadership team to begin, or contract for, on or before January 1, 2025, a cost and utilization analysis of the populations of children and youth who are included in the system of care.
On or before July 1, 2025, the department of health care policy and financing, in consultation with the office, is required to establish standard and uniform medical necessity criteria for all system of care services. The department of health care policy and financing is required to set standard rate and utilization floors for all system of care services across all managed care entities.
On or before July 1, 2025, the bill requires the department of health care policy and financing to establish a standard statewide medicaid fee schedule or rate frame for behavioral health services for children and youth and incorporate the fee schedule and rate frame into the contracts with managed care entities and behavioral health administrative services organizations. The fee schedule or rate frame must increase rates and incorporate enhanced rates or quality bonuses for evidence-based practices and extended weekday and weekend clinic hours and allow maximum flexibility for use of telehealth to expand access.
The bill requires that each managed care entity or behavioral health administrative services organization contract with or have single-use agreements with every qualified residential treatment facility or psychiatric residential treatment facility that is licensed in Colorado.
The office, advised by state and county partners, providers, and racially, ethnically, culturally, and geographically diverse family and youth representatives, is required to develop and establish a data and quality team. The data team shall track and report annually on key child welfare factors.
The bill requires the BHA, advised by the office, to establish or procure a capacity-building center. The capacity-building center shall, at a minimum:
Train, coach, and certify providers of the array of services offered through the system of care;
Provide training, coaching, and certification related to the use of behavioral health screening and assessment tools to support a uniform assessment process and training in trauma-informed care to staff at relevant state agencies;
Work with rural health clinics and federally qualified health centers to expand their capacity to provide behavioral health services to children and youth;
Offer training and other strategies to expand the number of behavioral health providers in rural and other underserved communities; and
Utilize data and reports to target its investment to build capacity in regions identified as lacking capacity.
The bill requires the BHA to develop a website to provide regularly updated information to families, youth, providers, staff, system partners, and others regarding the goals, principles, activities, progress, and timelines for the system of care. The website must include key performance dashboard indicators; changes in access by the child welfare population; changes in access disparities between racial, ethnic, and regional groups; and changes in access to intensive- and moderate-care coordination with high-fidelity wraparound.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)