House Bill No. 5428, also known as Special Act No. 24-24, mandates that the Commissioner of Children and Families conduct a study on the utilization of programs within the Department of Children and Families. The commissioner is required to report the findings of this study to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly that oversee matters related to children and appropriations by February 1, 2025. The report must include information from the previous two years on various aspects of department programs, including participation rates, quality controls, expenditures, funding, contracted utilization, and reasons for any decline in utilization or low utilization rates.

The report should also cover the number of referrals to each contract, reasons for unserved referrals, whether procurement rates account for staff training and quality assurance, and if services are billable under Medicaid. Additionally, it must indicate if a child or family's involvement with the department's care or custody is a criterion for referral or admission, the geographic scope of service delivery, and the achievement of contracted service expectations in relation to treatment goals based on initial assessments. There are no insertions or deletions indicated in the provided text, as it appears to be a standalone mandate without amendments to existing law.