Mental health services for children and transitional age youth: oversight.

Existing law, the School-Based Early Mental Health Intervention and Prevention Services for Children Act of 1991, authorizes the Director of Health Care Services, in consultation with the Superintendent of Public Instruction, to provide matching grants to local educational agencies to pay the state share of the costs of providing school-based early mental health intervention and prevention services to eligible pupils at schoolsites of eligible pupils, subject to the availability of funding each year. Existing law, the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) , an initiative measure enacted by the voters as Proposition 63 at the November 2, 2004, statewide general election, among other things, establishes the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission to oversee the administration of various parts of the MHSA. The MHSA authorizes the commission to, among other things, establish technical advisory committees, assist in providing technical assistance to accomplish the purposes of the MHSA, and employ all other strategies necessary or convenient to enable it to perform its duties. Existing law authorizes the MHSA to be amended by a 23 vote of the Legislature if the amendments are consistent with, and further the purposes of, the MHSA, and also permits the Legislature to clarify procedures and terms of the MHSA by a majority vote. This bill would require the commission to develop a statewide monitoring strategy for school mental health outcomes, a transparency and accountability strategy for local government mental health programs, and an outcome transparency and accountability strategy to support public understanding, awareness, and monitoring of the various mental health services provided to children and transitional age youth. The bill would provide the commission with access to data, information, policies, procedures, and practices held or maintained by state and local agencies in order to develop these strategies, consistent with applicable privacy and confidentiality laws with respect to this data, and would require the state and local agencies to cooperate and share data with the commission. By requiring local agencies to provide data access to the commission, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. By authorizing a new use of MHSA moneys, this bill would amend the MHSA. The bill would state the findings and declarations of the Legislature that this change is consistent with and furthers the intent of the MHSA. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.