1. The department of mental health shall develop, in partnership with all departments represented on the children’s services commission, a unified accountable comprehensive children’s mental health service system. The department of mental health shall establish a state interagency comprehensive children’s mental health service system team comprised of representation from:

(1) Family-run organizations and family members;

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(2) Child advocate organizations;

(3) The department of health and senior services;

(4) The department of social services’ children’s division, division of youth services, and the MO HealthNet division;

(5) The department of elementary and secondary education;

(6) The department of mental health’s division of alcohol and drug abuse, division of developmental disabilities, and the division of comprehensive psychiatric services;

(7) The department of public safety;

(8) The office of state courts administrator;

(9) The juvenile justice system; and

(10) Local representatives of the member organizations of the state team to serve children with emotional and behavioral disturbance problems, developmental disabilities, and substance abuse problems.

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The team shall be called “The Comprehensive System Management Team”. There shall be a stakeholder advisory committee to provide input to the comprehensive system management team to assist the departments in developing strategies and to ensure positive outcomes for children are being achieved. The department of mental health shall obtain input from appropriate consumer and family advocates when selecting family members for the comprehensive system management team, in consultation with the departments that serve on the children’s services commission. The implementation of a comprehensive system shall include all state agencies and system partner organizations involved in the lives of the children served. These system partners may include private and not-for-profit organizations and representatives from local system of care teams and these partners may serve on the stakeholder advisory committee. The department of mental health shall promulgate rules for the implementation of this section in consultation with all of the departments represented on the children’s services commission.

2. The department of mental health shall, in partnership with the departments serving on the children’s services commission and the stakeholder advisory committee, develop a state comprehensive children’s mental health service system plan. This plan shall be developed and submitted to the governor, the general assembly, and children’s services commission by December, 2004. There shall be subsequent annual reports that include progress toward outcomes, monitoring, changes in populations and services, and emerging issues. The plan shall:

(1) Describe the mental health service and support needs of Missouri’s children and their families, including the specialized needs of specific segments of the population;

(2) Define the comprehensive array of services including services such as intensive home-based services, early intervention services, family support services, respite services, and behavioral assistance services;

(3) Establish short- and long-term goals, objectives, and outcomes;

(4) Describe and define the parameters for local implementation of comprehensive children’s mental health system teams;

(5) Describe and emphasize the importance of family involvement in all levels of the system;

(6) Describe the mechanisms for financing, and the cost of implementing the comprehensive array of services;

(7) Describe the coordination of services across child-serving agencies and at critical transition points, with emphasis on the involvement of local schools;

(8) Describe methods for service, program, and system evaluation;

(9) Describe the need for, and approaches to, training and technical assistance; and

(10) Describe the roles and responsibilities of the state and local child-serving agencies in implementing the comprehensive children’s mental health care system.

3. The comprehensive system management team shall collaborate to develop uniform language to be used in intake and throughout the provision of services.

4. The comprehensive children’s mental health services system shall:

(1) Be child centered, family focused, strength based, and family driven, with the needs of the child and family dictating the types and mix of services provided, and shall include the families as full participants in all aspects of the planning and delivery of services;

(2) Provide community-based mental health services to children and their families in the context in which the children live and attend school;

(3) Respond in a culturally competent and responsive manner;

(4) Emphasize prevention, early identification, and intervention;

(5) Assure access to a continuum of services that:

(a) Educate the community about the mental health needs of children;

(b) Address the unique physical, behavioral, emotional, social, developmental, and educational needs of children;

(c) Are coordinated with the range of social and human services provided to children and their families by local school districts, the departments of social services, health and senior services, and public safety, juvenile offices, and the juvenile and family courts;

(d) Provide a comprehensive array of services through an integrated service plan;

(e) Provide services in the least restrictive most appropriate environment that meets the needs of the child; and

(f) Are appropriate to the developmental needs of children;

(6) Include early screening and prompt intervention to:

(a) Identify and treat the mental health needs of children in the least restrictive environment appropriate to their needs; and

(b) Prevent further deterioration;

(7) Address the unique problems of paying for mental health services for children, including:

(a) Access to private insurance coverage;

(b) Public funding, including:

a. Assuring that funding follows children across departments; and

b. Maximizing federal financial participation;

(c) Private funding and services;

(8) Assure a smooth transition from child to adult mental health services when needed;

(9) Coordinate a service delivery system inclusive of services, providers, and schools that serve children and youth with emotional and behavioral disturbance problems, and their families through state agencies that serve on the state comprehensive children’s management team; and

(10) Be outcome based.

5. By August 28, 2007, and periodically thereafter, the children’s services commission shall conduct and distribute to the general assembly an evaluation of the implementation and effectiveness of the comprehensive children’s mental health care system, including an assessment of family satisfaction and the progress of achieving outcomes.