PETITION OF:

SECTION 1. (a) The department of mental health in collaboration with the department of youth services and the department of public health is hereby authorized and directed to conduct a comprehensive review of the mental health and substance abuse service needs of adolescents in the care of or detained in the commonwealth through the order of a juvenile court, including without limitation juveniles detained in the department of youth services or in the custody of the department of social services, or receiving services from the department of mental health, the court clinics, probation, or otherwise, and including without limitation any such departments, offices, agencies or instrumentalities of the commonwealth, and any private organizations and agencies operating under arrangement with departments or agencies of the commonwealth. To complete said review, the department of mental health, department of youth services, and department of public health shall solicit input from the office of probation, the department of social services, the department of education, the juvenile court, juvenile court clinics, the committee for public counsel services, the department of mental retardation, the division of insurance, the division of medical assistance, the Massachusetts Association of District Attorneys, at least one individual representing the interests of parents and families, at least one advocate for juvenile justice, at least one representative of a service provider community, and at least one representative from the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans. Said review shall be for purposes of identifying the following:

(i) existing and proposed models of alternatives to detention, within and outside the commonwealth, of providing mental health and substance abuse services to juveniles in detention, and as alternatives to detention; community resources and other dependencies which affect the appropriateness and effectiveness of models of alternatives to detention; and data demonstrating the relative efficacy, cost-effectiveness, and effect on public safety of alternative models;

(ii) unmet mental health and substance abuse needs of juveniles within the juvenile justice systems of the commonwealth, including an explicit comparison of the best practices and models identified in paragraph (a) of this section with services and models available in the commonwealth;

(iii) recommendations for addressing unmet needs, including without limitation through the court clinics of the juvenile courts, and through contracting by the department of mental health for community-based services through community providers, or through consortia of community providers, local government agencies and others operating in congruence with local courts involved in the juvenile justice system.

(b) Within sixty days after the effective date hereof, the department shall post to its external website, for thirty days public comment, a proposed workplan to gather information necessary to prepare the report required by this section, in consultation with clinical, philanthropic and advocacy organizations for children, and providers of mental health and substance abuse services for minors. The proposed workplan shall be directed to submit a final report to the legislature and the governor no later than two hundred and seventy days after the effective date of this act.

(c)Within ninety days after the effective date of this act, the department shall post its final workplan on its external website.

(d) Within two hundered and ten days days after the effective date of this act, the department shall post on its external website, for public comment, a draft report responsive to this section.

(e) Within two hundred and seventy days after the effective date of this act, the department shall post on its external website a final report responsive to this section, including a summary of all public comments received, and responses to such comments. The department shall also that day provide a copy of its final report to the governor, the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, the chairs of the joint committees on mental health and substance abuse, and children and families, and the legislative mental health caucus.

SECTION 2. Chapter 119 of the General Laws as appearing in the 2004 Official Edition is hereby amended by inserting, after section 68C, the following section:—
Section 68D. (a) Each child referred to the department of mental health pursuant to section 68A of this chapter shall receive, the same court day, a preliminary screening to make recommendations to the court on matters relevant to the further evaluation of the child under this section, including whether the evaluation ordered by the court under this section may be completed in the community. The subsequent evaluation shall result in an appropriate and adequate examination by a qualified examiner, sufficient to respond to the referral question from the court and to identify such services as might be required to meet the child’s needs. Additionally, if so ordered by the court, substance abuse screening and other relevant and necessary health-related examinations by qualified examiners shall be included in the examination. The department shall within 15 days provide, provided however that the examiner may request the court authorize an additional 15 days before filing the report, an appropriate report of the 68A evaluation to counsel for the child, who shall make the determination whether or not to share the report, which may contain sensitive and confidential information, with the Court. Evaluation under this section shall require consent of the child’s parent or legal guardian. Where a child may otherwise be detained in the department of youth services for this examination, the court may order the examination in a less restrictive setting, on condition that the child participate in the examination and in receiving such services consistent with the recommendation of the department. The court may consider this report in determining the appropriate interim disposition of the child under section 68 of this chapter. On motion of counsel for the child, or in the court’s own discretion, the court may, in lieu of detention or a more restrictive alternative commitment, refer the child to the department for purposes of receipt of such services, subject to the child’s substantial compliance with the terms of the department’s recommended mental health services and the court’s order. The purpose of this screening, evaluation, and service delivery system is to assure the appropriate use of detention and to provide the Court a method for assuring that children and youth with mental health issues may be safely maintained in their communities during the pendency of their delinquency and Youthful Offender cases. No information contained in the report or obtained during the screenings, evaluation, or delivery of detention alternative services may be used in any way during the adjudication or disposition of a delinquency, Youthful Offender, or criminal case unless first introduced by the defendant.

(b) The department, or a qualified provider of mental health diagnostic and treatment services acting under arrangement with the department pursuant to section 2A of chapter 123 the General Laws, shall, within twenty-four hours of receipt of assignment (in the case of outpatient services) or physical custody (in the case of inpatient services) of the child, formulate and begin to implement a sufficient and appropriate mental health services treatment plan, including the coordination of appropriate qualified providers through a designated case manager or other appropriate service delivery mechanism, and services targeted to address the child’s mental health and substance abuse service needs.

Nothing in this chapter shall preempt the requirements of section 58 of chapter 276.

SECTION 3. Chapter 123 of the General Laws as so appearing is hereby amended by inserting after section 16 the following section:--

16A. Alternatives to detention for minors in juvenile justice proceedings

(a) Within amounts appropriated therefore, the department shall contract with eligible providers of mental health services for provision of adequate and effective mental health and substance abuse services for minors referred for evaluation and services pursuant to sections 68D of chapter 119 of the General Laws, for whom the provision of mental health and substance abuse services, delivered in a timely and appropriate manner in an outpatient or inpatient setting, would ameliorate mental health or substance abuse needs and, as ordered by the court, dispense with the need for detention in a facility under the direction of the department of youth services or otherwise.

(b) For purposes of this section, “eligible providers” shall mean appropriately qualified residential and non-residential providers of pediatric mental health services; local government mental health agencies or authorities; or local or regional consortia of such providers, agencies or authorities, operating within cooperative arrangements with, as the case may be, local offices of probation, law enforcement, community health organizations, or public health agencies, and court-associated clinic services. Such consortia may allocate diagnostic and therapeutic services among them in a locally or regionally appropriate and effective manner, provided that the evaluation and services for a given minor will be managed by a continuously dedicated case manager and, in the department’s judgment, that the networked allocation of evaluation and services will be as or more effective than competing applications for the same region or locality. Eligible providers shall also be equipped to provide academic and recreational services as necessary and appropriate for the service needs of youth referred to them. Eligibility criteria for services shall be established by the department of mental health in consultation with the Juvenile Mental and Behavioral Health Coordinating Committee, established by this section.

(c)The department shall engage sufficient numbers of qualified providers, sufficiently distributed within the state, to timely meet the mental health service needs of minors referred by the court for evaluation, assessment, and services pursuant to section 68D of chapter 119 of the General Laws.

(d) To implement the requirements of this section, the department shall within 60 days after the effective date of this act, and within 60 days after the effective date of any subsequent appropriation directed to this purpose in any fiscal year other than appropriations directed to the continuation of previous contracts, issue and disseminate, including posting on its external website, a draft request for information, or request for proposals as the case may be, for public comment. Thirty days thereafter, the department shall close the public comment period, and no later than ninety days thereafter issue a request for information or proposals, as the case may be, soliciting contracting proposals under this section. Before issuing the draft request for information, or proposals as the case may be, the department shall consult with and seek comment from pertinent departments of the commonwealth, and pertinent providers, agencies, authorities and associations involved with the provision of pediatric mental health and substance abuse services, or the juvenile justice system, or advocacy for children, including at least the following, which the department shall seek to assemble and constitute in a continuing advisory capacity denominated the juvenile mental and behavioral health coordinating committee: the chief of probation, the chief justice of the juvenile court, the commissioner of public health, the commissioner of social services, the commissioner of youth services, the commissioner of education, the commissioner of early education, the commissioner of mental retardation, the commissioner of insurance, the director of the division of medical assistance, one representative of court clinic services, one representative from the committee for public counsel services, one representative from the Massachusetts Association of District Attorneys, one individual representing the interests of parents and families, one advocate for juvenile justice, one representative of the service provider community, and one representative from the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans.

(e) Proposals shall be solicited and evaluated by the department based on the criteria established in consultation with the juvenile mental and behavioral health coordinating committee. Successful applicants shall be required to have demonstrated that they will timely provide appropriate mental health and substance abuse services that, based on data submitted with their proposal, are reasonably anticipated to reduce the necessity of detention in facilities operated by or under the authority of the division of youth services through diagnosis and treatment of the minors’ mental health and substance service needs. Proposals shall address all matters required under section 68D of chapter 119 of the General Laws. The department shall also require applicants to identify the extent to which they have provided for local input from and coordination with local and regional government agencies and authorities, community organizations, and philanthropic organizations concerned with mental health services for minors, and community safety.

(f) The department shall annually report to the governor, the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, the joint committee on mental health and substance abuse, the joint committee on children and families and the legislative mental health caucus on its compliance with this section, including the extent to which actions taken by the department, or contractors under this section, have failed to comply with the requirements of this section, and have not addressed all needs for such mental health and substance abuse services. The report shall also include the department’s efforts to demonstrate the effectiveness of such programs on reducing detention in other facilities in the commonwealth not under the jurisdiction of the department while maintaining the public safety. The report shall further include the impact that the implementation of section 68D has on the department’s other responsibilities with regard to forensic mental health services, including but not limited to the impact on the juvenile court clinics, and the impact of said implementation on the daily census of detained youth in the department of youth services. The report shall be publicly available, and shall be posted by the department on its external website.

SECTION 4. This act shall take effect immediately upon passage.