HOUSE BILL No. 6082

 

May 7, 2008, Introduced by Reps. Ball, Kathleen Law, Miller, Amos, Meisner, Simpson, Leland, Robert Jones, Vagnozzi, Young, Byrnes, Rick Jones, Green, Polidori, Gonzales, Garfield, Wenke, Meadows, Alma Smith, Jackson and Clack and referred to the Committee on Health Policy.

 

     A bill to amend 1974 PA 258, entitled

 

"Mental health code,"

 

by amending sections 116 and 206 (MCL 330.1116 and 330.1206),

 

section 116 as amended by 1998 PA 67 and section 206 as amended by

 

1995 PA 290.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 116. (1) Consistent with section 51 of article IV of the

 

state constitution of 1963, which declares that the health of the

 

people of the state is a matter of primary public concern, and as

 

required by section 8 of article VIII of the state constitution of

 

1963, which declares that services for the care, treatment,

 

education, or rehabilitation of those who are seriously mentally

 

disabled shall always be fostered and supported, the department

 

shall continually and diligently endeavor to ensure that adequate


 

and appropriate mental health services are available to all

 

citizens throughout the state. To this end, the department shall

 

have has the general powers and duties described in this section.

 

     (2) The department shall do all of the following:

 

     (a) Direct services to individuals who have a serious mental

 

illness, developmental disability, or serious emotional

 

disturbance. The department shall give priority to the following

 

services:

 

     (i) Services for individuals with the most severe forms of

 

serious mental illness, serious emotional disturbance, or

 

developmental disability.

 

     (ii) Services for individuals with serious mental illness,

 

serious emotional disturbance, or developmental disability who are

 

in urgent or emergency situations.

 

     (b) Administer the provisions of chapter 2 so as to promote

 

and maintain an adequate and appropriate system of community mental

 

health services programs throughout the state. In the

 

administration of chapter 2, it shall be the objective of the

 

department to shift primary responsibility for the direct delivery

 

of public mental health services from the state to a community

 

mental health services program whenever the community mental health

 

services program has demonstrated a willingness and capacity to

 

provide an adequate and appropriate system of mental health

 

services for the citizens of that service area.

 

     (c) Annually publish, list on its website, and include in its

 

contracts with community mental health services programs all

 

elements of section 206(2).


 

     (d) (c) Engage in planning for the purpose of identifying,

 

assessing, and enunciating the mental health needs of the state.

 

     (e) (d) Submit to the members of the house and senate standing

 

committees and appropriation subcommittees with legislative

 

oversight of mental health matters an annual report summarizing its

 

assessment of the mental health needs of the state and

 

incorporating information received from community mental health

 

services programs under section 226. The report shall include an

 

estimate of the cost of meeting all identified needs. Additional

 

information shall be made available to the legislature upon

 

request.

 

     (f) (e) Endeavor to develop and establish arrangements and

 

procedures for the effective coordination and integration of all

 

public mental health services, and for effective cooperation

 

between public and nonpublic services, for the purpose of providing

 

a unified system of statewide mental health care.

 

     (g) (f) Review and evaluate the relevance, quality,

 

effectiveness, and efficiency of mental health services being

 

provided by the department and assure the review and evaluation of

 

mental health services provided by community mental health services

 

programs. The department shall establish and implement a structured

 

system to provide data necessary for the reviews and evaluations.

 

     (h) (g) Implement those provisions of law under which it is

 

responsible for the licensing or certification of mental health

 

facilities or services.

 

     (i) (h) Establish standards of training and experience for

 

executive directors of community mental health services programs.


 

     (j) (i) Support research activities.

 

     (k) (j) Support evaluation and quality improvement activities.

 

     (l) (k) Support training, consultation, and technical

 

assistance regarding mental health programs and services and

 

appropriate prevention and mental health promotion activities,

 

including those that are culturally sensitive, to employees of the

 

department, community mental health services programs, and other

 

nonprofit agencies providing mental health services under contract

 

with community mental health services programs.

 

     (m) (l) Support multicultural services.

 

     (3) The department may do all of the following:

 

     (a) Direct services to individuals who have mental disorders

 

that meet diagnostic criteria specified in the most recent

 

diagnostic and statistical manual of mental health disorders

 

published by the American psychiatric association and approved by

 

the department and to the prevention of mental disability and the

 

promotion of mental health. Resources that have been specifically

 

appropriated for services to individuals with dementia, alcoholism,

 

or substance abuse, or for the prevention of mental disability and

 

the promotion of mental health shall be utilized for those specific

 

purposes.

 

     (b) Provide, on a residential or nonresidential basis, any

 

type of patient or client service including but not limited to

 

prevention, diagnosis, treatment, care, education, training, and

 

rehabilitation.

 

     (c) Operate mental health programs or facilities directly or

 

through contractual arrangement.


 

     (d) Institute pilot projects considered appropriate by the

 

director to test new models and concepts in service delivery or

 

mental health administration. Pilot projects may include, but need

 

not be limited to, both of the following:

 

     (i) Issuance of a voucher to a recipient of public mental

 

health services in accordance with the recipient's individual plan

 

of services and guidelines developed by the department.

 

     (ii) Establishment of revolving loans to assist recipients of

 

public mental health services to acquire or maintain affordable

 

housing. Funding under this subparagraph shall only be provided

 

through an agreement with a nonprofit fiduciary in accordance with

 

guidelines and procedures developed by the department related to

 

the use, issuance, and accountability of revolving loans used for

 

recipient housing.

 

     (e) Enter into an agreement, contract, or arrangement with any

 

individual or public or nonpublic entity that is necessary or

 

appropriate to fulfill those duties or exercise those powers that

 

have by statute been given to the department.

 

     (f) Accept gifts, grants, bequests, and other donations for

 

use in performing its functions. Any money or property accepted

 

shall be used as directed by its donor and in accordance with law

 

and the rules and procedures of the department.

 

     (g) The department has any other power necessary or

 

appropriate to fulfill those duties and exercise those powers that

 

have been given to the department by law and that are not otherwise

 

prohibited by law.

 

     Sec. 206. (1) The purpose of a community mental health


 

services program shall be is to provide a comprehensive array of

 

mental health services appropriate to conditions of individuals

 

adults and minors who are located within its geographic service

 

area, regardless of an individual's ability to pay or medicaid

 

status. Services shall be effective and necessary to impact an

 

individual's qualifying condition and its effects on the

 

individual's life. The array of mental health services shall

 

include available to individuals who qualify for service

 

consideration includes, at a minimum, all of the following:

 

     (a) Crisis stabilization and response including a 24-hour, 7-

 

day per week, crisis emergency service that is prepared to respond

 

to persons experiencing acute emotional, behavioral, or social

 

dysfunctions, and the provision of inpatient or other protective

 

environment for treatment.

 

     (b) Identification, assessment, and diagnosis to determine the

 

specific needs of the recipient and to develop an individual plan

 

of services.

 

     (c) Planning, linking, coordinating, follow-up, and monitoring

 

to assist the recipient in gaining access to services.

 

     (d) Specialized mental health recipient training, treatment,

 

and support, including therapeutic clinical interactions,

 

socialization and adaptive skill and coping skill training, health

 

and rehabilitative services, and pre-vocational and vocational

 

services.

 

     (e) Recipient rights services.

 

     (f) Mental health advocacy.

 

     (g) Prevention activities that serve to inform and educate


 

with the intent of reducing the risk of severe recipient

 

dysfunction.

 

     (h) Any other service approved by the department.

 

     (2) Services shall promote the best interests of the

 

individual and shall be designed to increase independence, improve

 

quality of life, and support community integration and inclusion.

 

Services for children and families shall promote the best interests

 

of the individual receiving services and shall be designed to

 

strengthen and preserve the family unit if appropriate. The

 

community mental health services program shall deliver services in

 

a manner that demonstrates they are based upon recipient choice and

 

involvement, and shall include wraparound services when

 

appropriate.

 

     (a) Treatment and support, that includes, at a minimum, all of

 

the following:

 

     (i) Clinical assessment, diagnostic, planning, and therapeutic

 

services.

 

     (ii) Crisis response and stabilization that is available 24

 

hours a day, 7 days a week.

 

     (iii) Inpatient care.

 

     (iv) Intensive community-based services that provide

 

alternatives to or step-downs from inpatient care.

 

     (v) Services promoting community inclusion and integration and

 

maintaining community tenure.

 

     (vi) Supportive services that promote resiliency and recovery

 

through peer and family-to-family involvement and interaction.

 

     (vii) Any other service specified in the department's contract


 

with community mental health services programs.

 

     (b) Referral to and coordination and collaboration with other

 

health care, human service, and education systems as needed to

 

access medically necessary service covered by this section.

 

     (c) Recipient and family services, including, at a minimum,

 

consumer and family orientation and involvement, consumer and

 

family information and education, mental health advocacy, and

 

mechanisms for consumer appeals and resolutions of consumer

 

complaints and grievances.

 

     (2) The department shall publish annually, list on its

 

website, and include in its contracts with community mental health

 

services programs all of the following:

 

     (a) The subelements of the service categories specified in

 

subsection (1).

 

     (b) Uniform standards and protocols for community mental

 

health services programs to follow in case-finding outreach,

 

screening, and access determinations.

 

     (c) Categories of adults and minors eligible for prevention

 

initiatives related to special risk factors for emotional

 

disturbance or mental illness and their consequences.

 

     (d) A listing of service selection guideline principles to aid

 

consumers, families, providers, and service managers in the

 

matching of treatment and support options to a recipient’s needs,

 

desires, and circumstances. The list of principles shall minimally

 

include all of the following:

 

     (i) Treatment planning, including initial and revised service

 

plans, shall be person-centered or family-centered, with


 

involvement of all appropriate parties facilitated as quickly as

 

possible.

 

     (ii) Recipients shall be offered the most clinically and

 

culturally relevant and effective treatment and support for their

 

condition. Services for minors and families shall promote the best

 

interests of the individual receiving services, shall be designed

 

to strengthen and preserve the family unit, and shall include

 

wraparound services when appropriate.

 

     (iii) Medical necessity criteria utilized shall be consistent

 

with subsection (2)(d)(ii). These criteria shall be transparent and

 

open to public review, uniform across the state, and updated

 

regularly to reflect advances in diagnosis and treatment.

 

     (iv) Protocols for responding to acute psychiatric crises shall

 

be well-defined and uniformly applied across the state.

 

     (v) Service selection criteria and protocols for individuals

 

meriting priority consideration under section 208 shall be well-

 

defined and uniformly applied across the state.

 

     (vi) Service selection criteria and protocols shall be

 

identical for both medicaid and non-medicaid recipients.

 

     (vii) Service selection criteria and protocols shall cover both

 

adults and minors.

 

     (viii) Service selection criteria and protocols for individuals

 

who have neither acute psychiatric crisis nor severe mental

 

disorder shall be well-defined and uniformly applied across the

 

state.

 

     (ix) Criteria for continuation of a service shall be flexible

 

so that clinically appropriate and effective decisions can be made


 

according to recipient needs and circumstances.

 

     (x) Discharge from a given service shall not occur if a

 

medically necessary and clinically appropriate and effective

 

alternative service is not available.

 

     (xi) Individuals with a co-occurring mental illness and

 

substance use disorder shall be offered integrated treatment.

 

     (xii) Service selection guidelines shall address collaborative

 

and boundary issues between mental health and other public and

 

private human service systems.

 

     (xiii) Service selection guidelines shall be uniform throughout

 

the state and readily understandable, across demographic,

 

socioeconomic, and cultural groups, by consumers and their

 

advocates or representatives and families.

 

     (3) An individual who has qualified for priority service

 

provision in any community mental health services program shall

 

retain that eligibility over time and across any other community

 

mental health services program for any medically necessary service

 

in the array established in subsection (1).