Effective 28 Aug 2006

633.032. Mental health department to develop a plan for the needs of persons on waitlist for services — report required, made to whom, when. — 1. The department of mental health shall develop a plan to address the needs of persons who are on a waitlist for services, including persons in habilitation centers waiting for community placement. Such plan shall reflect the partnership between persons with developmental disabilities and their families, community providers, and state officials, and shall support the choice and control of consumers and their families in the delivery of services and supports. Such plan shall include the following:

(1) A method to reduce the waitlist for services over a period of five years and to reduce the waiting period to ninety days;

(2) A description of minimum supports and services available to all eligible individuals and their families;

(3) An evaluation of the capacity of current providers to serve more individuals;

(4) A method of adjusting support and service levels based on the needs of the eligible individual combined with family or other relevant circumstances affecting the support of such individual;

(5) A method for determining the circumstances when out-of-home twenty-four-hour care may be necessary;

(6) A description of how the plan will be implemented on a statewide basis;

(7) Any changes in state law that will be required to implement the plan; and

(8) An analysis of the budgetary and programmatic effects of providing supports and services for all eligible individuals and their families.

2. The plan required pursuant to this section shall be completed on or before November first each year beginning November 1, 2007. The director of the department of mental health shall annually submit a copy of the plan to the speaker of the house of representatives, the president pro tem of the senate, and the governor.

­­--------

(L. 2003 H.B. 59 & 269 merged with S.B. 266, A.L. 2006 S.B. 974)