HB 24-1038

House Bill 24-1038, titled "High-Acuity Crisis for Children & Youth," aims to improve mental health services for young Coloradans under 21 who need complex behavioral health care. The bill requires the state to develop a coordinated system of care that includes standardized assessments, intensive coordination, expanded support services, and more treatment foster care options. It also calls for training staff at residential child care facilities, increasing the number of available beds, and setting higher quality standards for these providers. Additionally, it ensures ongoing funding for emergency resources and raises reimbursement rates to better serve children in need. The bill was signed into law on June 6, 2024, and is now effective, meaning its provisions are being implemented to help support vulnerable youth with mental health challenges.

Official Summary

The act requires the department of health care policy and financing (HCPF), in collaboration with the behavioral health administration (BHA) and the department of human services (CDHS), to develop a system of care (system of care) for children and youth who are less than 21 years of age and who have complex behavioral health needs. At a minimum, the system of care must include: Implementation of a standardized assessment tool; Intensive-care coordination; Expanded supportive services; and Expanded access to treatment foster care. The act requires HCPF to convene a leadership team that is responsible for the decision-making and oversight of the system of care and to convene an implementation team to create a plan to implement the system of care. The act requires CDHS and HCPF to report progress on the development and implementation of the system of care to the general assembly. The act creates the residential child care provider training academy in CDHS to create a pipeline of high-quality staff for residential child care providers and ensure that individuals hired to work at residential child care facilities receive the necessary training to perform the individual's job functions responsibly and effectively. The act requires CDHS to expand the number of treatment beds available for children and youth whose behavioral or mental health needs require services and treatment in a residential child care facility. The act requires CDHS to develop a system to establish and monitor quality standards for residential child care providers and ensure the quality standards are implemented into all levels of care that serve children and youth in out-of-home placement. The act requires CDHS to develop a system to incentivize residential child care providers to implement quality standards above CDHS' established minimum standards. The act requires CDHS to make publicly available on the department's website a directory of each residential child care provider's quality assurance. The CDHS program that provides emergency resources to certain licensed providers to help remove barriers the providers face in serving children and youth whose behavioral or mental health needs require services and treatment in a residential child care facility currently repeals on July 1, 2028. The act extends the program indefinitely and requires CDHS to contract with additional licensed providers for the delivery of services to children and youth who are eligible for and placed in the program. The act requires CDHS and the BHA to increase the minimum reimbursement rates paid to qualified residential treatment programs for the purpose of aligning room and board payments across payer sources. The act requires HCPF to contract with a third-party vendor to complete an actuarial analysis in order to determine the appropriate medicaid reimbursement rate for psychiatric residential treatment facilities. The act requires CDHS to contract with one or more third-party vendors to implement a pilot program to assess the needs of, and provide short-term residential services for, juvenile justice-involved youth who do not meet the criteria for detention. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, the act appropriates money to the department of human services and the department of health care policy and financing to implement the act. APPROVED by Governor June 6, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 6, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

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