Meriden State Senator Leads Passage of Mental Health Bill

This information came from a press release from State Sen. Dante Bartolomeo's office.

HARTFORD – State Senator Dante Bartolomeo (D-Meriden) today led the unanimous and bipartisan Senate passage of an early childhood mental health bill that serves as a complement to House Bill 1160, the gun violence prevention and child safety measures that was passed on a bipartisan and overwhelming basis last month by the legislature in reaction to the December school shootings in Newtown.  

Senate Bill 972 (with strike-all amendment LCO Number 7782), “An Act Concerning the Mental, Emotional and Behavioral Health of Youths,” seeks to reduce mental, emotional and behavioral health issues in children through enhanced prevention, early identification and intervention, better communication and consistency between home visitation programs, and new initiatives such as the creation of a Children’s Mental Health Task Force to study the effects of nutrition, genetics and psychotropic drugs on children.  

“I think the political climate in the wake of the Newtown tragedy made this bipartisan, unanimous Senate vote possible tonight,” Sen. Bartolomeo said. “But I’ve long felt that Connecticut should treat mental with the same importance as general health. This bill moves that conversation forward, and it strengthens the continuum of care that we do have here in Connecticut, especially for our youngest children.” 

Section 1 requires the state Department of Children and Families (DCF) to develop a comprehensive plan for meeting the mental, emotional and behavioral health needs of children through –among other things -- an emphasis on early identification and intervention, ensuring access to developmentally-appropriate services, improving the integration of school and community-based mental health services, and  increasing awareness of the 2-1-1 Infoline program. Section 1 also requires police and school boards that use school resource officers to train them in nationally-recognized best practices, provided federal funding is available for such training  

Section 2 requires DCF and the proposed Office of Early Childhood to provide -- to the extent that private, federal or philanthropic funding is available -- professional development training to pediatricians and child care providers to help prevent and identify mental, emotional and behavioral health issues.  

Section 3  Requires the state Department of Developmental Services’ Birth-To-Three program to provide mental health services to any child eligible under federal law, and if they are not eligible, to be referred to a licensed mental health care provider for evaluation and treatment.  

Section 4 requires the state to seek existing public or private reimbursement for  mental, emotional and behavioral health care services delivered in the home and in elementary and secondary schools, and for any mental, emotional and behavioral health care services offered through the state Department of Social Services pursuant to federal la.  

Section 5 requires the proposed Office of Early Childhood to coordinate existing home- visitation programs and recommend a common referral process for families, required training for visitation staff, and other matters.  

Section 6 requires the proposed Office of Early Childhood, working in conjunction with other state agencies,  and to the extent that private funding is available, to design and implement a public information and education campaign on children’s mental, emotional and behavioral health issues.  

Section 7 allows the  Judicial Branch to perform a study to determine – among other issues -- whether children and young adults whose primary need is mental health intervention are placed into the juvenile justice or correctional systems rather than receiving treatment for their mental health issues.  

Section 8 establishes a Children’s Mental Health Task Force to study the effects of nutrition, genetics, complementary and alternative treatments and psychotropic drugs on the mental, emotional and behavioral health of children within the state.   The bill now heads to the House of Representatives for consideration. If signed into law by the governor, the various sections would take effect on either July 1, 2013 or October 1, 2013.