(a) Each community collaborative shall, within available appropriations, (1) complete a local needs assessment which shall include objectives and performance measures, (2) specify the number of children and youths requiring behavioral health services, and (3) specify the number of children and youths actually receiving community-based and residential services and the type and frequency of such services. Each community collaborative shall submit its local needs assessment to the Commissioner of Children and Families and the Commissioner of Social Services.

(b) The regional offices of the Department of Children and Families shall contract with lead service agencies, within available appropriations, to coordinate the care of all children and youths enrolled in Connecticut Community KidCare residing within their designated catchment areas, including children and youths with complex behavioral health service needs. The lead service agencies shall employ or subcontract for the employment of care coordinators to assist families in establishing and implementing individual service plans for children and youths with complex behavioral health service needs and to improve clinical outcomes and cost effectiveness. Parents shall be afforded a choice of contracted providers for authorized services.

(c) Each community collaborative may establish the number of members and the type of representatives to ensure that the membership of such collaborative is appropriately balanced. The chief elected officials of municipalities served by a community collaborative may designate a member to serve as a representative of the chief elected officials. A community collaborative, at a minimum, shall consist of representatives from the local or regional board of education, special education program, youth services bureau, local departments of social services and public health, representatives from private organizations serving children and youths and a substantial number of parents of children and youths with behavioral health needs. A community collaborative shall participate in the regional advisory councils established under § 17a-30, provide outreach to community resources, coordinate behavioral health services by forming, with the consent of the family, child specific teams for children and youths with complex behavioral health service needs, conduct community need assessments to identify service gaps and service barriers, identify priority investment areas for the state and lead service agencies and provide public education and support. A community collaborative shall establish a governance structure, determine membership and identify or establish a fiscal agent.

(d) The Commissioner of Children and Families and the Commissioner of Social Services shall, within available appropriations, provide or arrange for the administrative services necessary to operate Connecticut Community KidCare.