Subdivision 1.Qualification requirements.

In order to qualify as a local children‘s mental health collaborative and be eligible to receive start-up funds, the representatives of the local system of care and nongovernmental entities such as parents of children in the target population; parent and consumer organizations; community, civic, and religious organizations; private and nonprofit mental and physical health care providers; culturally specific organizations; local foundations; and businesses, or at a minimum one county, one school district or special education cooperative, one mental health entity, and, by July 1, 1998, one juvenile justice or corrections entity, must agree to the following:

(1) to establish a local children’s mental health collaborative and develop an integrated service system;

(2) to commit resources to providing services through the local children’s mental health collaborative; and

(3) to develop a plan to contribute funds to the children’s mental health collaborative.

Subd. 1a.Duties of certain coordinating bodies.

(a) By mutual agreement of the collaborative and a coordinating body listed in this subdivision, a children’s mental health collaborative or a collaborative established by the merger of a children’s mental health collaborative and a family services collaborative under section 124D.23, may assume the duties of a community transition interagency committee established under section 125A.22; an interagency early intervention committee established under section 125A.30; or a local advisory council established under section 245.4875, subdivision 5.

(b) Two or more family services collaboratives or children’s mental health collaboratives may consolidate decision making, pool resources, and collectively act on behalf of the individual collaboratives, based on a written agreement among the participating collaboratives.

Subd. 2.Duties of the collaborative.

Each local children’s mental health collaborative must:

(1) notify the commissioner of human services within ten days of formation by signing a collaborative agreement and providing the commissioner with a copy of the signed agreement;

(2) identify a service delivery area and an operational target population within that service delivery area. The operational target population must be economically and culturally representative of children in the service delivery area to be served by the local children’s mental health collaborative. The size of the operational target population must also be economically viable for the service delivery area;

(3) seek to maximize federal revenues available to serve children in the target population by designating local expenditures for services for these children and their families that can be matched with federal dollars;

(4) in consultation with the local children’s advisory council and the local coordinating council, if it is not the local children’s mental health collaborative, design, develop, and ensure implementation of an integrated service system that meets the requirements for state and federal reimbursement and develop interagency agreements necessary to implement the system;

(5) expand membership to include representatives of other services in the local system of care including prepaid health plans under contract with the commissioner of human services to serve the needs of children in the target population and their families;

(6) create or designate a management structure for fiscal and clinical responsibility and outcome evaluation;

(7) spend funds generated by the local children’s mental health collaborative as required in sections 245.491 to 245.495;

(8) explore methods and recommend changes needed at the state level to reduce duplication and promote coordination of services including the use of uniform forms for reporting, billing, and planning of services;

(9) submit its integrated service system design to the Children’s Cabinet for approval within one year of notifying the commissioner of human services of its formation;

(10) provide an annual report and the collaborative’s planned timeline to expand its operational target population to the Children’s Cabinet; and

(11) expand its operational target population.

Subd. 3.Information sharing.

(a) The members of a local children’s mental health collaborative may share data on individuals being served by the collaborative or its members if the individual, as defined in section 13.02, subdivision 8, gives written informed consent and the information sharing is necessary in order for the collaborative to carry out duties under subdivision 2. Data on individuals shared under this subdivision retain the original classification as defined under section 13.02, as to each member of the collaborative with whom the data is shared.

(b) If a federal law or regulation impedes information sharing that is necessary in order for a collaborative to carry out duties under subdivision 2, the appropriate state agencies shall attempt to get a waiver or exemption from the applicable law or regulation.