The department in coordination with the council on children’s mental health care shall promote effective advocacy for services and supports for all children with mental illness or serious emotional disturbance. The department’s responsibilities for children shall include, but not be limited to:

(1) Promoting collaboration among care givers and service providers and equitable involvement of care givers in service plan development;

Terms Used In Tennessee Code 33-8-102

  • Department: means the department of mental health and substance abuse services. See Tennessee Code 33-1-101
  • Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
  • Mental illness: means a psychiatric disorder, alcohol dependence, or drug dependence, but does not include intellectual disability or other developmental disabilities as defined in title 52. See Tennessee Code 33-1-101
  • Serious emotional disturbance: means a condition in a child who currently or at any time during the past year has had a diagnosable mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder of sufficient duration to meet psychiatric diagnostic criteria that results in functional impairment that substantially interferes with or limits the child's role or functioning in family, school, or community activities and includes any mental disorder, regardless of whether it is of biological etiology. See Tennessee Code 33-1-101
  • Support: means any activity or resource that enables a service recipient to participate in a service for mental illness or serious emotional disturbance or in community life. See Tennessee Code 33-1-101
(2) Case finding after the department has adopted rules regarding service and support to children;
(3) Determining eligibility;
(4) Providing basic service standards;
(5) Facilitating the interdepartmental planning process for children through the statewide and regional planning and policy councils;
(6) Initiating meetings or other processes to develop local interagency agreements as needs and problems are identified by service providers, advocates, or families;
(7) Assisting children and their families to gain access to the system of services and supports;
(8) Defining and listing an array of services and supports; and
(9) Assisting youth who have been in the public system of care with transition to adult services.
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