Behavioral Health Supports For High-risk Families

Access to behavioral health supports for high-risk families - pregnant and parenting women - high-risk families cash fund - child care services and substance use disorder treatment pilot program - regional mobile child care model - appropriation. The act amends existing programs that provide access to substance use disorder treatment to pregnant and parenting women up to one year postpartum. The act creates child care pilot programs for parenting women engaged in substance use disorder treatment. The act:

• Encourages health care practitioners and county departments of human or social services to identify pregnant women and parenting women for a needs assessment to determine needed services;
• Authorizes the state department of human services (state department) to use state money to provide residential substance use disorder treatment to pregnant and parenting women until such time as those services are covered under the state program of medical assistance and authorized under federal law;
• Creates the high-risk families cash fund (cash fund) in the office of behavioral health in the state department to increase capacity for and provide services to high-risk parents, including pregnant and parenting women, and for services for high-risk children and youth with behavioral health disorders. The state treasurer shall transfer unencumbered money in the cash fund to certain programs listed in the act.
• Creates the child care services and substance use disorder treatment pilot program (pilot program) as a two-generation initiative in the state department, and awards pilot program grants to enhance existing child care resource and referral programs and increase child care navigation capacity to serve pregnant and parenting women seeking or participating in substance use disorder treatment;
• Awards pilot program grants to enhance the capacity of the existing child care resource and referral program's centralized call center to serve pregnant and parenting women with a substance use disorder;
• Awards pilot program grants to pilot a regional mobile child care model to serve young children of parenting women in substance use disorder treatment;
• Requires an annual appropriation of $500,000 for 3 fiscal years for the pilot program, and requires annual reporting to the general assembly concerning the pilot program. Any money not expended for the pilot program will be transferred to the high-risk families cash fund.
• Prohibits the admission into evidence in criminal proceedings information relating to substance use during pregnancy, with certain exceptions, that is obtained as part of providing postpartum care for up to one year postpartum or disclosed while women are seeking or participating in behavioral health treatment.

For the 2019-20 state fiscal year, the bill appropriates $500,000 from the general fund to the department of human services, office of early childhood, to implement the child care services and substance use disorder treatment pilot program.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)