(a) Counties shall develop a method to encourage interagency collaboration with shared responsibility for services and the client and cost outcome goals.
(b) The local mental health director shall form or facilitate the formation of a county interagency policy and planning committee. The members of the council shall include, but not be limited to, family members of children who have been or are currently being served in the county mental health system and the leaders of participating local government agencies, to include a member of the board of supervisors, a juvenile court judge, the district attorney, the public defender, the county counsel, the superintendent of county schools, the public social services director, the chief probation officer, and the mental health director.
(c) The duties of the committee shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
(1) Identifying those agencies that have a significant joint responsibility for the target population and ensuring collaboration on countywide planning and policy.
(2) Identifying gaps in services to members of the target population, developing policies to ensure service effectiveness and continuity, and setting priorities for interagency services.
(3) Implementing public and private collaborative programs whenever possible to better serve the target population.
(d) The local mental health director shall form or facilitate the formation of a countywide interagency case management council whose function shall be to coordinate resources to specific target population children who are using the services of more than one agency concurrently. The members of this council shall include, but not be limited to, representatives from the local special education, juvenile probation, children’s social services, and mental health services agencies, with necessary authority to commit resources from their agency to an interagency service plan for a child and family. The roles, responsibilities, and operation of these councils shall be specified in written interagency agreements or memoranda of understanding, or both.
(e) The local mental health director shall develop written interagency agreements or memoranda of understanding with the agencies listed in this subdivision, as necessary. Written interagency agreements or memoranda shall specify jointly provided or integrated services, staff tasks and responsibilities, facility and supply commitments, budget considerations, and linkage and referral services. The agreements shall be reviewed and updated annually.
(f) The agreements required by subdivision (e) may be established with any of the following:
(1) Special education local planning area consortiums.
(2) The court juvenile probation department.
(3) The county child protective services agency.
(4) The county public health department.
(5) The county department of drug and alcohol services.
(6) Other local public or private agencies serving children.
(Amended by Stats. 2000, Ch. 520, Sec. 12. Effective January 1, 2001.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018