§ 4305. Coordinated system of care
(a)(1) Services provided by or through the Departments of Mental Health and for Children
and Families and the Agency of Education to children and adolescents with a severe
emotional disturbance shall be pursuant to a coordinated services plan, developed
in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
(2) Nothing in the provisions of this chapter shall be construed to grant an entitlement
to any child or adolescent with a severe emotional disturbance to receive any educational,
residential, mental health, or other service until and unless the General Assembly
further provides that such children and adolescents or any subgroup thereof are so
entitled.
(b)(1) The State Board of Education, the Department of Mental Health, and the Department
for Children and Families shall jointly adopt rules implementing the provisions of
this chapter. Such rules shall:
(A) provide guidelines for local interagency teams for development of procedures, with
public participation, relating to:
(i) referral, assessment, development, annual review, and revision of coordinated service
plans, and time frames for these activities;
(ii) fixing responsibility for case management; and
(iii) notice to parents and guardians and other agencies;
(B) protect the rights of children and adolescents and their parents and guardians concerning
consent and confidentiality; and
(C) ensure that matters unresolved after State interagency team review are subject to
procedures for notice, hearing, and decisions of contested cases consistent with the
provisions of 3 V.S.A. chapter 25.
(2) Local interagency teams shall submit procedures developed in accordance with the rules
adopted under subdivision (1)(A) of this subsection to the Advisory Board for review
and comment. Thereafter, the proposed procedures shall be submitted to the Secretary
and the Commissioners, who shall approve the procedures if all the elements specified
in subdivision (1)(A) of this subsection are satisfied.
(c) The Commissioners of Mental Health and for Children and Families and the Secretary
of Education shall jointly submit to the General Assembly a report on the status of
programs for children and adolescents with a severe emotional disturbance and their
families, which shall include a system of care plan. The report shall be submitted
together with the general appropriation bill provided for by 32 V.S.A. § 701. The system of care plan shall:
(1) identify the characteristics and number of children and adolescents with a severe
emotional disturbance in need of appropriate services, describe the educational, residential,
mental health or other treatment services needed, describe currently available programs
and resources, recommend a plan to meet the needs of such children, recommend priorities
for the continuation or development of programs and resources, and make an assessment
of the success of such programs; and
(2) provide information as available on the extent to which children and adolescents with
a severe emotional disturbance have not received services, the characteristics and
number of those children and adolescents who have not received services and recommendations
on how to address their identified needs.
(d) Nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed to diminish the rights of children
with disabilities, their parents, guardians, or surrogate parents under federal or
State law, including confidentiality, consent for services and evaluation, and parental
involvement.
(e) Nothing contained in this chapter shall entitle children and adolescents with a severe
emotional disturbance to special education services unless they are otherwise eligible
for such services under State or federal law.
(f) Except as otherwise provided in chapters 51, 52, and 53 of this title, the receipt
of appropriate services for a child or adolescent with a severe emotional disturbance
or the child or adolescent’s family, including an out-of-home placement, shall not
be conditioned on placement of the child or adolescent in the legal custody, protective
supervision, or protection of the Department for Children and Families. (Added 1987, No. 264 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; amended 1989, No. 187 (Adj. Sess.), § 5; 1989, No. 203 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 4, 5; 1995, No. 137 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1995, No. 174 (Adj. Sess.), § 3; 2013, No. 92 (Adj. Sess.), § 296, eff. Feb. 14, 2014; 2013, No. 131 (Adj. Sess.), § 72, eff. May 20, 2014; 2015, No. 23, § 60.)