2006 Minnesota Statutes

245.4874 DUTIES OF COUNTY BOARD.
(a) The county board must:
(1) develop a system of affordable and locally available children's mental health services
according to sections 245.487 to 245.4887;
(2) establish a mechanism providing for interagency coordination as specified in section
245.4875, subdivision 6;
(3) consider the assessment of unmet needs in the county as reported by the local children's
mental health advisory council under section 245.4875, subdivision 5, paragraph (b), clause (3).
The county shall provide, upon request of the local children's mental health advisory council,
readily available data to assist in the determination of unmet needs;
(4) assure that parents and providers in the county receive information about how to gain
access to services provided according to sections 245.487 to 245.4887;
(5) coordinate the delivery of children's mental health services with services provided by
social services, education, corrections, health, and vocational agencies to improve the availability
of mental health services to children and the cost-effectiveness of their delivery;
(6) assure that mental health services delivered according to sections 245.487 to 245.4887
are delivered expeditiously and are appropriate to the child's diagnostic assessment and individual
treatment plan;
(7) provide the community with information about predictors and symptoms of emotional
disturbances and how to access children's mental health services according to sections 245.4877
and 245.4878;
(8) provide for case management services to each child with severe emotional disturbance
according to sections 245.486; 245.4871, subdivisions 3 and 4; and 245.4881, subdivisions 1,
3, and 5 ;
(9) provide for screening of each child under section 245.4885 upon admission to a
residential treatment facility, acute care hospital inpatient treatment, or informal admission to a
regional treatment center;
(10) prudently administer grants and purchase-of-service contracts that the county board
determines are necessary to fulfill its responsibilities under sections 245.487 to 245.4887;
(11) assure that mental health professionals, mental health practitioners, and case managers
employed by or under contract to the county to provide mental health services are qualified
under section 245.4871;
(12) assure that children's mental health services are coordinated with adult mental health
services specified in sections 245.461 to 245.486 so that a continuum of mental health services is
available to serve persons with mental illness, regardless of the person's age;
(13) assure that culturally informed mental health consultants are used as necessary to assist
the county board in assessing and providing appropriate treatment for children of cultural or
racial minority heritage; and
(14) consistent with section 245.486, arrange for or provide a children's mental health
screening to a child receiving child protective services or a child in out-of-home placement, a child
for whom parental rights have been terminated, a child found to be delinquent, and a child found
to have committed a juvenile petty offense for the third or subsequent time, unless a screening has
been performed within the previous 180 days, or the child is currently under the care of a mental
health professional. The court or county agency must notify a parent or guardian whose parental
rights have not been terminated of the potential mental health screening and the option to prevent
the screening by notifying the court or county agency in writing. The screening shall be conducted
with a screening instrument approved by the commissioner of human services according to
criteria that are updated and issued annually to ensure that approved screening instruments are
valid and useful for child welfare and juvenile justice populations, and shall be conducted by
a mental health practitioner as defined in section 245.4871, subdivision 26, or a probation
officer or local social services agency staff person who is trained in the use of the screening
instrument. Training in the use of the instrument shall include training in the administration of the
instrument, the interpretation of its validity given the child's current circumstances, the state and
federal data practices laws and confidentiality standards, the parental consent requirement, and
providing respect for families and cultural values. If the screen indicates a need for assessment,
the child's family, or if the family lacks mental health insurance, the local social services agency,
in consultation with the child's family, shall have conducted a diagnostic assessment, including a
functional assessment, as defined in section 245.4871. The administration of the screening shall
safeguard the privacy of children receiving the screening and their families and shall comply with
the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act, chapter 13, and the federal Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, Public Law 104-191. Screening results shall be
considered private data and the commissioner shall not collect individual screening results.
(b) When the county board refers clients to providers of children's therapeutic services and
supports under section 256B.0943, the county board must clearly identify the desired services
components not covered under section 256B.0943 and identify the reimbursement source for
those requested services, the method of payment, and the payment rate to the provider.
History: 1989 c 282 art 4 s 41; 1990 c 568 art 5 s 13; 1991 c 94 s 6; 1991 c 292 art 6 s
17,58 subd 1; 1995 c 207 art 8 s 6; 1Sp2003 c 14 art 4 s 2; art 11 s 11; 2004 c 288 art 3 s 9;
2005 c 98 art 3 s 11; 1Sp2005 c 4 art 2 s 3