2007 Minnesota Statutes

245.4876 QUALITY OF SERVICES.
    Subdivision 1. Criteria. Children's mental health services required by sections 245.487
to 245.4889 must be:
(1) based, when feasible, on research findings;
(2) based on individual clinical, cultural, and ethnic needs, and other special needs of the
children being served;
(3) delivered in a manner that improves family functioning when clinically appropriate;
(4) provided in the most appropriate, least restrictive setting that meets the requirements in
subdivision 1a, and that is available to the county board to meet the child's treatment needs;
(5) accessible to all age groups of children;
(6) appropriate to the developmental age of the child being served;
(7) delivered in a manner that provides accountability to the child for the quality of service
delivered and continuity of services to the child during the years the child needs services from the
local system of care;
(8) provided by qualified individuals as required in sections 245.487 to 245.4889;
(9) coordinated with children's mental health services offered by other providers;
(10) provided under conditions that protect the rights and dignity of the individuals being
served; and
(11) provided in a manner and setting most likely to facilitate progress toward treatment
goals.
    Subd. 1a. Appropriate setting to receive services. A child must be provided with mental
health services in the least restrictive setting that is appropriate to the needs and current condition
of the individual child. For a child to receive mental health services in a residential treatment or
acute care hospital inpatient setting, the family may not be required to demonstrate that services
were first provided in a less restrictive setting and that the child failed to make progress toward or
meet treatment goals in the less restrictive setting.
    Subd. 2. Diagnostic assessment. All residential treatment facilities and acute care hospital
inpatient treatment facilities that provide mental health services for children must complete a
diagnostic assessment for each of their child clients within five working days of admission.
Providers of outpatient and day treatment services for children must complete a diagnostic
assessment within five days after the child's second visit or 30 days after intake, whichever
occurs first. In cases where a diagnostic assessment is available and has been completed within
180 days preceding admission, only updating is necessary. "Updating" means a written summary
by a mental health professional of the child's current mental health status and service needs. If
the child's mental health status has changed markedly since the child's most recent diagnostic
assessment, a new diagnostic assessment is required. Compliance with the provisions of this
subdivision does not ensure eligibility for medical assistance or general assistance medical care
reimbursement under chapters 256B and 256D.
    Subd. 3. Individual treatment plans. All providers of outpatient services, day treatment
services, professional home-based family treatment, residential treatment, and acute care hospital
inpatient treatment, and all regional treatment centers that provide mental health services for
children must develop an individual treatment plan for each child client. The individual treatment
plan must be based on a diagnostic assessment. To the extent appropriate, the child and the child's
family shall be involved in all phases of developing and implementing the individual treatment
plan. Providers of residential treatment, professional home-based family treatment, and acute
care hospital inpatient treatment, and regional treatment centers must develop the individual
treatment plan within ten working days of client intake or admission and must review the
individual treatment plan every 90 days after intake, except that the administrative review of the
treatment plan of a child placed in a residential facility shall be as specified in section 260C.212,
subdivisions 7 and 9 . Providers of day treatment services must develop the individual treatment
plan before the completion of five working days in which service is provided or within 30 days
after the diagnostic assessment is completed or obtained, whichever occurs first. Providers of
outpatient services must develop the individual treatment plan within 30 days after the diagnostic
assessment is completed or obtained or by the end of the second session of an outpatient service,
not including the session in which the diagnostic assessment was provided, whichever occurs
first. Providers of outpatient and day treatment services must review the individual treatment plan
every 90 days after intake.
    Subd. 4. Referral for case management. Each provider of emergency services, outpatient
treatment, community support services, family community support services, day treatment
services, screening under section 245.4885, professional home-based family treatment services,
residential treatment facilities, acute care hospital inpatient treatment facilities, or regional
treatment center services must inform each child with severe emotional disturbance, and the
child's parent or legal representative, of the availability and potential benefits to the child of
case management. The information shall be provided as specified in subdivision 5. If consent is
obtained according to subdivision 5, the provider must refer the child by notifying the county
employee designated by the county board to coordinate case management activities of the
child's name and address and by informing the child's family of whom to contact to request case
management. The provider must document compliance with this subdivision in the child's record.
The parent or child may directly request case management even if there has been no referral.
    Subd. 5. Consent for services or for release of information. (a) Although sections 245.487
to 245.4889 require each county board, within the limits of available resources, to make the
mental health services listed in those sections available to each child residing in the county
who needs them, the county board shall not provide any services, either directly or by contract,
unless consent to the services is obtained under this subdivision. The case manager assigned to
a child with a severe emotional disturbance shall not disclose to any person other than the case
manager's immediate supervisor and the mental health professional providing clinical supervision
of the case manager information on the child, the child's family, or services provided to the
child or the child's family without informed written consent unless required to do so by statute
or under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act. Informed written consent must comply
with section 13.05, subdivision 4, paragraph (d), and specify the purpose and use for which the
case manager may disclose the information.
(b) The consent or authorization must be obtained from the child's parent unless: (1) the
parental rights are terminated; or (2) consent is otherwise provided under sections 144.341 to
144.347; 253B.04, subdivision 1; 260C.148; 260C.151; and 260C.201, subdivision 1, the terms
of appointment of a court-appointed guardian or conservator, or federal regulations governing
chemical dependency services.
    Subd. 6. Information for billing. Each provider of outpatient treatment, family community
support services, day treatment services, emergency services, professional home-based family
treatment services, residential treatment, or acute care hospital inpatient treatment must include
the name and home address of each child for whom services are included on a bill submitted to a
county, if the release of that information under subdivision 5 has been obtained and if the county
requests the information. Each provider must try to obtain the consent of the child's family.
Each provider must explain to the child's family that the information can only be released with
the consent of the child's family and may be used only for purposes of payment and maintaining
provider accountability. The provider shall document the attempt in the child's record.
    Subd. 7. Restricted access to data. The county board shall establish procedures to ensure
that the names and addresses of children receiving mental health services and their families
are disclosed only to:
(1) county employees who are specifically responsible for determining county of financial
responsibility or making payments to providers; and
(2) staff who provide treatment services or case management and their clinical supervisors.
Release of mental health data on individuals submitted under subdivisions 5 and 6, to persons
other than those specified in this subdivision, or use of this data for purposes other than those
stated in subdivisions 5 and 6, results in civil or criminal liability under section 13.08 or 13.09.
History: 1989 c 282 art 4 s 43; 1990 c 568 art 5 s 15-17; 1991 c 292 art 6 s 58 subd 1;
1999 c 139 art 4 s 2; 1Sp2001 c 9 art 9 s 14,15; 2002 c 379 art 1 s 113; 1Sp2003 c 14 art 11 s
11; 2007 c 147 art 8 s 38