Rhode Island General Laws Title 42. State Affairs and Government § 42-72-5.2. Development of a continuum of children's behavioral health programs

The departments of children, youth and families (DCYF) and human services (DHS) shall cooperate to develop a design of a continuum of care for children's behavioral health services that encourages the use of alternative psychiatric and other services to hospitalization and reviews the utilization of each service in order to better match services and programs to the needs of the children and families as well as continuously improve the quality of and access to services. The departments of children, youth and families and human services shall present a report to the governor and the general assembly no later than February 1, 2006 that fully describes this continuum of services and outlines a detailed plan for its implementation, including resource requirements, responsibilities, milestones, and time frames, as well as a set of indicators and program metrics that will be employed to evaluate its clinical and fiscal effectiveness over time. The report shall also describe any and all changes proposed in program oversight or budgetary responsibility for specific services. An important step towards the development of such continuum of care is to assure the appropriate management of psychiatric hospitalizations. To that end the state shall: