No. CS/HB 763
Filed under Healthcare.
Child Welfare; Provides that new medical report relating to provision of psychotropic medication to child in legal custody of DCF may be required only under certain circumstances; requires DCF & each community-based care lead agency to coordinate with certain organizations & meet quarterly; requires DCF & each community-based care lead agency to make certain information available on their respective websites; requires, beginning in specified year, DCF & each community-based care lead agency to publish on their respective websites biannual report containing specified information; requires caregiver to provide weekly cash allowance to each child in his or her care beginning when child attains certain age; requires physician to provide to pharmacy copy of certain documentation, rather than signed attestation, with certain prescriptions.
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDCaregivers licensed by the department must pay a minimum $20 weekly cash allowance to each child aged 13 through 17 in their care, drawn from the caregiver's existing board rate, starting once this law takes effect.
That allowance cannot be withheld as punishment, tied to chores or behavior, or spent on hygiene items, clothing, or school supplies the caregiver already owes the child -- though caregivers are only encouraged, not required, to start one at age 6.
A new medical report on a child's psychotropic medication can only be demanded when the dose, drug, or prescriber actually changes -- and switching to another doctor in the same practice group no longer counts as a change.
DCF and community-based care lead agencies must now meet quarterly with youth advocacy groups, post the agendas and minutes online, and publish a twice-yearly public report starting in 2027 on how they acted on that input.
AICaregivers licensed by the department must pay a minimum of $20 per week, from their existing board rate, to each child aged 13 through 17 in their care -- a hard dollar floor, not just a recommendation.
AIFor a child in DCF legal custody, a new medical report on psychotropic medication can be required only when the dosage, dosage range, medication type, administration method, or prescriber actually changes -- not on a routine or automatic basis.
AIThe allowance may not depend on the child's behavior, employment, or chores, may not be withheld as punishment, and may not be treated as the child's own money for hygiene items, clothing, or school supplies the caregiver is already responsible for providing.
AISwitching a child's care to a different physician or psychiatric nurse within the same group practice does not, by itself, count as a change of prescriber that would trigger a new medical report requirement.
AIThe department and each community-based care lead agency must coordinate and meet at least quarterly with organizations focused on empowering children with lived experience in care, with a formal agenda and posted minutes for each meeting.
AIBeginning in 2027, by February 1 and August 1 each year, DCF and each lead agency must publish a public report on their websites describing how they implemented suggestions from the required stakeholder meetings.
AIFor a Medicaid psychotropic-medication prescription, the physician must give the pharmacy an actual copy of the documented parental or guardian consent, rather than only a signed statement attesting that such documentation exists.
AIA dependent child placed in a family foster home, or a child as defined under the extended-care statute, is added to the list of people who do not count as a 'household member' requiring background screening.