SECTIONS 5879-5883

5879.  (a) It is the intent of the Legislature to increase theaccountability of mental health and other human services programswhenever feasible by developing and implementing new and usefulmeasures of performance, including client and cost outcomes. TheLegislature recognizes the advances in performance and outcomeevaluation made by counties funded under previous statutes and seeksto continue this development with future participating counties. (b) It is the intent of the Legislature to have a comparison ofthe performance indicators of each participating county to the stateaverage whenever possible, as well as a comparison of allparticipating counties as a group to the state averages. (c) It is the further intent of the Legislature to have acomparison of the performance indicators of participating counties totheir history and future anticipated performance based onutilization trends and costs.5880.  For each selected county the department shall define andestablish client and cost outcome and other system performance goals,and negotiate the expected levels of attainment for each year ofparticipation. Expected levels of attainment shall include abreakdown by ethnic origin and shall be identified by a county in itsproposal. These goals shall include, but not be limited to, both ofthe following: (a) Client improvement and cost avoidance outcome measures, asfollows: (1) To reduce the number of child months in group homes,residential placements pursuant to Chapter 26.5 (commencing withSection 7570) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code, andstate hospital placements. (2) To reduce the cost of AFDC-FC group home care, residentialplacements as described in paragraph (1), and state hospitalutilization, by an amount which equals at least 50 percent of thethird year project cost. Cost avoidance shall be based on datacomparisons of statewide average expenditure and population. (3) To increase school attendance for pupils in targeted programs. (4) To increase the grade level equivalent of pupils in targetedprograms from admission to discharge. (5) To reduce the rate of recidivism incurred for wards intargeted juvenile justice programs. (6) To show measurable improvement in individual and familyfunctional status for a representative sample of children enrolled inthe system of care. (7) To achieve statistically significant increases in servicesprovided in nonclinic settings among agencies. (8) To increase ethnic minority and gender access to servicesproportionate to the percentage of these groups in the county'sschool-age population. (b) System development and operation measures, as follows: (1) To provide an integrated system of care that includesmultiagency programs and joint case planning, to children who areseriously emotionally and behaviorally disturbed as defined inSection 5856. (2) To identify and assess children who comprise the targetpopulation in the county evidenced by a roster which contains allchildren receiving mental health case management and treatmentservices. This roster shall include necessary standardized anduniform identifying information and demographics about the childrenserved. (3) To develop and maintain individualized service plans that willfacilitate interagency service delivery in the least restrictiveenvironment. (4) To develop or provide access to a range of intensive servicesthat will meet individualized service plan needs. These servicesshall include, but not be limited to, case management, expandedtreatment services at schoolsites, local juvenile correctionsfacilities, and local foster homes, and flexible services. (5) To ensure the development and operation of the interagencypolicy council and the interagency case management council. (6) To provide culturally competent programs that recognize andaddress the unique needs of ethnic populations in relation to equalaccess, program design and operation, and program evaluation. (7) To develop parent education and support groups, and linkageswith parents to ensure their involvement in the planning process andthe delivery of services. (8) To provide a system of evaluation that develops outcomecriteria and which will measure performance, including client outcomeand cost avoidance. (9) To gather, manage, and report data in accordance with therequirements of the state funded outcome evaluation.5881.  (a) Evaluation shall be conducted by both participatingcounty evaluation staff and, subject to the availability of funds, bythe department. (b) Evaluation at both levels shall do all of the following: (1) Ensure that county level systems of care are serving thetargeted population. (2) Ensure that the timely performance data related to clientoutcome and cost avoidance is collected, analyzed, and reported. (3) Ensure that system of care components are implemented asintended. (4) Provide information documenting needs for future planning.5882.  (a) Participating counties shall assign sufficient resourcesto performance evaluation to enable the county to fulfill allevaluation responsibilities specified in the contract with thedepartment. (b) Counties shall cooperate with the department regarding thedevelopment of uniform measures of performance.5883.  (a) The department shall facilitate improved access torelevant client and financial data from all state agencies,including, but not limited to, the State Department of SocialServices, the State Department of Education, the State Department ofHealth Services, the State Department of Mental Health, theDepartment of the Youth Authority, and the Department of Finance. (b) The State Department of Mental Health shall expand the fundingallocated to the contract for independent evaluation, as necessaryto accommodate the increase in workload created by the addition ofnew sites. (c) Subject to the availability of funds, the department shall doall of the following: (1) Develop uniform data collection and reporting measuresapplicable to all participating counties. (2) Collect, analyze, and report performance outcome data forparticipating counties as a group in comparison to state averages. (3) Offer technical assistance to participating counties relatedto data collection, analysis, and reporting.