PRINTER'S NO. 379

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE BILL

No.

411

Session of

2023

INTRODUCED BY GALLOWAY, HILL-EVANS, BURGOS, CIRESI, SCHLOSSBERG,

NEILSON, MADDEN, SANCHEZ, HOWARD, OTTEN, KINKEAD, N. NELSON,

GREEN, O'MARA AND KHAN, MARCH 14, 2023

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1. The act of June 13, 1967 (P.L.31, No.21), known

as the Human Services Code, is amended by adding a section to

read:

Section 710. Statewide Children's Mental Health Ombudsman.--

(a) The secretary, subject to the appropriation of State funds

or the receipt of Federal funds for a Statewide children's

mental health ombudsman , shall establish a Statewide children's

mental health ombudsman for the following purposes:

children's behavioral health services.

(4) Receiving, investigating and resolving through

administrative action, as described under subsection (e),

complaints filed by a child or by individuals legally authorized

to act on behalf of the child, or by an individual, organization

or government agency that has reason to believe that an entity

regulated by the Commonwealth has engaged in activities,

practices or omissions that constitute violations of applicable

court orders, statutes or regulations or that may have an

adverse effect upon the health, safety, welfare or rights of

the ombudsman.

(c) The ombudsman shall report to the secretary and the

Executive Director of the Governor's Office of Advocacy and

Reform or its successor.

(d) The ombudsman shall serve for a term of five years and

shall continue to hold office until a successor is appointed.

The secretary may reappoint the ombudsman for one additional

term. The secretary may remove the ombudsman only for neglect of

duty, misconduct or inability to perform duties.

(e) The secretary, in consultation with the ombudsman, the

policies and procedures shall include procedures for filing

complaints, investigating complaints and taking action to

implement resolutions to complaints, including the use of State

agency enforcement authority to resolve complaints as

recommended by the ombudsman.

(f) In ensuring that the goals of the ombudsman are met, the

following shall apply:

(1) The ombudsman shall monitor the development and

implementation of Federal, State and local statutes, regulations

and policies regarding services and supports for children with

responses to serious complaints.

(3) Each quarter, the ombudsman shall send a report to each

government agency that was the subject of a complaint received

by the ombudsman during the relevant period, listing the

complaints involving that agency that were received during the

past quarter . The ombudsman shall meet regularly with the

secretary, the Deputy Secretary for Mental Health and Substance

Abuse Services and the Executive Director of the Governor's

Office of Advocacy and Reform or its successor and shall report

on any Statewide problems that the ombudsman has identified and

ombudsman and an analysis of patterns in complaints made through

the ombudsman and shall make recommendations for legislation,

policy or programmatic changes related to the protection of the

rights of children with mental health disorders. The report

shall be made available to the public and published on the

department's publicly accessible Internet website and submitted

to the following:

(i) The Governor.

(ii) The President pro tempore of the Senate.

(iii) The Speaker of the House of Representatives.

(vii) The chairperson and minority chairperson of the

Education Committee of the House of Representatives.

(viii) The chairperson and minority chairperson of the

Health and Human Services Committee of the Senate.

(ix) The chairperson and minority chairperson of the Health

Committee of the House of Representatives.

(x) The chairperson and minority chairperson of the Human

Services Committee of the House of Representatives.

(g) The department may promulgate regulations necessary for

the implementation of this section.