Arkansas Code
Subchapter 5 - Child and Adolescent Service System Program
§ 20-47-502. Definitions

As used in this subchapter:
(1)
(A) “Case management” means those efforts that ensure that necessary services for the child and family are obtained and monitored.
(B) Such efforts shall include coordination across agencies for evaluations, the provision of services based on assessments and evaluations that result in the development of an interagency service plan, the review for adequacy of services through client progress, and maintaining cooperation among agencies;

(2)
(A) “Case review” means a multiagency effort to design and provide a service delivery plan for difficult-to-serve children who may require unusual services or service configurations.
(B) When utilizing a group process for reaching service delivery decisions, the group shall be composed of those who carry sufficient authority to ensure timely provision of services;

(3) “CASSP” means the Child and Adolescent Service System Program;
(4) “Child with emotional disturbance” means an individual who has been diagnosed with a mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder of a long-term nature under the age of eighteen (18) or under the age of twenty-one (21) if program services began before the age of eighteen (18):
(A) Who is exhibiting inappropriate emotional, interpersonal, or behavioral problems within the home, preschool program, school, or community given his or her age, intellectual level, and cultural background;
(B) Whose degree of dysfunction is at least disruptive and often disabling;
(C) Whose problems persist after efforts to deal with the problems have been made by significant others in the child's social environment;
(D) Who meets specific criteria established by the Child and Adolescent Service System Program Coordinating Council; and
(E) Who has multiagency needs exhibited by one (1) or more of the following characteristics:
(i) The behavior occurs with a sufficient frequency to be considered a pattern of response or to be so intense that the consequences lead to a severe measure of control, including, but not limited to:
(a) Seclusion;
(b) Restraint;
(c) Hospitalization; or
(d) Chemical intervention;

(ii) The behavior, although provoked, is judged to be extreme or inappropriate for the age, including, but not limited to:
(a) Very aggressive; or
(b) Self-withdrawn;

(iii) The behavior is sufficiently disruptive as to lead to exclusion from school, home, or therapeutic, or recreational settings; or
(iv) The behavior is sufficiently intense or severe to be considered seriously detrimental to the child's growth, development, or welfare or seriously detrimental to the safety or welfare of others;

(5) “Comprehensive Children's Behavioral Health System of Care Plan” means a plan to assist the Division of Aging, Adult, and Behavioral Health Services of the Department of Human Services in providing oversight for the Child and Adolescent Service System Program;
(6)
(A) “Flexible funds” means a specific fiscal allocation designated for atypical expenditures to meet extraordinary needs of a child and family identified in the multiagency plan of services.
(B) Decisions for expenditure of flexible funds shall be made at the regional or local level and shall be approved by all involved service providers;

(7) “Multiagency plan of services” means the integrated, individualized plan of care that is developed through the collaboration of all agencies providing services for that child and based on evaluations shared by each involved agency with the Child and Adolescent Service System Program local service team;
(8)
(A) “Regional plan” means a written strategy developed by regional program teams that specifies the kind, mix, and priority of services to be provided in each community mental health center catchment area.
(B) The regional plan shall:
(i) Address all components of the system of care;
(ii) Be based on the principles for the system of care provided in this subchapter and on the service needs of the children with emotional disturbance in the region;
(iii) Include procedures for evaluating services provided to children with emotional disturbance and their families;
(iv) Be reviewed annually by the council; and
(v) Upon approval be incorporated into the statewide plan;

(9) “Screening and assessment” means an initial appraisal of a child identified or suspected of having emotional disturbance that provides sufficient information to make decisions about service needs;
(10) “Service array” means those services in the system of care that address the varying areas of needs of children with emotional disturbance and their families and shall include but not be limited to:
(A) Behavioral health services;
(B) Substance abuse services;
(C) Social services;
(D) Education services;
(E) Health services;
(F) Vocational services;
(G) Recreational services;
(H) Case management;
(I) Advocacy; and
(J) Other necessary services;

(11) “Single point of entry” means a unit, agency, or group designated as the gatekeeper for the Child and Adolescent Service System Program service system for children with emotional disturbance and their families;
(12) “Statewide plan” means a comprehensive strategy that identifies the procedures for developing and implementing the system of care that is prepared by the council incorporating all regional plans; and
(13) “System of care” means a comprehensive spectrum of behavioral health and other necessary services organized into a coordinated network to meet the multiple and changing needs of children with emotional disturbance, based on principles set forth in this subchapter.