Iowa Code
Chapter 331 - COUNTY HOME RULE IMPLEMENTATION
Section 331.393 - Regional service system management plan.

331.393 Regional service system management plan.
1. The mental health and disability services provided by counties operating as a region shall be delivered in accordance with a regional service system management plan approved by the region’s governing board and implemented by the regional administrator in accordance with this section. The requirements for a regional service system management plan and plan format shall be specified in rule adopted by the state commission pursuant to a recommendation made by the department. A regional management plan shall include an annual service and budget plan, a policies and procedures manual, and an annual report. Each region’s initial plan shall be submitted to the department by April 1, 2014.
2. Each region shall submit to the department an annual service and budget plan approved by the region’s governing board and subject to approval by the director of human services. Provisions for the director of human services’ approval of the annual service and budget plan, and any amendments to the plan, and other requirements shall be specified in rule adopted by the state commission. The provisions addressed in the annual plan shall include but are not limited to all of the following:
a. The region’s budget and financing provisions for the next fiscal year. The provisions shall address how county, regional, state, and other funding sources will be used to meet the service needs within the region.
b. The scope of services included in addition to the required core services. Each service included shall be described and projection of need and the funding necessary to meet the need shall be included.
c. The location of the local access points for services.
d. The plan for assuring effective crisis prevention, response, and resolution.
e. The provider reimbursement provisions. A region’s use of provider reimbursement approaches in addition to fee-for-service reimbursement and for compensating the providers engaged in a systems of care approach and other nontraditional providers shall be encouraged. A region also shall be encouraged to use and the department shall approve funding approaches that identify and incorporate all services and sources of funding used by persons receiving services, including medical assistance program funding.
f. Financial forecasting measures.
g. The targeted case managers designated for the region.
h. The financial eligibility requirements for service under the regional service system. A plan that otherwise incorporates the financial eligibility requirements of section 331.395 but allows eligibility for persons with resources above the minimum resource limitations adopted pursuant to section 331.395, subsection 1, paragraph “c”, who were eligible under resource limitations in effect prior to July 1, 2014, or are authorized by the region as an exception to policy, shall be deemed by the department to be in compliance with financial eligibility requirements of section 331.395.
i. The scope of children’s behavioral health core services. Each service included shall be described and a projection of need shall be included.
j. The eligibility requirements for children’s behavioral health core services under the children’s behavioral health system.
3. Each region shall submit an annual report to the department on or before December 1. The annual report shall provide information on the actual numbers of persons served, moneys expended, and outcomes achieved.
4. The region shall have in effect a policies and procedures manual for the regional service system. The manual shall be approved by the region’s governing board and is subject to approval by the director of human services. An approved manual shall remain in effect subject to amendment. An amendment to the manual shall be submitted to the department at least forty-five days prior to the date of implementation of the amendment. Prior to implementation of an amendment to the manual, the amendment must be approved by the director of human services in consultation with the state commission. The manual shall include but is not limited to all of the following:
a. A description of the region’s policies and procedures for financing and delivering the services included in the annual service and budget plan.
b. The enrollment and eligibility process.
c. The method of annual service and budget plan administration.
d. The process for managing utilization and access to services and other assistance. The process shall also describe how coordination between the services included in the annual service and budget plan and the disability services administered by the state and others will be managed.
e. The quality management and improvement processes.
f. The risk management provisions and fiscal viability of the annual service and budget plan, if the region contracts with a private entity.
g. The requirements for designation of targeted case management providers and for implementation of evidence-based models of case management. The requirements shall be designed to provide the person receiving the case management with a choice of providers, allow a service provider to be the case manager but prohibit the provider from referring a person receiving the case management only to services administered by the provider, and include other provisions to ensure compliance with but not exceed federal requirements for conflict-free case management. The qualifications of targeted case managers and other persons providing service coordination under the management plan shall be specified in the rules. The rules shall also include but are not limited to all of the following relating to targeted case management and service coordination services:
(1) Performance and outcome measures relating to the health, safety, education, work performance, and community residency of the persons receiving the services.
(2) Standards for delivery of the services, including but not limited to social history, assessment, service planning, incident reporting, crisis planning, coordination, and monitoring for persons receiving the services.
(3) Methodologies for complying with the requirements of this paragraph “g” which may include the use of electronic recordkeeping and remote or internet-based training.
h. A plan for a systems of care approach in which multiple public and private agencies partner with families and communities to address the multiple needs of the persons and their families involved with the regional service system.
i. Measures to provide services in a decentralized manner that utilize the strengths and assets of the administrators and service providers within and available to the region.
j. A plan for provider network formation and management.
k. Service provider payment provisions.
l. A process for resolving grievances.
m. Measures for implementing interagency and multisystem collaboration and care coordination.
5. The provisions of a regional service system management plan shall include measures to address the needs of persons who have two or more co-occurring mental health, intellectual or other developmental disability, brain injury, or substance-related disorders and individuals with specialized needs. Implementation of measures to meet the needs of persons with a developmental disability other than intellectual disability, brain injury, or substance-related disorders is contingent upon identification of a funding source to meet those needs and implementation of provisions to engage the entity under contract with the state to provide services to address substance-related disorders within the regional service system.
6. If a county has been exempted pursuant to section 331.389 from the requirement to enter into a regional service system, the county and the county’s board of supervisors shall fulfill all requirements under this chapter for a regional service system, regional service system management plan, regional governing board, and regional administrator, and any other provisions applicable to a region of counties providing local mental health and disability services.
7. The region may either directly implement a system of service management and contract with service providers, or contract with a private entity to manage the regional service system, provided all requirements of this section are met by the private entity. The regional service system shall incorporate service management and functional assessment processes developed in accordance with applicable requirements.
8. A region may provide assistance to service populations with disabilities to which the counties comprising the region have historically provided assistance but who are not included in the core services required under section 331.397, subject to the availability of funding.
9. If a region determines that the region cannot provide services for the fiscal year in accordance with the regional plan and remain in compliance with applicable budgeting requirements, the region may implement a waiting list for the services. The procedures for establishing and applying a waiting list shall be specified in the regional plan. If a region implements a waiting list for services, the region shall notify the department of human services. The department shall maintain on the department’s internet site an up-to-date listing of the regions that have implemented a waiting list and the services affected by each waiting list.
10. The director’s approval of a regional plan shall not be construed to constitute certification of the region’s budget.
2012 Acts, ch 1120, §12, 18, 19; 2014 Acts, ch 1140, §76, 85; 2019 Acts, ch 61, §13, 14; 2021 Acts, ch 177, §90, 108
Referred to in §222.60, 225C.7A, 235A.15, 235B.6, 331.389, 331.424A, 426B.5
Subsection 10 amended

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