(a) The board in consultation with the Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs shall provide the Legislature by April 15, 1998, a proposal assessing the viability of providing additional drug and alcohol treatment services for children enrolled in the program.

If the board determines that it is feasible to provide additional federal funds received pursuant to Title XXI (commencing with Section 2101) of the Social Security Act to counties to finance drug and alcohol services and required federal approval is obtained, the board shall negotiate with participating health plans to establish memoranda of understanding between plans and counties to facilitate referral of children in need of these services.

(b) Based on the April 15, 1998, report by the board to the Legislature, the Legislature finds and declares that there is a statewide gap in publicly funded alcohol and other drug treatment for adolescents which is significant and systemic.

(1) Therefore, the State Department of Health Care Services, in cooperation with the board, shall do the following:

(A) Review capacity needs for the Healthy Families Program target group after year one data has been collected and an assessment of the adequacy of the benefit can be made.

(B) Request that counties provide data on the number of adolescents requesting alcohol and other drug treatment and whether they are participating in the Healthy Families Program.

(2) The board shall do the following:

(A) Request the participating health plans to voluntarily collect data, as prescribed by the board, on the number of children needing services that exceed the substance abuse benefit in their plan.

(B) Upon contract renewal, require participating health plans to collect and report the data.

(C) By September 1, 1999, provide the policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature with an analysis of the data obtained by the Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs and from the participating health plans.

(Amended by Stats. 2013, Ch. 22, Sec. 76. (AB 75) Effective June 27, 2013. Operative July 1, 2013, by Sec. 110 of Ch. 22.)