GA Code § 49-5-221 (2021)
2021 Georgia Code|Title 49 - Social Services|Chapter 5 - Programs and Protection for Children and Youth|Article 10 - Children and Adolescents With Severe Emotional Problems|§ 49-5-221. Definitions

 As used in this article, the term:    "Annual report" means the report prepared by the commissioner of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities for print or electronic publication and dissemination that includes:the jointly developed State Plan for the Coordinated System of Care; and data on state services to severely emotionally disturbed children or adolescents that are provided either directly by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, the Department of Education, or other involved state agencies, or indirectly through state funding to private agencies.   "Case management" means assuring continuity of services for the child and family, coordinating of services for the child and family, coordinating the interagency assessment of the child and family's needs, arranging for needed services, and linking various services and agencies.   "Case manager" means the individual identified and assigned the responsibility of ensuring that the child and family obtain necessary services. The case manager shall ensure that evaluations and service provision from multiple agencies are coordinated; that services are based on integrated assessments and evaluations; that adequacy and appropriateness of services is reviewed through quarterly case review staffings; that prompt service delivery is facilitated; that clients are tracked; and that family involvement and input is maintained.   "Coordinated system of care" means a comprehensive array of mental health and other necessary services organized into a coordinated network to meet the multiple and changing needs of severely emotionally disturbed children and adolescents.   "Five-year plan" or "state plan" means the State Plan for the Coordinated System of Care for severely emotionally disturbed children or adolescents.   "Individualized plan" means a written plan for a child or adolescent with a severe emotional disturbance, when appropriate and when eligible, that is based upon the comprehensive multidisciplinary assessment of the individual needs of the child.Such plans shall include, but not be limited to:individualized treatment plans; individualized education plans; individualized placement plans; individualized case plans; individualized family service plans; and individualized employment, service, and rehabilitation plans.   "Local interagency children's committees" means committees with multiagency representation that are established at the local level to staff cases and review decisions about appropriate treatment or placement of children or adolescents experiencing severe emotional disturbance. Existing troubled children's committees may serve as local interagency committees.   "Regional plan" means a written strategy developed by local interagency children's committees based on the principles delineated in Code Section 49-5-222.It contains the same components as the state plan.   "Reintegration plan" means an individualized plan that is designed to provide for the return of the severely emotionally disturbed child or adolescent, who has been placed out of home or out of state to his family or community.   "Severely emotionally disturbed child or adolescent"or "child or adolescent with a severe emotional disturbance" means a person defined as such by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities for mental health services or by the Department of Education for educational purposes.     (Code 1981, §49-5-221, enacted by Ga. L. 1990, p. 1798, § 1; Ga. L. 2009, p. 453, § 3-2/HB 228; Ga. L. 2010, p. 838, § 11/SB 388.)   Code Commission notes.   - Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1990, "49-5-222" was substituted for "49-5-182" in paragraph (8) to correspond to the renumbering of this article.