(a) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the department of youth services, subject to appropriation, shall establish a pilot program designed to improve the coordination and continuity of mental health services available to clients of the department of youth services who are served by multiple agencies.

(b) The department of youth services, in consultation with the department of children and families and the department of mental health, shall allocate funding for each pilot program participant for comprehensive mental health services in accordance with a formula determined by the department of youth services; provided, however, in no case shall the allocation be less than what the participant would have received had he or she not participated in the pilot.

(c) For each participant in the pilot program, the department of youth services, in consultation with, at minimum, the department of children and families, the department of mental health, the participant, and the participant’s family, shall develop and administer a comprehensive individual support plan. In developing each participant’s comprehensive individual support plan, the department shall consider, at minimum, the following: (i) a coordinated plan of mental health and other supports based on the individual needs of the participant; (ii) a plan to continue a participant’s existing services if he or she transitions from one placement setting to a placement setting of a different type or in a different location; and (iii) a plan to utilize community-based supports and providers available to the participant after he or she is no longer a client of the department or departments. Administration of services identified in the individual support plan shall be funded using the funding allocated to the participant pursuant to this section.

(d) The department of youth services, in consultation with the department of children and families and the department of mental health, shall develop criteria for eligibility for the pilot program. In developing said criteria, the departments shall, at minimum, ensure that the program includes youth impacted by trauma. The criteria may also include youth within six months of release from a residential program operated by the department of youth services and or clients placed in a community-based placement by the department of youth services.

(e) The department of youth services, in consultation with the department of children and families and the department of mental health, may promulgate rules and regulations for the pilot program.

(f) The department of youth services, in consultation with the department of children and families and the department of mental health, shall use qualitative and quantitative measures to measure the effectiveness of the program, and shall issue a report with its findings and recommendations to the Chairs of the Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities within 1 year of the establishment of the pilot program. 

(g) The department of youth services, the department of children and families, and the department of mental health shall enter into a written memorandum of understanding for the purposes of sharing information in order to effectuate and administer the pilot program. Such memorandum of understanding shall include provisions to address the privacy of personal information of program participants.

(h) Establishment of said pilot program shall be subject to appropriation. The department of youth services shall seek to maximize federal financial participation in, or funding or reimbursement for, the pilot program established pursuant to this section.