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Lawmakers hear bill to create Office of Children’s Mental and Behavioral Health
Summary
Assembly Bill 339 would create a central Office of Children’s Mental and Behavioral Health within the Department of Health and Human Services to coordinate services, improve data collection and oversee a proposed children’s behavioral health center of excellence.
CARSON CITY — Assemblywoman Heather Goulding on March 24 presented Assembly Bill 339 to the Assembly Health and Human Services Committee, proposing a new Office of Children’s Mental and Behavioral Health inside the Department of Health and Human Services to coordinate statewide services for children.
The office would develop a statewide plan, review consortium strategy plans and budget requests, act as a central information resource and apply for grants including federal block grants, according to the bill summary provided to the committee. Committee staff said an amendment adds director qualifications, specific staffing positions (data analyst, community engagement/outreach specialist, research and grants professional, clinical implementation/quality assurance professional) and a requirement to submit a report on establishing a children’s behavioral health center of excellence.
Proponents said the state needs centralized leadership to reduce reliance on hospitalization and out‑of‑state residential placements and to expand community‑based services. Dr. Tara Raines of the Children’s Advocacy Alliance said the proposal grew from a statewide needs assessment and an interim Health and Human Services committee recommendation. “Nevada does not provide services to youth with children's mental health disorders in their least restrictive setting,” Raines said, citing findings from the Department of Justice review and the state’s use of out‑of‑state placements.
Anne Jensen, innovation officer at Nevada Medicaid, told the committee the report on creating a center of excellence would be a one‑time deliverable to determine a path forward but said she expected the new office to play an ongoing role during the multi‑year development process. “The center of excellence is a crucial piece of our ability to meet the settlement agreement terms,” Jensen said.
Agency officials described current state efforts and gaps. Cody Finney, division administrator for Public and Behavioral Health, said the division manages the mental health services block grant and uses limited funds to develop community services that ideally become sustainable. Medicaid official Stacy Weeks said the Department of Justice settlement has focused work and that Medicaid is coordinating with other agencies to expand community services, mobile crisis response and provider rate increases.
Supporters who testified included Councilman Brian Knudson of Las Vegas, who described long waits for diagnosis and treatment in southern Nevada, saying a two‑year diagnosis wait existed for his son until he used private resources. “The waiting list to get a diagnosis is two years,” Knudson said. Ashley Pruitt, a former wraparound psychiatric caseworker, recounted a child who was sent out of state to Tennessee because an appropriate in‑state placement was not available.
Several consortium and rural providers asked the committee to ensure the new office has authority to coordinate across agencies and that memoranda of understanding be used to secure lasting cross‑agency processes. The bill hearing closed after the sponsor offered brief remarks urging support for the measure.
The committee took testimony but did not take a committee vote during the hearing. The bill will return for further committee action in a later meeting.
