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DHS tells committee it wants to repeal two outdated community mental‑health rules now covered in procurement contracts
Summary
DHS officials told the Senate committee that minimum performance standards for community mental health centers are now encoded in procurement contracts and special‑language rules adopted in 1990 and 1996 are redundant; the committee voted to review the repeal.
Jay Hill, Division Director for Aging and Adult Behavioral Health Services at the Department of Human Services, told the Children and Youth Committee that two rules for community mental health centers adopted in 1990 and 1996 are obsolete because procurement contracts now contain minimum performance standards and monitoring expectations.
Hill said that, since a 2017 change in funding and procurement processes, contract language enforces the expectations formerly imposed by rule. He told the committee the division is proposing repeal of the older rules on that basis and is seeking the committee’s review.
Committee members raised no substantive objections; the chair asked for and received a motion to review the rule, a second was given, and members approved the review by voice vote.
DHS acknowledged that performance expectations remain in effect—now enforced through procurement and contract oversight rather than the two named rules—and said contracting documents include monitoring protocols.
The committee approved the review and will receive additional materials through standard rule‑review channels.
