TITLE 37 MENTAL HEALTH

Section 2. Administration of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, Addictive Diseases, and Other Disability Services, 37-2-1 through 37-2-50.

ARTICLE 1 GENERAL PROVISIONS

37-2-5.1. Allocation of funds.

State, federal, and other funds appropriated to the department and available for the purpose of funding the planning and delivery of disability services shall be distributed in accordance with this subsection. All funds associated with services to clients residing within a given region shall be managed through the department; the term "all funds" shall include funding for hospitals, community service boards, private and public contracts, and any contracts relating to service delivery for clients within the given region. The department shall establish a funding amount for regions conditioned upon the amount of funds appropriated. The funding amount shall be determined, in part, based on consumer service needs, service and program history, population based funding needs, infrastructure mandates, program efficiency and effectiveness, geographic distances, and other factors affecting the cost and level of service needs within each region.
The department shall establish guidelines to ensure that regions receive such funding based on client population, past and future service delivery needs and capabilities, and in consideration of special needs populations, such as homeless and transient populations. The department shall ensure that funds are managed based primarily on services to clients and in compliance with all federal, state, and regulatory requirements.
The department, in compliance with the provisions of the General Appropriations Act and other applicable laws, is authorized to move funds to and between community and institutional programs based on need, and the department shall develop appropriate allocation and accounting mechanisms to move funds in a planned and rational manner between hospitals, community service boards, and other providers based on client needs and utilization.

(Code 1981, §37-2-5.1, enacted by Ga. L. 1993, p. 1445, § 16; Ga. L. 1994, p. 437, § 3; Ga. L. 2002, p. 1324, § 1-7; Ga. L. 2009, p. 453, § 3-1/HB 228; Ga. L. 2015, p. 1361, § 4/HB 512.)

The 2015 amendment, effective July 1, 2015, deleted former subsection (a), which read: "Each region shall be served by a regional coordinator who shall be duly qualified and appointed by the commissioner. The regional coordinator shall serve as the supervisor of the regional office, which shall be a unit of the department. The regional coordinator shall serve at the pleasure of the commissioner. The commissioner shall be authorized to appoint an interim regional coordinator at any time that the position of regional coordinator is vacant and prior to the appointment of a duly qualified and approved successor."; deleted former subsection (b), which read: "The regional coordinator may appoint such other staff including a regional services administrator and personnel to work for the regional office as the department deems necessary and appropriate. The regional coordinator and such staff and personnel shall be employees of the department. Expenses for the regional office and planning board, the employment of the regional coordinator, other staff and personnel, and the operation of the regional office shall be funded by the department as funds are appropriated by the General Assembly. The department shall impose limits on the administrative and operating expenditures of the regional office and planning board."; and redesignated former subsection (c) as present subsections (a) through (c).

Editor's notes.

- Ga. L. 1993, p. 1445, § 18.1, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: "Nothing in this Act shall be construed to repeal any provision of Chapter 5 of Title 37 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, the 'Community Services Act for the Mentally Retarded.' "

Ga. L. 1993, p. 1445, § 19, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: "This Act shall become effective on July 1, 1994; provided, however, that provisions relating to the establishment of regional and community service board boundaries and the appointments of regional boards and community service boards shall become effective on July 1, 1993, or upon whatever date is stipulated in the Act and provided, further, that the provisions authorizing a county board of health to agree to serve as the lead county board of health for only that county shall become effective upon the approval of this Act by the Governor or upon its becoming law without such approval." The Act was approved by the Governor on April 27, 1993.

Ga. L. 1993, p. 1445, which enacts this Code section, provides, in § 19.1, not codified by the General Assembly, that this Code section is repealed on June 30, 1999; however, Ga. L. 1998, p. 870, § 1, struck § 19.1 of Ga. L. 1993, p. 1445, which would have repealed this Code section.

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Hiring and firing executive director.

- Executive director (now regional coordinator) of a regional board may be hired by the state division director only with the approval of the regional board, and may be fired by the state division director, either on the division director's own initiative or in compliance with the request of a majority of the regional board membership. 1995 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U95-3.

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