2025 -- H 5497

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2025

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO INSURANCE -- INSURANCE COVERAGE FOR MENTAL ILLNESS AND

SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS

     Introduced By: Representatives Fogarty, Carson, Dawson, Cortvriend, Noret, Kazarian,
Donovan, Alzate, Ajello, and McGaw

     Date Introduced: February 13, 2025

     Referred To: House Health & Human Services

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Legislative findings.

     The general assembly hereby finds that:

     (1) All babies and young children need responsive, consistent, nurturing relationships to

promote the development of positive mental health.

     (2) In Rhode Island, the number of young children enrolled in Medicaid presenting with

Serious Emotional Disturbance grew from ten percent (10%) in 2017 to twenty-two percent (22%)

in 2024. Many young children are experiencing significant mental health challenges that interfere

with their development, relationships and learning.

     (3) As of 2023, there were twenty-three (23) states and the District of Columbia that

actively promoted specific age-appropriate assessment frameworks and/or therapies through

Medicaid policy.

     (4) Rhode Island’s Medicaid and commercial insurance providers already pay for mental

health services for young children, but the state has a very limited supply of therapists who have

specific training to work with the youngest children.

     (5) Rhode Island has not developed adequate infrastructure to support the use of

recommended mental health assessment frameworks designed for young children or evidence-

based dyadic therapies for children under age six (6).

     SECTION 2. Chapter 27-38.2 of the General Laws entitled "Insurance Coverage for Mental

Illness and Substance Use Disorders" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section:

     27-38.2-7. Infant and early childhood mental health hub.

     (a) The executive office of health and human services (EOHHS) shall develop a budget

and seek federal, philanthropic, or other funding to establish an early childhood mental health hub

program ("hub") focused on promoting and improving access to infant and early childhood mental

health services for children under the age of six (6) years and their families. The hub shall be funded

as a pilot program for a minimum of three (3) years to:

     (1) Train and support infant and early childhood mental health professionals in Rhode

Island;

     (2) Maintain a registry of infant and early childhood mental health professionals and their

qualifications;

     (3) Monitor the availability of services, new national recommendations, and advancements

in interventions and therapies; and

     (4) Make recommendations to Medicaid and behavioral health systems to address gaps.

     (b) The hub shall be designed to integrate and align with the Rhode Island children’s

behavioral health system of care managed by the EOHHS.

     (c) Needs that are outlined in the Rhode Island infant early childhood mental health plan

shall be early priorities for the hub including:

     (1) Offering training and ongoing implementation support for clinicians to become certified

and to use evidence-based, family-based dyadic therapy models for children under the age of six

(6) years, such as child-parent psychotherapy (CPP), parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT), and

attachment and biobehavioral catch-up (ABC). Building the training capacity in the state by holding

train-the-trainer programs should be considered;

     (2) Offering training and ongoing implementation support on developmentally-appropriate

screenings to identify mental health challenges in young children from infancy to under the age of

six (6) years;

     (3) Offering training and ongoing implementation support for clinicians to conduct

developmentally-, culturally-, and family-appropriate assessments of mental health in young

children under the age of six (6) years;

     (4) Advancing equitable access to services and reducing racial and ethnic disparities,

increasing the number of infant and early childhood qualified mental health clinicians who are

bilingual or represent the diverse races, ethnicities, and cultures of young children and families in

Rhode Island; and

     (5) Serving as a community resource for families and health professionals to find a connect

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with effective therapeutic services for young children suffering with mental health challenges.

     SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO INSURANCE -- INSURANCE COVERAGE FOR MENTAL ILLNESS AND

SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS

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     This act would require the executive office of health and human services (EOHHS) to

develop a budget and seek federal, philanthropic, or other funding to establish an early childhood

mental health hub program focused on improving access to infant and early childhood mental health

services for children under the age of six (6) years and their families. The hub would be funded as

a pilot program for a minimum of three (3) years.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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