MO HB421

Department of Mental Health must submit by December 31, 2012 a plan for transitioning residents of state developmental disabilities facilities to integrated community settings, using an independent third party contractor to conduct the study.

Plan must contain individual recommendations for each resident including community services needed, costs, barriers to transition, and timetables for moving to community settings.

Plan shall include contemporary best practices, research on residential outcomes, and recommendations for state employees affected by facility transitions, including retraining and other employment opportunities.

Plan must identify alternative uses for state facility property, total transition costs and savings, federal and state funding sources, legal obstacles, required new services, and implementation schedule with goal of completing all transitions by January 1, 2018.

All long-term admissions to state-run intermediate care facilities for the mentally retarded cease upon the bill's effective date, and no new facility construction or renovation projects may proceed until the transition plan is completed.