Section 20-47-703 - FindingsThe General Assembly finds:
(1) The system for providing behavioral healthcare services to children, youth, and their families should ensure that those services are appropriate, cost-effective, and provided in the least restrictive settings;(2) Behavioral health and other services identified in § 20-47-502(10) are provided to children and youth by various departments, agencies, and providers at both the state and local level, often without appropriate or effective collaboration;(3) Providing effective services for children with the most severe needs requires many areas of expertise and shared responsibility among the aforementioned departments, agencies, and providers; and(4) The system of behavioral health care should be built upon the foundation established by the Child and Adolescent Service System Program principles identified in § 20-47-503. The guiding principles for establishing the system of care should be: (A) The system should be family-driven, child-centered, and youth-guided and should include family participation at all levels of the services system;(B) The system should be community-based with decision-making responsibility and management at the regional and local levels; and(C) The system should be culturally competent, with agencies, programs, and services responsive to the cultural and individual differences of the populations they serve.Acts 2007, No. 1593, § 1.