Code of the District of Columbia

§ 7–1131.12. Transfer of functions, property, and personnel.

(a) All real and personal property, Career and Excepted Service, Management Supervisory Service, and trainee positions, assets, records, and obligations, and all unexpended balances of appropriations, allocations, and other funds available or to be made available relating to the powers, duties, functions, operations, and administration of the Commission on Mental Health Services under receivership in Dixon, et al. v. Williams, et al., shall become the property of the Department on December 18, 2001.

(b) All real and personal property, positions, assets, records, and obligations, and all unexpended balances of appropriations, allocations, and other funds available or to be made available relating to the powers, duties, functions, and operations of the “Compact Administrator” of the Interstate Compact on Mental Health as set forth in Chapter 11 of this title, shall become the property of the Department on December 18, 2001.

(c) All positions, real and personal property, assets, records, and obligations, and all unexpended balances of appropriations, allocations, and other funds available or to be made available relating to the powers, duties, functions, and operations of the Department of Health in regulating mental health facilities, mental health services, and mental health supports, shall be transferred to the Department no later than September 30, 2001, in accordance with the terms of the memoranda of agreement executed pursuant to § 7-1131.04(17).

(d) The Department shall recognize and bargain with collective bargaining representatives that have been duly certified by the District of Columbia Public Employees Relations Board and shall assume and be bound by all existing collective bargaining agreements entered into by the Commission on Mental Health Services, if those agreements have been approved by the Council, unless Council approval is not required by law and, during a control year as defined in § 47-393(4), the District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Authority.

(e) Every employee of the Commission on Mental Health Services shall be transferred to the Department. An employee transferred to the Department shall be transferred in the same classification he or she held at the Commission on Mental Health Services or other department at the time of the transfer. Subject to the District’s authority to convert them to the Management Supervisory Service and the Legal Service consistent with Chapter 6 of Title 1, transferred employees shall retain all rights and privileges related to their individual pay and benefits, including retirement status, so long as the employee is continuously employed by the Department or the District government, including any applicable rights and privileges provided for in § 44-906.

(f) The following rules and regulations pertaining to the licensing, certification, and delivery of mental health services and mental health supports shall remain in full force and effect unless and until repealed or superseded by action of the Department of Mental Health:

(1) Chapter 38 of Title 22 of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (Community Residence Facilities for Mentally Ill Persons), except that the Department of Mental Health shall perform all functions that Chapter 38 vests in the Commission on Mental Health Services, and shall perform the following functions instead of the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, the Department of Health, and the Department of Human Services:

(A) Training persons who directly provide mental health services or mental health supports to consumers of mental health services through their employment by a community residence facility;

(B) Certifying that the admission of consumers of mental health services to a mental health community facility is medically necessary;

(C) Making determinations under 22 DCMR § 3826.3;

(D) Receiving written admission criteria under 22 DCMR § 3827.3;

(E) Receiving written reasons for denials of admission under 22 DCMR § 3827.5; and

(F) Licensing mental health community residential facilities as required by 22 DCMR § 3800.5; and

(2) Chapter 46 of Title 29 of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (Mobile Community Outreach Treatment Team Services), except that the Department shall have concurrent authority with the Medical Assistance Administration to audit and review records and reports of consumers of mental health services and providers, and shall perform the following functions instead of the Commission on Mental Health Services and the Medical Assistance Administration:

(A) Certifying providers of mobile community outreach treatment team services;

(B) Operating one mobile community outreach treatment team;

(C) Authorizing admission and assignment of consumers of mental health services to mobile community outreach treatment teams; and

(D) Granting approvals and waivers.

(g) The following rules and regulations pertaining to the licensing, certification, and delivery of mental health services and mental health supports shall remain in full force and effect until the Department of Mental Health promulgates standards and procedures in accordance with § 7-1131.14(2)-(4):

(1) Chapter 7 of Title 29 of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (Medicaid Day Treatment Programs), except that the Department shall have concurrent authority with the Department of Health to audit and review records of providers, and shall perform the following functions instead of the Department of Human Services:

(A) Certifying Medicaid day treatment programs for consumers of mental health services; and

(B) Granting approvals and waivers;

(2) Chapter 8 of Title 29 of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (Free Standing Mental Health Clinics), except that the Department shall have concurrent authority with the Department of Health to audit and review records of providers, and shall perform the following functions instead of the Department of Human Services:

(A) Certifying providers of freestanding mental health clinics;

(B) Determining the qualifications of administrators of freestanding mental health clinics; and

(C) Granting approvals and waivers; and

(3) Section 948 of Title 29 of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (Standards for Participation of Residential Treatment Centers for Children and Youth), except that the Department shall have concurrent authority with the Department of Health and the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs to audit and review records of providers, and shall perform the following functions instead of the Department of Human Services:

(A) Certifying residential treatment centers for children and youth; and

(B) Certifying that the admission of consumers of mental health services to residential treatment centers is medically necessary.