A. The Department of Human Services, together with the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, shall develop and implement a Vulnerable Adult Intervention Task Force. The purpose of the task force shall be to study and examine how to best provide interdisciplinary community assistance, intervention, and referral services for persons with mental or physical illnesses or disabilities, dementia or other related disease or condition.
B. The task force shall consist of at least eleven (11) members as follows:
1. One member who shall be a member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, to be appointed by the Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, and one member who shall be a member of the Oklahoma Senate, to be appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Oklahoma Senate;
2. Commissioner of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, or designee;
3. Commissioner of the State Department of Health, or designee;
4. Director of the State Department of Rehabilitation Services, or designee;
5. One member who shall be a representative from law enforcement, to be appointed by the Senate President Pro Tempore;
6. One member who shall be a current or former municipal employee who worked as a code enforcement officer, to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives;
7. One member who shall be a public defender, or designee, to be appointed by the Governor;
8. One member who shall be a citizen of this state and a current or former member of an advocacy organization that represents vulnerable adults or persons with mental illness, to be appointed by the House Minority Leader;
9. One member who shall be a physician licensed to practice in this state, to be appointed by the Senate Minority Leader; and
10. The Director of the Department of Human Services, or designee.
Members of the task force shall serve for a thirty–month term.
C. Appointments to the task force shall be made by July 1, 2010. The first meeting shall be convened on or before August 1, 2010. A majority of the members present at a meeting shall constitute a quorum to do business. Members of the task force shall receive no compensation for their service, but shall receive travel reimbursement by the appointing authority pursuant to the State Travel Reimbursement Act.
D. The task force is authorized to meet as necessary in order to perform the duties imposed on it.
E. The task force shall recommend a curriculum, which at a minimum should include training for individuals on the symptoms, causes and evidence-based services and interventions for illnesses and conditions contained herein. The training should also address possible crisis situations arising from these illnesses and conditions and steps to support an individual in a crisis situation.
F. On or before December 31, 2010, and annually thereafter, the task force shall submit a report to the Legislature stating the recommendations and findings of the task force including but not limited to suggested legislative action, funding sources, state agency action, and numbers of potential participants in recommended programs, either as a team member who promotes services or a recipient of services, and any recommendations for improvement of the program.
G. The task force shall be subject to the provisions of the Open Records Act and the Open Meeting Act. Staff assistance for the task force shall be provided by the staff of the Oklahoma House of Representatives and the Oklahoma State Senate.
Added by Laws 2010, c. 474, § 2, eff. July 1, 2010.