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Legislative Watch | |
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Consideration of Licensing Regulation in Montana | ||
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A Report to the 59th Legislature October 2004 Prepared by Excerpt from Report The Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) brought the issue of unregulated youth residential facilities or programs to the Committee's attention. Many of these programs are privately funded programs for challenging youth, and many have a wilderness component. Currently, unless an "outdoor behavioral program" accepts public funds, Montana does not require the program to be licensed (HB 524, Ch. 348, L. 2003, at 50-5-220, MCA). The Committee received a written report from the DPHHS entitled, "Unregulated Youth Residential Care Programs In Montana" outlining the issue and was apprised of a listening tour that DPHHS representatives held in Great Falls and Kalispell in July 2004. Representatives from many of the programs provided public comment and opposed mandatory licensure at this time, but supported mandatory registration. They wanted to be able to participate in any study to develop licensure and to make sure that any licensure is appropriate to the various types of programs that exist and is not overly cumbersome. The industry stated that there was a significant economic impact in the state in a nonextractive industry that the state would not want to lose.The DPHHS had requested a placeholder for potential legislation (LC0289) and proposed that they bring mandatory registration forward for the 2005 Legislature to consider. In the bill, the DPHHS staff proposes to incorporate a study for mandatory licensure for the 2007 Legislature. The Committee expressed concern that these youth are a vulnerable population and that the youth need to be protected. However, the Committee was reluctant to pursue mandatory licensure at this time. Many other states have licensure and many of the services that these programs provide must already be licensed. An additional impact to be considered is the impact on some public school districts as many of these youth attend the public schools. Most youth are from out-of-state, and their parents may not contributing tuition to the schools. The need to balance a youth's right to (and need for) a quality education in Montana with out-of-state parents' responsibility to participate in the costs means that tuition arrangements or other ways to reimburse the state should be explored.
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