As I’ve mentioned in previous posts– we’re in the beginning phases of overhauling our regulations for licensing behavioral health facilities.  This’ll be a long process- and the finish line is in mid-2013.  We’re starting with a set of what we’ll call “straw-man” language that we can use as a way to start the discussions.  We’ve delivered the initial language for inpatient facilities already- and we’re working with stakeholders on the initial language for residential now and we’ll be doing the out-patient later this fall.  

The “official” part of the process in early 2013 with the publication of the full set of Notice of Proposed Draft Rules which will go out for public comment early next year.  We’ll then incorporate good suggestions from the draft into the Notice of Final Rules, which will go out for public comment in the Spring of 2013.  The goal is to have the final rules in place by July 2013. 

So…  there’s lots of time to get involved.  I’ve heard anecdotal stories of folks that think our “straw-man” language is set in stone- it’s not at all!  You can really think of the initial language as spring training in an 162 game baseball season.  You can save our Behavioral Health Rulemaking URL in your “Favorites”.  The rulemaking is an iterative process- and you can provide feedback via survey monkey from the Rulemaking website…  as we constantly use the input as we work through the process.