North Dakota center may provide approved crisis care to ineligible children

With approval, the center may provide care or advice to people who are not eligible for developmental disability services. Noneligible people are minors who live in North Dakota and have not been deemed eligible for developmental disability services. Residents and minors with developmental disabilities receive priority, though the printed amendment does not make their priority relationship clear. The health department commissioner or a delegate must approve the services, and the center superintendent must consider them beneficial. The center may provide residential or nonresidential services, or advise public and private providers. A person who is not eligible may not receive residential services to the exclusion of an eligible person, unless the person was already receiving residential services before an eligible person’s application. Residential services may last up to 90 days, with one additional 90-day extension allowed to support a transition.

The health department must report on services for ineligible children and study alternatives to placing youth at the center. The reports cover children who are not eligible for developmental disability services; the study concerns alternatives for youth. Reports must include the number of children served, barriers to community services, and the department’s strategies and recommendations. The study must consider community care and, if needed, an appropriate psychiatric residential facility. The study takes place during the 2025–26 interim, with findings due to Legislative Management by March 1, 2026. Reports on ineligible children are due every six months during the 2025–27 biennium.