California Area OfficeCongressional Mandate for YRTCs in California
Congressional Mandate for YRTCs in California
P.L. 102-573, Indian Health Amendments of 1992 (amends the Indian Health Care Improvement Act of 1992)
SEC. 716. (a) The Secretary shall develop and implement a program for acute detoxification and treatment for Indian youth who are alcohol and substance abusers. The program shall include regional treatment centers designed to include detoxification and rehabilitation for both sexes on a
referral basis. These regional centers shall be integrated with the intake and rehabilitation programs based in the referring Indian community.
(b)(1) The Secretary shall construct or renovate, and appropriately staff and operate, a youth regional treatment center in each area under the jurisdiction of an area office. For the purposes of this subsection, the area offices of the Service in Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona, shall be considered one area office and the area office in California shall be considered to be two area offices, one office whose jurisdiction shall be considered to encompass the northern area of the State of California, and one office whose jurisdiction shall be considered to encompass the remainder of the State of California.
(2) For the purpose of staffing and operating such centers or facilities, funding shall be pursuant to the Act of November 2, 1921 (25 U.S.C. 13).
(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, the Secretary may, from amounts authorized to be appropriated for the purposes of carrying out this section, make funds available to the Tanana Chiefs Conference, Incorporated, for the purpose of leasing, constructing, renovating, operating and maintaining a residential youth treatment facility in Fairbanks, Alaska.
(4) A youth treatment center constructed or purchased under this subsection shall be constructed or purchased at a location within the area described in paragraph (1) agreed upon (by appropriate tribal resolution) by a majority of the tribes to be served by such center.
(c)(1) The Secretary, acting through the Service, shall, in consultation with Indian tribes--
(A) identify and use, where appropriate, federally owned structures suitable as local residential or regional alcohol and substance abuse treatment centers for Indian youth; and
(B) establish guidelines for determining the suitability of any such federally owned structure to be used as a local residential or regional alcohol and substance abuse treatment center for Indian youth.
(2) Any structure described in paragraph (1) may be used under such terms and conditions as may be agreed upon by the Secretary and the agency having responsibility for the structure.
(d)(1) The Secretary, in cooperation with the Secretary of the Interior, shall develop and implement within each service unit community?based rehabilitation and followup services for Indian youth who are alcohol or substance abusers which are designed to integrate long-term treatment and to monitor and support the Indian youth after their return to their home community.
(2) Services under paragraph (1) shall be administered within each service unit by trained staff within the community who can assist the Indian youth in continuing development of self-image, positive problem-solving skills, and nonalcohol or substance abusing behaviors. Such staff shall include alcohol and substance abuse counselors, mental health professionals, and other health professionals and paraprofessionals, including community health representatives.
(e) In providing the treatment and other services to Indian youth authorized by this section, the Secretary shall provide for the inclusion of family members of such youth in the treatment programs or other services as may be appropriate. Not less than 10 percent of the funds appropriated for the purposes of carrying out subsection (d) shall be used for outpatient care of adult family members related to the treatment of an Indian youth under that subsection.
(f)(1) The Secretary shall conduct a study to determine the incidence and prevalence of the abuse of multiple forms of drugs, including alcohol, among Indian youth residing on Indian reservations and in urban areas and the interrelationship of such abuse with the incidence of mental illness among such youth.
(2) The Secretary shall submit a report detailing the findings of such study, together with recommendations based on such findings, to the Congress no later than two years after the date of the enactment of this section.
Advance Approval from Congress Required to Purchase Land for the YRTCs in California
Public Law 108-447 requires IHS to obtain advance approval from both the Senate and House of Representatives for the purchase of land on which to establish the two California YRTCs. Public Law 108-447 states that “up to $2,700,000 from unobligated balances may be used for the purchase of land at two sites for the construction of the northern and southern California Youth Regional Treatment Centers subject to advance approval from the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations.”
The President signed the bill and it became Public Law 108-447 on December 8, 2004. The Senate Committee on Appropriations later approved the land purchase in Senate Committee on Appropriations Report 109-275, June 29, 2006. As of February 2011, the House Committee on Appropriations has not provided advance approval.
