1. (1) Organization of the Department of Public Health and Human Services.

   1. (a) History The Department of Public Health and Human Services was established by 1995 Laws of Montana, Chapter 546. The department is provided for in 2-15-2201, MCA.
   2. (b) Director The director of the Department of Public Health and Human Services, appointed by the Governor, heads the department.

   3. (c) Branches and Divisions The three department branches are Operations Services, Medicaid and Health Services, and Economic Security Services supervised by branch managers, reporting directly to the director. The department has 12 divisions. The Public Health and Safety Division reports directly to the director. Each of the divisions is headed by an administrator. The branches consist of the following divisions:

      1. (i) Economic Security Services Branch

         1. (A) Disability Employment and Transitions Division;
         2. (B) Human and Community Services Division;
         3. (C) Child Support Services Division;
         4. (D) Child and Family Services Division; and
         5. (E) Intergovernmental Relations.

      2. (ii) Medicaid and Health Services Branch

         1. (A) Senior and Long Term Care Division;
         2. (B) Developmental Services Division;
         3. (C) Addictive and Mental Disorders Division; and
         4. (D) Health Resources Division.

      3. (iii) Operations Services Branch

         1. (A) Office of Fair Hearings;
         2. (B) Business and Financial Services Division;
         3. (C) Quality Assurance Division; and
         4. (D) Technology Services Division.
   4. (d) Administratively Attached Boards and Councils Attached to the department for administrative purposes only are several boards and councils created by state statutes. These boards are listed in (4). Assistance from the department for the boards and councils is provided as required by 2-15-121, MCA.

2. (2) Director's Office The director supervises the department's three branch managers and the division administrator for Public Health and Safety Division. In addition, the director provides supervision to the Office of Human Resources, the Office of Legal Affairs, the Prevention Resource Center, the Public Information Office, and Policy Services.

   1. (a) Office of Human Resources This office provides administration of the classification and pay plans, employee relations, labor negotiations, leave administration, employment, and staff development.
   2. (b) Office of Legal Affairs This office provides legal assistance to the department, supervises the adoption of administrative rules, and coordinates the use of external legal counsel.
   3. (c) Prevention Resource Center This office coordinates the department's prevention efforts with an emphasis on Montana comprehensive youth prevention programs in areas such as substance abuse and child and family safety. This office oversees Montana VISTA program.
   4. (d) Public Information Office This office provides information to the public about the agency's programs and services.
   5. (e) Office of Governmental Support This office provides a uniform approach to providing information and assistance to the media, stakeholders, tribes, other government entities, and constituents.
   6. (f) Intergovernmental Relations The intergovernmental relations specialist position coordinates department projects and legislative proposals and communicates the status of those projects with staff, legislative committees, and outside parties.
   7. (g) Tribal Relations Manager This office is responsible for guiding the department's government relations with Montana Native American Tribes.

3. (3) Organizational Structure

   1. (a) Operations Services Branch This branch provides direct supervision over the Office of Fair Hearings, Business and Financial Services Division, Quality Assurance Division, and the Technology Services Division. The branch manager develops policy on major issues affecting operations and, as the chief operating and chief financial officer, is responsible for the department's budget, finance, technology, and oversight activities.

      1. (i) Office of Fair Hearings This office provides direct supervision and accounting, budgeting, and reporting services for the branch. The Office of Fair Hearings is responsible for administrative hearings for the department except for child support.
      2. (ii) Business and Financial Services Division This division provides fiscal and internal support services to the agency by developing, implementing and monitoring accounting and fiscal processes and systems. This office oversees the department's budgeting processes, and supports and conducts statistical analyses of the major programs. The division manages records, assets, office space agreements, and building safety and maintenance.
      3. (iii) Quality Assurance Division This division is responsible for comprehensive and coordinated quality assurance programs, including detecting and investigating abusive or fraudulent practices within benefit programs, reducing Medicaid costs by identifying other responsible parties, conducting internal and independent audits, and providing state health care and day care licensing and health care certification for Medicare and Medicaid.
      4. (iv) Technology Services Division This division is responsible for planning, design, development, implementation, operation, and security of information technology systems and networks for the department. The division administrator is the department's chief information officer.

   2. (b) Medicaid and Health Services Branch This branch provides direct supervision over the Senior and Long Term Care Division, Developmental Services Division, Addictive and Mental Disorders Division, Health Resources Division, the Medicaid Systems Support Program, and the Healthy Montana Kids Program. The branch also provides medical, rehabilitative, and mental health services for Montanans through a variety of programs. The branch manager oversees and coordinates programs and activities of the branch and, as the state Medicaid and Healthy Montana Kids (known federally as CHIP) director, establishes policy for the Montana Medicaid and Healthy Montana Kids program.

      1. (i) Senior and Long Term Care Division This division plans and coordinates the delivery of publicly funded long term care and support services to elderly Montanans and Montanans with physical and other disabilities. The division manages two nursing facilities for veterans located in Columbia Falls and Glendive, Montana.
      2. (ii) Developmental Services Division This division provides for community-based training and residential services for persons with developmental disabilities. It plans and coordinates services for children with mental illness. The division manages the Montana Developmental Center, a state facility for adults.
      3. (iii) Addictive and Mental Disorders Division This division provides, directly and through independent providers, a statewide continuum of prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation services for people with chemical dependency and adult mental illness. The division manages three state facilities that provide mental health and chemical dependency services for adults. The Montana Chemical Dependency Center provides drug and alcohol treatment services for adults, the Montana Mental Health Nursing Care Center provides long-term care for people with mental illness who require nursing home care, and the Montana State Hospital provides inpatient psychiatric hospital services to adults with serious mental illness.
      4. (iv) Health Resources Division This division administers preventive and acute care Medicaid services for adults and children in the Healthy Montana Kids Program.
      5. (v) Medicaid Systems Support Program This program works in conjunction with the state Medicaid director and division administrators by providing oversight and guidance on management of the Medicaid programs. It also oversees the Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS) contractor that is responsible for the processing and payment of Medicaid claims.

   3. (c) Economic Security Services Branch This branch provides direct supervision over the Human and Community Services Division, Child Support Services Division, Child and Family Services Division, and the Disability Employment and Transitions Program. The branch delivers a broad range of social services to communities in Montana. The branch manager develops an organized approach to family economic security, assists with interdepartmental issues such as system development and tribal relations and develops strategies to manage scarce resources.

      1. (i) Disability Employment and Transitions Division This division supervises department programs that help people with disabilities find employment and successfully interact within their community. This work is accomplished through the Blind and Low Vision Services Division which provides services to the visually impaired.
      2. (ii) Human and Community Services Division This division provides support for low-income Montanans in securing basic needs such as food, energy, child care, and income. In addition, the division assists Montanans in achieving self-sufficiency through employment and training. The division determines eligibility for Medicaid and the Healthy Montana Kids Program.
      3. (iii) Child Support Services Division (CSSD) This division establishes paternity, locates obligated parents, establishes and modifies legal obligations requiring parents to provide medical and financial support for their children, and enforces those obligations. Services are provided to families receiving assistance under Montana's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, or under the federal TANF program, Medicaid, or IV-E programs. Services are also provided to parents or custodians who apply for CSSD services, or who are referred through the interstate IV-D system.
      4. (iv) Child and Family Services Division This division administers programs to protect children and youth from abuse, neglect, and abandonment. The division works with communities and providers to support the strengths of families to increase their ability to nurture and provide for their children. The division provides child protective services (including investigatory services, emergency protective services, voluntary protective services, court-ordered protective services, and permanency services) to children and families, licenses family foster homes, child placing agencies and adoption agencies, and provides adoption services to children in the custody of the state of Montana.
   4. (d) Public Health and Safety Division This division has primary responsibility for communicable disease control and prevention, public health emergency preparedness, chronic disease prevention and health promotion, emergency medical services, maternal and child health services, clinical and environmental laboratory services, and coordinating, supporting, and strengthening the state's public health system.

4. (4) Administratively attached entities

   1. (a) Board of Public Assistance created by 2-15-2203, MCA.
   2. (b) Committee on Telecommunications Access Services for Persons with Disabilities created by 2-15-2212, MCA.
   3. (c) Governor's Advisory Council on Aging created by 2-15-2206, MCA.
   4. (d) Montana Children's Trust Fund Board created by 2-15-2214 and 52-7-101, MCA.
   5. (e) State Trauma Care Committee created by 2-15-2216, MCA.
   6. (f) Traumatic Brain Injury Advisory Council created by 2-15-2217, MCA.
5. (5) Information or Submissions General inquiries regarding the department may be addressed to the director. Specific inquiries regarding the functions of each division may be addressed to the administrator of that division. Requests for fair hearings should be addressed to the county or state office whose action is contested or to the Department of Public Health and Human Services, Office of Fair Hearings, 2401 Colonial Drive, P.O. Box 202953, Helena, MT 59620-2953. Requests for fair hearings pertaining to child support should be addressed to the Office of Administrative Law Judge, 111 N. Jackson, Suite 2B, Helena, MT 59601. All requests for declaratory rulings and for participation in rulemaking may be addressed to the Office of Legal Affairs, unless the notice in the Montana Administrative Register makes specific provisions for submissions. The general address for the department, unless otherwise stated, is P.O. Box 4210, Helena, MT 59604-4210.

6. (6) Personnel Roster Addresses of the director's office and each division are as follows:

   Director's Office, Department of Public Health and Human Services, 111 N. Sanders Street, P.O. Box 4210, Helena, MT 59604-4210.

   Administrator, Addictive and Mental Disorders Division, 100 N. Park, Ste. 300, P.O. Box 202905, Helena, MT 59620-2905.

   Administrator, Business and Financial Services Division, 111 N. Sanders, P.O. Box 4210, Helena, MT 59604-4210.

   Administrator, Child and Family Services Division, 301 S. Park, P.O. Box 8005, Helena, MT 59620-8005.

   Administrator, Child Support Services Division, 3075 N. Montana, P.O. Box 202943, Helena, MT 59620-2943.

   Administrator, Disability Employment and Transitions Division, Arcade Building, 111 N. Jackson, P.O. Box 4210, Helena, MT 59604-4210.

   Administrator, Developmental Services Division, 111 N. Sanders, P.O. Box 4210, Helena, MT 59604-4210.

   Administrator, Health Resources Division, 1400 Broadway, Rm. A203, P.O. Box 202951, Helena, MT 59620-2951.

   Administrator, Human and Community Services Division, Arcade Building, 111 N. Jackson, P.O. Box 202925, Helena, MT 59620-2925.

   Administrator, Public Health and Safety Division, 1400 Broadway, P.O. Box 202951, Helena, MT 59620-2951.

   Administrator, Quality Assurance Division, 2401 Colonial Drive, P.O. Box 202953, Helena, MT 59620-2953.

   Administrator, Senior and Long Term Care Division, 2030 11th Avenue, P.O. Box 4210, Helena, MT 59604-4210.

   Administrator, Technology Services Division, 111 N. Sanders, P.O. Box 4210, Helena, Montana 59604.

7. (7) Agency Organizational Chart A descriptive organizational chart of the Department of Public Health and Human Services is attached.

   

Authorizing statute(s): 2-4-201, 2-4-202, MCA

Implementing statute(s): 2-4-201, 2-15-112, MCA

History: NEW, Eff. 7/1/95; AMD, Eff. 3/31/99; AMD, Eff. 9/30/01; AMD, Eff. 12/31/01; AMD, Eff. 3/31/02; AMD, Eff. 7/1/03; AMD, Eff. 7/1/04; AMD, Eff. 9/30/04; AMD, Eff. 6/30/06; AMD, Eff. 12/31/06; AMD, Eff. 12/31/09; AMD, Eff. 12/31/11; AMD, Eff. 3/31/12; AMD, Eff. 3/31/14.