4. Available funds. Receive and use for the purpose of this article money appropriated by the State, grants by the Federal Government, gifts from individuals and money from any other sources; and

5. Transitional services coordination projects. Participate in the coordination of services for mentally retarded persons with mental retardation or autism with local transitional services coordination projects for handicapped youths, as established in Title 20-A, chapter 308, assigning appropriate regional staff and resources as available and necessary in each region to be served by a project.

Sec. 24. 34-B MRSA §5433-A is enacted to read:

§5433-A.__Crisis and respite services

The department shall provide an array of crisis and respite services throughout the State in accordance with this section.

1.__Crisis services.__The department shall maintain the capacity to intervene in personal crises that threaten the stability of the current place of residence or employment of a person with mental retardation or autism.__This capacity must include assessment, consultation, training and support for persons with mental retardation or autism and their families or allies both before and after a crisis occurs; providing staff support at a person's home, program or workplace when necessary to prevent or respond to a crisis; providing mental health supports when necessary; and identifying professional services appropriate to meet their needs.__Available training must include ways to respond to or avoid a crisis.

2.__Out-of-home services.__As a last resort, there must be an adequate capacity to provide out-of-home security and support by trained staff with appropriate professional backup resources for a person with mental retardation or autism experiencing a crisis that can not be safely managed at the person's residence.__Any stay in excess of 10 days in a residence providing such support requires the written approval of the commissioner or the commissioner's designee.__A copy of all such approvals must be forwarded immediately to the Office of Advocacy and the Consumer Advisory Board.

3.__Post-crisis review.__The department must engage in a post- crisis review no more than 10 working days after any out-of-home crisis placement.