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  By: Lambert H.B. No. 1598
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
 
  relating to an initiative to increase the capacity of local mental
  health authorities to provide access to mental health services in
  certain counties.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter B, Chapter 531, Government Code, is
  amended by adding Section 531.0221 to read as follows:
         Sec. 531.0221.  INITIATIVE TO INCREASE MENTAL HEALTH
  SERVICES CAPACITY IN RURAL AREAS. (a) In this section, "local
  mental health authority group" means a group of local mental health
  authorities established under Subsection (b)(2).
         (b)  Not later than January 1, 2020, the commission shall:
               (1)  identify each local mental health authority that
  is located in a county with a population of 250,000 or less or that
  the commission determines provides services predominantly in a
  county with a population of 250,000 or less;
               (2)  in a manner that the commission determines will
  best achieve the reductions described by Subsection (d), assign the
  authorities identified under Subdivision (1) of this subsection to
  regional groups of at least two authorities; and
               (3)  notify each authority identified under
  Subdivision (1):
                     (A)  that the commission has identified the
  authority under that subdivision; and
                     (B)  which local mental health authority group the
  commission assigned the authority to under Subdivision (2).
         (c)  The commission shall develop a mental health services
  development plan for each local mental health authority group that
  will increase the capacity of the authorities in the group to
  provide access to needed services.
         (d)  In developing a plan under Subsection (c), the
  commission shall focus on reducing:
               (1)  the cost to local governments of providing
  services to persons experiencing a mental health crisis;
               (2)  the transportation of persons served by an
  authority in the local mental health authority group to mental
  health facilities;
               (3)  the incarceration of persons with mental illness
  in county jails that are located in an area served by an authority
  in the local mental health authority group; and
               (4)  the number of hospital emergency room visits by
  persons with mental illness at hospitals located in an area served
  by an authority in the local mental health authority group.
         (e)  In developing a plan under Subsection (c):
               (1)  the commission shall assess the capacity of the
  authorities in the local mental health authority group to provide
  access to needed services; and
               (2)  the commission and the local mental health
  authority group shall evaluate:
                     (A)  whether and to what degree increasing the
  capacity of the authorities in the local mental health authority
  group to provide access to needed services would offset the cost to
  state or local governmental entities of:
                           (i)  the transportation of persons for
  mental health services to facilities that are not local providers;
                           (ii)  admissions to and inpatient
  hospitalizations at state hospitals or other treatment facilities;
                           (iii)  the provision of services by hospital
  emergency rooms to persons with mental illness who are served by or
  reside in an area served by an authority in the local mental health
  authority group; and
                           (iv)  the incarceration in county jails of
  persons with mental illness who are served by or reside in an area
  served by an authority in the local mental health authority group;
                     (B)  whether available state funds or grant
  funding sources could be used to fund the plan; and
                     (C)  what measures would be necessary to ensure
  that the plan aligns with the statewide behavioral health strategic
  plan and the comprehensive inpatient mental health plan.
         (f)  In each mental health services development plan
  produced under this section, the commission, in collaboration with
  the local mental health authority group, shall determine the most
  cost-effective method of increasing the capacity of the authorities
  in the local mental health authority group to provide access to
  needed services.
         (g)  The commission shall compile and evaluate each mental
  health services development plan produced under this section and
  determine:
               (1)  the cost-effectiveness of each plan; and
               (2)  how each plan would improve the delivery of mental
  health treatment and care to residents in the service areas of the
  authorities in the local mental health authority group.
         (h)  Not later than December 1, 2020, the commission shall
  produce and publish on its Internet website a report containing:
               (1)  the commission's evaluation of each plan under
  Subsection (g);
               (2)  each mental health services development plan
  evaluated by the commission under Subsection (g); and
               (3)  a comprehensive statewide analysis of mental
  health services in counties with a population of 250,000 or less,
  including recommendations to the legislature for implementing the
  plans developed under this section.
         (i)  The commission and the authorities in each local mental
  health authority group may implement a mental health services
  development plan evaluated by the commission under this section if
  the commission and the local mental health authority group to which
  the plan applies identify a method of funding that implementation.
         (j)  This section expires September 1, 2021.
         SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
  a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
  provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
  Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
  Act takes effect September 1, 2019.