| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to a grant program for municipal or county mental health |
|
|
crisis response team programs. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 531, Government Code, is |
|
|
amended by adding Section 531.09916 to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 531.09916. GRANT PROGRAM FOR MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS |
|
|
RESPONSE TEAM PROGRAMS. (a) In this section: |
|
|
(1) "Crisis intervention team" means a group of mental |
|
|
health professionals who provide services to persons experiencing a |
|
|
mental health crisis. |
|
|
(2) "Mental health crisis response team" means a |
|
|
crisis intervention team or a multidisciplinary crisis response |
|
|
team. |
|
|
(3) "Mental health crisis response team program" means |
|
|
a municipal or county program operated under a grant provided under |
|
|
this section. |
|
|
(4) "Multidisciplinary crisis response team" means a |
|
|
group composed of three or more persons that includes at least one |
|
|
paramedic, one law enforcement officer, and one mental health |
|
|
professional, who work together to provide services to persons |
|
|
experiencing a mental health crisis. |
|
|
(b) The executive commissioner shall establish and |
|
|
administer a grant program to grant money to municipalities and |
|
|
counties for the purpose of operating a mental health crisis |
|
|
response team program to: |
|
|
(1) operate one or more mental health crisis response |
|
|
teams in the municipality or county; and |
|
|
(2) employ one or more mental health professionals to: |
|
|
(A) screen calls made to a 9-1-1 emergency call |
|
|
center dispatcher for law enforcement or emergency medical |
|
|
assistance; |
|
|
(B) determine whether to dispatch a mental health |
|
|
crisis response team to service a call; and |
|
|
(C) consult with and provide information to the |
|
|
dispatched mental health crisis response team. |
|
|
(c) A grant application from a municipality or county to the |
|
|
commission must be submitted on a form prescribed by the commission |
|
|
and include a statement from the governing body of the municipality |
|
|
or county regarding the municipal or county proposal to establish a |
|
|
mental health crisis response team program. The application must |
|
|
require the inclusion of the results of an assessment conducted to |
|
|
determine: |
|
|
(1) the number of mental health-related calls for |
|
|
assistance received by the municipality's or county's 9-1-1 |
|
|
emergency call center; |
|
|
(2) the number of paramedics and mental health |
|
|
professionals available to serve on a municipality's or county's |
|
|
mental health crisis response team; and |
|
|
(3) the municipality's or county's capability to |
|
|
accurately collect and report information concerning: |
|
|
(A) the frequency and outcomes of mental |
|
|
health-related calls for assistance; and |
|
|
(B) the number of calls for assistance primarily |
|
|
identified as involving a criminal offense but that also involved a |
|
|
demonstrated need for mental health intervention, services, crisis |
|
|
referrals, or de-escalation for the person making the call or for a |
|
|
person who was the subject of a call made by another. |
|
|
(d) Two or more political subdivisions eligible to apply for |
|
|
a grant under this section may enter an agreement to: |
|
|
(1) jointly apply for a grant under this section; and |
|
|
(2) if awarded a grant, jointly operate a regional |
|
|
mental health crisis response team to serve a region composed of |
|
|
territory of those political subdivisions. |
|
|
(e) In addition to funding received under a grant under this |
|
|
section, a municipality or county may contribute local funds to the |
|
|
operation of the municipality's or county's mobile crisis response |
|
|
team program, including a team operated under an agreement under |
|
|
Subsection (d). |
|
|
(f) The commission may use any available state and federal |
|
|
money and may accept gifts, grants, and donations from any source |
|
|
for the purpose of providing grants under this section. |
|
|
(g) The executive commissioner shall adopt all rules |
|
|
necessary for the establishment of the grant program under this |
|
|
section. |
|
|
SECTION 2. As soon as practicable after the effective date |
|
|
of this Act, the executive commissioner of the Health and Human |
|
|
Services Commission shall adopt rules necessary to implement |
|
|
Section 531.09916, Government Code, as added by this Act. |
|
|
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021. |