SF 141

2nd Engrossment - 89th Legislature (2015 - 2016) Posted on 02/24/2015 08:49am

A bill for an act
relating to judiciary; diverting certain persons under arrest or subject to arrest
from incarceration to comprehensive behavioral health diversion centers;
establishing a grant program to fund comprehensive behavioral health diversion
centers; appropriating money; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota
Statutes, chapters 245; 628.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

new text begin [245.4685] GRANTS FOR COMPREHENSIVE BEHAVIORAL
HEALTH DIVERSION CENTERS.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Establishment; use of grant funds. new text end

new text begin The commissioner shall
establish a grant program to provide grants to counties or groups of counties to develop
and establish comprehensive behavioral health diversion centers. A comprehensive
behavioral health diversion center must be designed to meet the needs of individuals who
are under arrest or subject to arrest and who have a mental illness or a co-occurring mental
illness and substance use disorder, and individuals who are in immediate need of crisis
services and who have a mental illness or co-occurring mental illness and substance use
disorder. Grants distributed under this section may be used to fund the start-up costs and
ongoing operating costs of the centers. At least 50 percent of the grant funds must be
awarded to counties in greater Minnesota with a high rate of poverty and limited mental
health services. The commissioner may make grant awards of up to $2,000,000 for a
county or group of counties. Initial grant awards must be made by March 1, 2016.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Eligibility for grants. new text end

new text begin To be eligible for grant funds under this section,
a county or group of counties must demonstrate that the county's or group of counties'
center will connect with and build upon existing resources, and that the center includes
the following components:
new text end

new text begin (1) a plan for rapid, safe handoffs of individuals with mental illness or individuals
with co-occurring disorders from law enforcement to center staff;
new text end

new text begin (2) an initial mental health crisis assessment and chemical dependency screening;
new text end

new text begin (3) mental health crisis intervention and stabilization services;
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new text begin (4) nonhospital crisis stabilization residential beds;
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new text begin (5) rapid access to a psychiatric evaluation, initial treatment, and psychiatric services;
new text end

new text begin (6) detoxification services;
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new text begin (7) case management services;
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new text begin (8) medication management services;
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new text begin (9) health navigator services that include but are not limited to assisting uninsured
individuals in obtaining health care coverage;
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new text begin (10) benefits assistance as defined in section 245.4712, subdivision 3;
new text end

new text begin (11) services to connect individuals to resources to meet their basic needs;
new text end

new text begin (12) services to find, secure, and support individuals in short-term or long-term
housing or in their own housing;
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new text begin (13) assisting with job applications and finding and maintaining employment;
new text end

new text begin (14) fostering social support, including support groups, mentoring, peer support, and
other efforts to prevent isolation and promote recovery;
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new text begin (15) providing direct connections to ongoing mental health, chemical health, and
other needed services;
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new text begin (16) assisting with the provision of crisis intervention training;
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new text begin (17) collaborating with teams providing mobile crisis intervention services;
new text end

new text begin (18) assisting county jails in working with offenders with mental health issues;
new text end

new text begin (19) a plan for services to be developed collaboratively between local criminal
justice systems, local health and human services systems, and other counties; and
new text end

new text begin (20) a plan to seek other state, county, and federal funds and private and nonprofit
funds, and to maximize medical assistance funds.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Use of nurse practitioners and physician assistants to provide services.
new text end

new text begin When a physician is unavailable to provide mental health services in a timely manner to an
individual being served by a center, a nurse practitioner or physician assistant practicing
within the scope of the nurse practitioner's or physician assistant's license may provide
mental health services in the center.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Collaboration with local partners. new text end

new text begin A county or group of counties that
receives a grant under this section is encouraged to include local partners in the private
and nonprofit sectors in the planning and establishment of the center.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 5. new text end

new text begin Grant applications. new text end

new text begin In applying for a grant under this section, a county or
group of counties must include in its application:
new text end

new text begin (1) the estimated start-up cost of the center;
new text end

new text begin (2) the estimated operating cost of the center;
new text end

new text begin (3) other financial resources the county or group of counties expects to receive to
fund the center's start-up and operating costs from local units of government, private
entities, nonprofit organizations, and individuals;
new text end

new text begin (4) how the grantee will provide the components under subdivision 2; and
new text end

new text begin (5) how funding for the center will be sustained after these grants have expired.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 6. new text end

new text begin Data; evaluation of center. new text end

new text begin A center funded under this section must
maintain data on the extent to which the center reduces incarceration rates in the center's
county or counties of operation for individuals with mental illness or individuals with
co-occurring disorders, and the extent to which the center reduces recidivism rates for
these individuals. The center must report these outcomes to the commissioner, at a time
and in a manner determined by the commissioner. The commissioner shall use the data
to evaluate the effect the centers have on incarceration rates, and report to the chairs
and ranking minority members of the house of representatives and senate committees
having jurisdiction over health and human services and corrections issues every two
years, beginning February 1, 2017.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 7. new text end

new text begin Interagency collaboration. new text end

new text begin The commissioner shall encourage the
commissioners of the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, corrections, and health
to provide technical assistance and support to grant recipients in an effort to prevent
the incarceration of individuals with mental illness and individuals with co-occurring
disorders. Upon the commissioner's receipt of a grant application under subdivision 5,
the commissioner, together with the commissioner of health, shall determine the most
appropriate model for licensure of the proposed services and which agency will regulate
the services of the center. The commissioner of the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency
shall work with centers to provide short-term and long-term housing for individuals
served by the centers, within the limits of existing appropriations available for low-income
housing or homelessness.
new text end

Sec. 2.

new text begin [628.70] REFERRAL TO DIVERSION CENTER FOR PERSONS WITH
MENTAL ILLNESS OR CO-OCCURRING DISORDERS.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Definitions. new text end

new text begin As used in this section:
new text end

new text begin (1) "diversion center" means a comprehensive behavioral health diversion center
established by a county or group of counties participating in the grant program under
section 245.4685; and
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new text begin (2) "peace officer" has the meaning given in section 626.84, subdivision 1, paragraph
(c).
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Diversion. new text end

new text begin (a) A peace officer may refer a person with mental illness or
co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorders for whom probable cause exists to
arrest or charge with a misdemeanor to a diversion center on condition that the person shall
not be charged with the misdemeanor upon satisfactory completion of the program at the
diversion center. The referral to the diversion center shall be based on criteria established
by the diversion center in collaboration with other diversion centers and applicable local
prosecutors. A person's satisfactory completion of the diversion center's program shall
be based on established evidence-based best practices and methodologies for effectively
assessing, diagnosing, and treating persons with mental illness or co-occurring mental
illness and substance use disorders.
new text end

new text begin (b) In addition to a peace officer, a court or prosecutor may refer a person eligible
under paragraph (a) to a diversion center.
new text end

new text begin (c) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), a prosecutor may charge a person referred to a
diversion center with a crime when the prosecutor determines doing so is appropriate and
in the interest of justice.
new text end

Sec. 3. new text begin APPROPRIATION; COMPREHENSIVE BEHAVIORAL HEALTH
DIVERSION CENTERS.
new text end

new text begin $8,000,000 is appropriated for the 2016-2017 biennium from the general fund to
the commissioner of human services for a grant program to establish comprehensive
behavioral health diversion centers under Minnesota Statutes, section 245.4685.
new text end