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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 5145
January Session, 2019
AN ACT CONCERNING RE GIONAL BEHAVIORAL HE ALTH ACTION
ORGANIZATIONS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (Effective from passage) The Department of Mental Health 1
and Addiction Services shall study the efficacy of regional behavioral 2
health action organizations established pursuant to section 2 of this act. 3
Such study shall include an evaluation of the services provided by 4
such organizations and recommendations concerning such services. 5
Not later than January 1, 2020, the Commissioner of Mental Health and 6
Addiction Services shall report, in accordance with the provisions of 7
section 11-4a of the general statutes, regarding the findings of such 8
study to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having 9
cognizance of matters relating to public health. 10
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) There are established within 11
the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services five regional 12
behavioral health action organizations, one for each mental health 13
region in the state established pursuant to section 17a-478 of the 14
general statutes. Each regional behavioral health action organization 15
shall work across the continuum of behavioral health care as strategic 16
community partners for the planning, education and advocacy for 17
behavioral health needs and services within the region. 18 Substitute Bill No. 5145
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(b) The duties of each regional behavioral health action 19
organization, within its mental health region, shall include, but need 20
not be limited to: (1) Assess the behavioral health needs of children, 21
adolescents and adults across the regions, (2) develop strategic plans to 22
include priority recommendations for substance abuse prevention, 23
treatment and recovery services, (3) administer grants to municipalities 24
to stimulate the development and implementation of substance abuse 25
prevention activities, (4) build the capacity of local communities to 26
understand and address problem gambling, (5) raise awareness and 27
provide advocacy to the general public related to mental health 28
promotion and substance abuse prevention, treatment and recovery, 29
(6) leverage funds to support substance abuse prevention, treatment 30
and recovery activities, (7) serve on local, regional and state-wide 31
advisory and planning bodies, and (8) within available appropriations, 32
provide training in the administration of an opioid antagonist, as 33
defined in section 17a-714a of the general statutes, and distribute 34
supplies of opioid antagonists to communities. 35
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage New section
Sec. 2 from passage New section
PH Joint Favorable Subst.