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OLR Bill Analysis
HB 5419
AN ACT CONCERNING THE DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH
AND ADDICTION SERVICES' RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING
REGIONAL BEHAVIORAL HEALTH ACTION ORGANIZATIONS.
SUMMARY
In 2017 and 2018, the Department of Mental Health and Addiction
Services (DMHAS) reorganized existing Regional Action Councils
(focused on substance abuse prevention) and Regional Mental Health
Boards. DMHAS replaced them with five Regional Behavioral Health
Action Organizations (RBHAOs), one for each of the state’s designated
mental health regions.
This bill establishes these five RBHAOs in statute and repeals the
laws that established the prior councils and boards. It requires each
RBHAO to serve as a strategic community partner responsible for (1)
behavioral health planning, education, and promotion; (2) coordinating
behavioral health issues prevention; and (3) advocacy for behavioral
health needs and services within its mental health region. The bill gives
the organizations certain duties and in doing so, requires them to solicit
advice and input from the community.
The bill also makes several corresponding statutory changes to
effectuate the transfer of duties from the prior boards and councils to
the RBHAOs. For example, it requires the RHBAOs, rather than the
boards or councils as applicable, to (1) designate individuals to serve on
certain entities and (2) consult with DMHAS in the department’s
development of the state’s substance abuse prevention and treatment
plan.
The bill makes other related changes, such as (1) reducing the
membership of the state’s Board of Mental Health and Addiction
Services (§ 4) and (2) specifying that 51 to 60% of the total catchment
area council membership must be people with lived experience of a 2022HB-05419-R000338-BA.DOCX
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behavioral health disorder, not just consumers generally (§ 9). (These
councils study and evaluate the delivery of mental health services in
their respective areas.)
The bill also makes related minor, technical, and conforming changes.
EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon passage
§ 1 — RBHAO DUTIES
The bill requires each RBHAO to fulfill the following duties within
its mental health region:
1. assess the behavioral health needs of children, adolescents, and
adults and engage with stakeholders to identify needs, problems,
barriers, and gaps in the behavioral health service continuum;
2. enhance local community capacity to understand and address
problem gambling;
3. raise awareness and advocate to the public for mental health
promotion and substance abuse prevention, treatment, and
recovery;
4. receive and spend federal, state, and local funds and leverage
funds to support behavioral health promotion, prevention,
treatment, and recovery activities;
5. serve on local, regional, and state advisory and planning bodies;
6. within available appropriations, provide training in
administering opioid antagonists (e.g., Narcan) and distribute
them to communities;
7. report community needs, program review findings , and
conclusions annually to the relevant local, regional, and state
stakeholders with recommendations to establish, modify, or
expand behavioral health services; and
8. serve as the regional partner responsible for coordinating and 2022HB-05419-R000338-BA.DOCX
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aligning federal, state, regional, and local behavioral health
initiatives.
The bill requires each RBHAO, in fulfilling these duties, to solicit
advice from the community. This must at least include elected officials,
parents, youth, faith-based organizations, law enforcement
professionals or organizations, health care professionals, people with
lived experience of behavioral health issues and their family members,
behavioral health treatment providers, businesses, youth-serving
organizations, civic or fraternal groups, educational and media
organizations, and other interested people or organizations.
§§ 2-30 — CORRESPONDING STATUTORY CHANGES AND
TRANSFER OF DUTIES
The bill makes several changes throughout the statutes to effectuate
the transfer of duties from Regional Action Councils and Regional
Mental Health Boards to RBHAOS. It replaces several statutory
references to the councils or boards with references to RBHAOs, and
transfers several of their duties to the RBHAOs. These include, among
other things:
1. submitting a plan to the Department of Public Health (DPH),
with specified information, before receiving state funds for
tobacco education, reduction, or prevention efforts (§ 2);
2. consulting with the DMHAS commissioner on certain matters,
such as the commissioner’s triennial update of a comprehensive
plan for substance abuse prevention, treatment, and reduction (§
3);
3. reviewing applications (along with DMHAS) and m aking
recommendations when a hospital, municipality, or nonprofit
organization applies for DMHAS funds to establish, expand, or
maintain psychiatric or mental health services (§ 6);
4. receiving reports and recommendations from the catchment area
councils (§ 9); and 2022HB-05419-R000338-BA.DOCX
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5. entering into agreements with DMHAS to provide services for
chronic gamblers (§ 10).
Under current law, applicants for a license to operate a DPH-licensed
community residence for up to eight adults with mental illness must
send a copy of the application to the Regional Mental Board as well as
DPH. The bill removes references to the board for this purpose and does
not require applicants to send a copy to the RBHAO (§ 12).
Board of Mental Health and Addiction Services (§ 4)
The bill removes several members from the state’s Board of Mental
Health and Addiction Services, replacing them with two designees from
each of the RBHAOs. Under the bill, each RBHAO must designate to
serve on the board:
1. one individual with experience treating or providing services for
people with psychiatric disabilities and
2. one individual with experience treating or providing services for
people recovering from substance use disorders.
The bill removes from the board the following members generally
designated by the Regional Action Councils and Regional Mental
Health Boards repealed by the bill:
1. the chairpersons of the boards and one designee of each board;
2. two designees from each of the five subregions represented by
the councils;
3. one designee from each mental health region, representing
individuals with psychiatric disabilities, selected by the boards in
collaboration with advocacy groups; and
4. one designee from each of the five subregions represented by the
councils, representing individuals recovering from substance use
disorders, selected by the councils in collaboration with advocacy
groups. 2022HB-05419-R000338-BA.DOCX
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COMMITTEE ACTION
Public Health Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 29 Nay 2 (03/18/2022)