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OLR Bill Analysis
HB 5419 (as amended by House "A")*
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 codifies existing practice by allowing the DMHAS
commissioner to contract with one or more nonprofit organizations to
operate as RBHAOs, 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 RBHAOs 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 RBHAOs, rather than the
boards or councils as applicable, to (1) designate individuals to serve on
certain entities and (2) consult with DMHAS on the department’s
development of the state’s substance abuse prevention and treatment
plan.
The bill makes other related changes, such as (1) as of October 1, 2022,
reducing the membership of the state’s Board of Mental Health and 2022HB-05419-R01-BA.DOCX
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Addiction Services and making other changes affecting the board (§ 4)
and (2) specifying that 51 to 60% of the total catchment area council
membership must be people with lived experience of a 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.
*House Amendment “A” allows DMHAS to contract with nonprofit
organizations to operate as RBHAOs, rather than directly establishing
RBHAOs in statute. It makes additional changes to the membership of
the state’s Board of Mental Health and Addiction Services and changes
the effective date of those provisions to October 1, 2022.
EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon passage, except the provisions on the
Board of Mental Health and Addiction Services take effect October 1,
2022.
§ 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 of 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; 2022HB-05419-R01-BA.DOCX
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6. within available appropriations, provide training in
administering opioid antagonists (e.g., Narcan) and distribute
them to communities;
7. report community needs, program review findi ngs, 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
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 (§ 2022HB-05419-R01-BA.DOCX
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3);
3. reviewing applications (along with DMHAS) and making
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
5. entering into agreements with DMHAS to provide services for
chronic gamblers (§ 10).
Under current law, applicants for a DPH license to operate a
community residence for up to eight adults with mental illness must
send a copy of the application to the Regional Mental Health 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)
Starting October 1, 2022, the bill makes several changes to the
membership of the state’s Board of Mental Health and Addiction
Services. Specifically, it 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-R01-BA.DOCX
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The bill replaces these members with five appointed by the DMHAS
commissioner, each representing an RHBAO, and makes conforming
changes.
The bill also makes certain substantive and minor changes to the
qualifications for the governor’s 19 appointees to the board, as shown in
Table 1.
Table 1: Governor’s Appointees to Board of Mental Health and Addiction Services
Qualifications Under Current Law Qualifications Under the Bill
Starting October 1, 2022
5 with experience in the field of
substance use disorders
5 with lived experience with substance
use disorders
5 from the mental health community 5 with lived experience with a mental
health diagnosis
3 state-licensed physicians with
experience in psychiatry
2 state-licensed psychologists
5 state-licensed behavioral health
practitioners
2 people representing families of
individuals with behavioral health
disorders (formerly, psychiatric
disabilities)
2 people representing families of
individuals recovering from substance
use disorders
Same
The bill also requires the governor to appoint a board chairperson
from among its members.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Public Health Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 29 Nay 2 (03/18/2022)