SESSION OF 2023
SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE ON HOUSE BILL NO. 2033
As Recommended by House Committee on
Corrections and Juvenile Justice
Brief*
HB 2033 would change the criteria used to admit youths
to a juvenile crisis intervention center by adding definitions for
“behavioral health crisis” and changing the phrase “mental
health crisis” to “behavioral health crisis” in multiple statutes.
Definition of Behavioral Health Crisis (Sections 1, 2, 3, 4,
5, and 6)
This bill would define “behavioral health crisis” in the
Revised Kansas Code for Care of Children to mean
“behavioral and conduct issues that impact the safety or
health of a child, members of the child’s household or family
or members of the community, including, but not limited to,
non-life threatening mental health and substance abuse
concerns.” A definition identical except for “juvenile” rather
than “child” would be added to the Revised Kansas Juvenile
Justice Code and to a statute regarding juvenile crisis
intervention centers.
The bill would amend statutes relating to law
enforcement officers taking children or juveniles into custody
and the court directing temporary custody to refer to
behavioral health crisis instead of mental health crisis.
____________________
*Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research
Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental
note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at
http://www.kslegislature.org Juvenile Crisis Intervention Centers (Section 6)
This bill would amend the statute establishing juvenile
crisis intervention centers to add substance abuse services to
the services to be provided by a juvenile crisis center. The bill
also would add a behavioral health condition as a reason a
juvenile could be determined to be likely to cause harm to self
or others.
Evidence-based Programs Account (Section 7)
This bill would amend the the evidence-based programs
account statute to allow money in the account to be used for
juveniles experiencing behavioral health crisis instead of
experiencing mental health crisis.
Background
The bill was introduced by the House Committee on
Corrections and Juvenile Justice at the request of
Representative Owens.
House Committee on Corrections and Juvenile Justice
In the House Committee hearing on January 23, 2023,
representatives of Johnson County Mental Health Center and
Children’s Alliance of Kansas provided proponent testimony,
stating the bill would allow for more interventions for youth in
crisis and close a gap between youth exhibiting “severe
behaviors” and receiving services.
The Deputy Secretary for Children and Families and for
Aging and Disability Services provided written-only
proponent testimony stating the definition will provide
flexibility for juvenile crisis intervention centers to serve youth.
No other testimony was provided.
2- 2033 Fiscal Information
According to the fiscal note prepared by the Division of
Budget, the bill would have negligible fiscal effect on the
Judicial Branch, and no fiscal effect on the Department of
Health and Environment, the Department for Children and
Families, or the Department of Corrections. Any fiscal effect
associated with the bill is not reflected in The FY 2024
Governor’s Budget Report.
Behavioral health; mental health; juvenile justice; child in need of care; Department
for Children and Families; juvenile crisis intervention center; substance abuse;
evidence-based programs account; Revised Kansas Code for Care of Children;
Revised Kansas Juvenile Justice Code
3- 2033