87R7070 EAS-D
By: Neave H.B. No. 3553
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a grant program for mobile crisis outreach teams.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 531, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 531.09915 to read as follows:
Sec. 531.09915. GRANT PROGRAM FOR MOBILE CRISIS OUTREACH
TEAMS. (a) In this section, "mobile crisis outreach team" means a
group of mental health professionals who assist adults and children
who are experiencing a mental health crisis by providing a variety
of services.
(b) The executive commissioner shall establish and
administer a mobile crisis outreach team grant program to grant
money to municipalities and counties to establish local agencies
that, in partnership with local law enforcement and local mental
health authorities, provide an alternate response program under
which a mobile crisis outreach team may be deployed in the
municipality or county to appropriate situations determined not to
require police intervention, for the purpose of reducing the number
of incarcerations by the municipality or county of individuals
with:
(1) mental illness;
(2) substance use disorders; or
(3) intellectual or developmental disabilities.
(c) A grant application from a municipality or county to the
commission must be submitted on a form prescribed by the commission
and include a statement from the governing body of the municipality
or county regarding the municipal or county proposal to establish
an alternate response program that includes:
(1) training 9-1-1 emergency service dispatchers to
distinguish between situations in which the dispatcher must deploy
local law enforcement and situations in which a mobile crisis
outreach team may be deployed instead;
(2) creating collaborative training opportunities to
increase mental health and trauma awareness for emergency medical
services providers, local law enforcement, and mobile crisis
outreach teams;
(3) strengthening community engagement to raise
awareness about mobile crisis outreach teams, including by
establishing relationships between mobile crisis outreach teams
and:
(A) schools;
(B) child protective services providers;
(C) religious organizations;
(D) nonprofit food bank or food pantries;
(E) community health centers;
(F) recreation centers; and
(G) shelters designed to provide temporary
living accommodations, including:
(i) welfare hotels;
(ii) congregate shelters; and
(iii) transitional housing for persons with
mental illness;
(4) ensuring mobile crisis outreach teams provide
appropriate care to individuals, especially individuals who lack
adequate health insurance coverage, including by identifying
options for individuals to receive care through:
(A) shelters, as defined by Section 42.201, Human
Resources Code;
(B) crisis residential programs;
(C) treatment centers;
(D) after hours clinics; and
(E) inpatient and outpatient treatment programs;
(5) promoting access to any available free or
affordable care through community mental health services
providers;
(6) increasing the availability of public
transportation and other transportation options for individuals
who require mental health services;
(7) employing as mobile crisis outreach team members
individuals who:
(A) hold degrees in relevant behavioral health
fields and have received appropriate training to serve on a mobile
crisis outreach team; or
(B) are licensed mental health professionals;
and
(8) providing comprehensive and continuing training
to employees of mobile crisis outreach teams about:
(A) suicide;
(B) risk assessment;
(C) crisis intervention;
(D) issues relevant to marginalized populations;
and
(E) bias awareness.
(d) The executive commissioner shall develop criteria for
the evaluation of applications submitted under this section and the
selection of recipients for a grant under the mobile crisis
outreach team grant program. The executive commissioner shall award
grants on a competitive basis.
(e) A grant awarded under this section may not exceed $5
million.
(f) A municipality or county that receives a grant under
this section is required to leverage funds in an amount:
(1) equal to 50 percent of the grant amount if:
(A) the county has a population of less than
250,000; or
(B) the municipality is located in a county with
a population of less than 250,000;
(2) equal to 100 percent of the grant amount if:
(A) the county has a population of 250,000 or
more; or
(B) the municipality is located in a county with
a population of 250,000 or more; and
(3) equal to the percentage of the grant amount
otherwise required by this subsection for the largest county in
which a mobile crisis outreach team is located if the mobile crisis
outreach team is located in more than one county.
(g) A municipality or county that receives a grant under
this section may also accept:
(1) gifts, grants, and donations;
(2) money donated from the budget of a law enforcement
agency;
(3) money donated from the budget of a municipality or
county; and
(4) money donated from the budget of a local mental
health authority.
(h) The executive commissioner shall adopt all rules
necessary for the establishment of the mobile crisis outreach team
grant program under this section.
SECTION 2. As soon as practicable after the effective date
of this Act, the executive commissioner of the Health and Human
Services Commission shall adopt rules necessary to implement
Section 531.09915, Government Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.