87R10452 GCB-D
By: West S.B. No. 1390
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a grant program for municipal or county mental health
crisis response team programs.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 531, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 531.09916 to read as follows:
Sec. 531.09916. GRANT PROGRAM FOR MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS
RESPONSE TEAM PROGRAMS. (a) In this section:
(1) "Crisis intervention team" means a group of mental
health professionals who provide services to persons experiencing a
mental health crisis.
(2) "Mental health crisis response team" means a
crisis intervention team or a multidisciplinary crisis response
team.
(3) "Mental health crisis response team program" means
a municipal or county program operated under a grant provided under
this section.
(4) "Multidisciplinary crisis response team" means a
group composed of three or more persons that includes at least one
paramedic, one law enforcement officer, and one mental health
professional, who work together to provide services to persons
experiencing a mental health crisis.
(b) The executive commissioner shall establish and
administer a grant program to grant money to municipalities and
counties for the purpose of operating a mental health crisis
response team program to:
(1) operate one or more mental health crisis response
teams in the municipality or county; and
(2) employ one or more mental health professionals to:
(A) screen calls made to a 9-1-1 emergency call
center dispatcher for law enforcement or emergency medical
assistance;
(B) determine whether to dispatch a mental health
crisis response team to service a call; and
(C) consult with and provide information to the
dispatched mental health crisis response team.
(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 a
mental health crisis response team program. The application must
require the inclusion of the results of an assessment conducted to
determine:
(1) the number of mental health-related calls for
assistance received by the municipality's or county's 9-1-1
emergency call center;
(2) the number of paramedics and mental health
professionals available to serve on a municipality's or county's
mental health crisis response team; and
(3) the municipality's or county's capability to
accurately collect and report information concerning:
(A) the frequency and outcomes of mental
health-related calls for assistance; and
(B) the number of calls for assistance primarily
identified as involving a criminal offense but that also involved a
demonstrated need for mental health intervention, services, crisis
referrals, or de-escalation for the person making the call or for a
person who was the subject of a call made by another.
(d) Two or more political subdivisions eligible to apply for
a grant under this section may enter an agreement to:
(1) jointly apply for a grant under this section; and
(2) if awarded a grant, jointly operate a regional
mental health crisis response team to serve a region composed of
territory of those political subdivisions.
(e) In addition to funding received under a grant under this
section, a municipality or county may contribute local funds to the
operation of the municipality's or county's mobile crisis response
team program, including a team operated under an agreement under
Subsection (d).
(f) The commission may use any available state and federal
money and may accept gifts, grants, and donations from any source
for the purpose of providing grants under this section.
(g) The executive commissioner shall adopt all rules
necessary for the establishment of the 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 531.09916, Government Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.