| 1 | 1 | | 87R3214 EAS-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Blanco S.B. No. 539 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to a study on employing mental health professionals or |
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| 8 | 8 | | mental health response teams to assist when responding to a |
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| 9 | 9 | | behavioral health-related emergency call. |
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| 10 | 10 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 11 | 11 | | SECTION 1. (a) In this Act: |
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| 12 | 12 | | (1) "Commission" means the Health and Human Services |
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| 13 | 13 | | Commission. |
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| 14 | 14 | | (2) "Law enforcement agency" means an office, |
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| 15 | 15 | | department, or other division of a political subdivision that is |
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| 16 | 16 | | authorized to employ a law enforcement officer. |
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| 17 | 17 | | (3) "Law enforcement officer" means a municipal police |
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| 18 | 18 | | officer, sheriff, deputy sheriff, constable, deputy constable, |
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| 19 | 19 | | marshal, or deputy marshal. |
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| 20 | 20 | | (4) "Mental health professional" does not include a |
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| 21 | 21 | | law enforcement officer certified to be a special officer for |
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| 22 | 22 | | offenders with mental impairments under Section 1701.404, |
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| 23 | 23 | | Occupations Code. |
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| 24 | 24 | | (5) "Mental health response team" includes: |
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| 25 | 25 | | (A) a mobile crisis outreach team; |
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| 26 | 26 | | (B) a mental health response model that serves as |
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| 27 | 27 | | an alternative to traditional law enforcement and employs mental |
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| 28 | 28 | | health professionals, whether connected to or independent of a law |
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| 29 | 29 | | enforcement agency; and |
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| 30 | 30 | | (C) a community mental health crisis call center. |
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| 31 | 31 | | (b) The commission shall conduct a study to evaluate the |
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| 32 | 32 | | availability, outcomes, and efficacy of using mental health |
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| 33 | 33 | | response teams and mental health professionals to assist in |
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| 34 | 34 | | reducing the number of incarcerations of individuals with: |
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| 35 | 35 | | (1) mental illnesses; |
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| 36 | 36 | | (2) substance use disorders; or |
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| 37 | 37 | | (3) intellectual or developmental disabilities. |
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| 38 | 38 | | (c) In conducting the study, the commission shall evaluate |
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| 39 | 39 | | which types of behavioral health-related emergency calls or other |
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| 40 | 40 | | community interactions have been safely resolved wholly or partly |
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| 41 | 41 | | by a mental health professional or mental health response team. |
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| 42 | 42 | | Emergency calls and community interactions evaluated under this |
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| 43 | 43 | | subsection include circumstances where a mental health |
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| 44 | 44 | | professional or mental health response team responds to an |
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| 45 | 45 | | emergency call in person or by telephone and when a professional or |
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| 46 | 46 | | team responds to a behavioral health-related emergency call with a |
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| 47 | 47 | | law enforcement officer. A safely resolved situation includes: |
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| 48 | 48 | | (1) preventing the incarceration of the person |
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| 49 | 49 | | experiencing the behavioral health crisis; |
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| 50 | 50 | | (2) de-escalating the situation; and |
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| 51 | 51 | | (3) receiving positive feedback from the community. |
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| 52 | 52 | | (d) In conducting the study, the commission shall evaluate |
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| 53 | 53 | | community-based outcomes of behavioral health-related emergency |
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| 54 | 54 | | calls responded to by a mental health professional or a mental |
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| 55 | 55 | | health response team. A community-based outcome may include: |
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| 56 | 56 | | (1) preventing persons with mental illness, persons |
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| 57 | 57 | | with substance use disorders, and persons with intellectual or |
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| 58 | 58 | | developmental disabilities from entering the criminal justice |
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| 59 | 59 | | system; |
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| 60 | 60 | | (2) an increase in referrals to community resources or |
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| 61 | 61 | | treatment options for community members with mental illness or |
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| 62 | 62 | | substance use disorders; |
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| 63 | 63 | | (3) an increase in referrals described by Subdivision |
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| 64 | 64 | | (2) that result in responsive short-term treatment or long-term |
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| 65 | 65 | | case management; and |
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| 66 | 66 | | (4) an impact on the number of referrals to resources |
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| 67 | 67 | | in the community serving persons with intellectual or developmental |
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| 68 | 68 | | disabilities. |
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| 69 | 69 | | (e) The information described by Subsection (d) must be |
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| 70 | 70 | | disaggregated by age, race, ethnicity, gender, veteran status, |
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| 71 | 71 | | income level, whether the individual presented with a mental |
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| 72 | 72 | | illness, whether the individual presented with a substance use |
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| 73 | 73 | | disorder, and whether the individual presented with an intellectual |
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| 74 | 74 | | or developmental disability. |
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| 75 | 75 | | (f) In conducting the study, the commission shall include an |
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| 76 | 76 | | assessment of whether the information suggests that municipalities |
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| 77 | 77 | | would benefit from mental health response teams assisting |
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| 78 | 78 | | traditional law enforcement officers in efforts to: |
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| 79 | 79 | | (1) reduce the incarceration rates of persons with |
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| 80 | 80 | | mental illness, substance use disorders, and intellectual or |
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| 81 | 81 | | developmental disorders; |
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| 82 | 82 | | (2) increase the number of referrals to community |
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| 83 | 83 | | resources and treatment for persons described by Subdivision (1); |
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| 84 | 84 | | (3) reduce the use of force when responding to |
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| 85 | 85 | | emergency calls that involve persons described by Subdivision (1); |
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| 86 | 86 | | and |
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| 87 | 87 | | (4) gain understanding about persons described by |
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| 88 | 88 | | Subdivision (1). |
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| 89 | 89 | | (g) In conducting the study, the commission shall evaluate |
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| 90 | 90 | | the fiscal and staffing implications to a law enforcement agency |
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| 91 | 91 | | for agency use of a mental health response team to respond remotely |
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| 92 | 92 | | to emergency calls. |
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| 93 | 93 | | (h) In conducting the study, the commission shall evaluate |
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| 94 | 94 | | the impact of certain funding sources on establishing mental health |
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| 95 | 95 | | response teams across this state, especially the impact to the |
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| 96 | 96 | | establishment, staffing, and maintenance of those teams. Funding |
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| 97 | 97 | | sources that the commission must consider include funding: |
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| 98 | 98 | | (1) from a waiver under Section 1115 of the Social |
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| 99 | 99 | | Security Act (42 U.S.C. Section 1315); |
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| 100 | 100 | | (2) allocated by Chapter 528 (S.B. 292), Acts of the |
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| 101 | 101 | | 85th Legislature, Regular Session, 2017; or |
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| 102 | 102 | | (3) from other funding sources implemented by |
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| 103 | 103 | | municipalities. |
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| 104 | 104 | | (i) The commission shall gather information for the study |
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| 105 | 105 | | from: |
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| 106 | 106 | | (1) each county in this state; |
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| 107 | 107 | | (2) each local mental health authority in this state; |
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| 108 | 108 | | and |
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| 109 | 109 | | (3) each city in this state with a population greater |
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| 110 | 110 | | than 100,000. |
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| 111 | 111 | | (j) Information collected for the study must include not |
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| 112 | 112 | | less than two years of information regarding the use of mental |
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| 113 | 113 | | health response teams by a law enforcement agency unless the law |
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| 114 | 114 | | enforcement agency has not been using mental health response teams |
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| 115 | 115 | | or mental health professionals for two years. |
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| 116 | 116 | | (k) Not later than December 1, 2022, the commission shall |
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| 117 | 117 | | prepare and submit to the governor and the legislature a written |
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| 118 | 118 | | report containing the results of the study and any recommendations |
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| 119 | 119 | | for legislative or other action, including any additional insights |
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| 120 | 120 | | about the operation and outcomes of mental health response teams |
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| 121 | 121 | | that the department considers significant. The commission shall |
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| 122 | 122 | | post the report on the commission's Internet website. |
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| 123 | 123 | | SECTION 2. This Act expires September 1, 2023. |
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| 124 | 124 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021. |
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