Date of enactment:
2023 Assembly Bill 573 Date of publication*:
2023 WISCONSIN ACT
AN ACT relating to: a law enforcement officer virtual behavioral health crisis care pilot program.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in
senate and assembly, do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.0Nonstatutory provisions.
(1) LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER VIRTUAL BEHAVIORAL
HEALTH CRISIS CARE PILOT PROGRAM.
(a) The department of health services shall establish
a pilot program to implement virtual behavioral health
crisis care services for use by county or municipal law
enforcement agencies in the field to connect law enforce-
ment officers who encounter persons in crisis to behav-
ioral healthcare services.
(b) Within 180 days after the effective date of this
paragraph, the department of health services shall obtain
and review proposals using its competitive selection
process to award contracts to certified county crisis agen-
cies for the purposes of providing virtual behavioral
health crisis care services to individuals experiencing a
behavioral crisis. Certified county crisis agencies that are
awarded grants under this subsection may contract with
their local law enforcement jurisdictions to provide tele-
health equipment and develop virtual behavioral health
care. Grants awarded under the competitive selection
process may include remote access via 2−way audio/
video communication, and grant awardees may contract
for services with a private entity for the purposes of train-
ing, equipment, or decision−making support. No grant
may be awarded under this paragraph unless the certified
county crisis agency who will receive the grant certifies
to the department of health services that grant funding
will pay no more than 75 percent of the cost of providing
virtual behavioral health crisis care services.
(c) Any certified county crisis agency that is eligible
to provide crisis services may apply for a grant under the
competitive selection process under par. (b). When
awarding grants under par. (b), the department of health
services may award no more than 50 percent of the pro-
gram resources for the program under par. (a) to certified
county crisis agencies who serve a population of more
than 50,000, and no more than 10 percent of the program
resources may be allocated to a single certified county
crisis agency.
(d) The department of health services shall collect all
of the following information as of March 31, 2025, for the
pilot program under par. (a), and report it to the joint com-
mittee on finance by May 1, 2025:
1. For each participating county or municipality, how
much money was received under the pilot program and
how much money was contributed by the county or
municipality.
2. Which counties and municipalities participated in
the program.
3. The number of law enforcement officers that were
equipped with the services provided under the program.
4. The number of incidents in which the services pro-
vided under the program were utilized.
* Section 991.11, WISCONSIN STATUTES: Effective date of acts. “Every act and every portion of an act enacted by the legislature over the governor’s
partial veto which does not expressly prescribe the time when it takes effect shall take effect on the day after its date of publication.” − 2 −2023 Wisconsin Act 2023 Assembly Bill 573
5. Of the incidents in which the services provided
under the program were utilized, the number that were
predicted to otherwise have resulted in an involuntary
commitment.
6. Of the incidents in which the services provided
under the program were utilized, the number that ended
with the person in crisis remaining in place rather than
requiring some kind of transport.
7. An estimate of how many working hours were
saved by utilizing the services provided under the pro-
gram.