HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4211        FILED ON: 10/19/2015

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 3898

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_________________

PRESENTED BY:

James M. Cantwell

_________________

To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying resolve:

Resolve establishing a special commission on behavioral health promotion and upstream prevention.

_______________

PETITION OF:

 

Name:

District/Address:

Date Added:

James M. Cantwell

4th Plymouth

10/19/2015

Elizabeth A. Malia

11th Suffolk

10/19/2015

Cheryl Bartlett

 

10/19/2015

Bradley H. Jones, Jr.

20th Middlesex

11/4/2015

Paul J. Donato

35th Middlesex

11/2/2015

Byron Rushing

9th Suffolk

11/2/2015

Garrett J. Bradley

3rd Plymouth

11/3/2015

Jeffrey Sánchez

15th Suffolk

10/29/2015

Kay Khan

11th Middlesex

10/21/2015

David T. Vieira

3rd Barnstable

10/22/2015

Denise C. Garlick

13th Norfolk

10/28/2015

Sarah K. Peake

4th Barnstable

10/28/2015

John F. Keenan

Norfolk and Plymouth

11/4/2015

Jason M. Lewis

Fifth Middlesex

11/4/2015

Harriette L. Chandler

First Worcester

10/22/2015

Jonathan Hecht

29th Middlesex

10/20/2015

Ruth B. Balser

12th Middlesex

10/26/2015

Tom Sannicandro

7th Middlesex

11/2/2015

James M. Murphy

4th Norfolk

10/28/2015

Sean Garballey

23rd Middlesex

10/29/2015

Josh S. Cutler

6th Plymouth

7/19/2019

Thomas J. Calter

12th Plymouth

10/22/2015

James Arciero

2nd Middlesex

11/4/2015

Brian M. Ashe

2nd Hampden

10/23/2015

Cory Atkins

14th Middlesex

11/4/2015

Bruce J. Ayers

1st Norfolk

10/30/2015

Christine P. Barber

34th Middlesex

11/2/2015

F. Jay Barrows

1st Bristol

10/29/2015

Jennifer E. Benson

37th Middlesex

11/4/2015

Donald R. Berthiaume, Jr.

5th Worcester

11/4/2015

Michael D. Brady

Second Plymouth and Bristol

11/4/2015

Paul Brodeur

32nd Middlesex

11/2/2015

Antonio F. D. Cabral

13th Bristol

11/2/2015

Linda Dean Campbell

15th Essex

11/4/2015

Gailanne M. Cariddi

1st Berkshire

10/28/2015

Evandro C. Carvalho

5th Suffolk

11/2/2015

Tackey Chan

2nd Norfolk

10/28/2015

Edward F. Coppinger

10th Suffolk

11/2/2015

Brendan P. Crighton

11th Essex

11/4/2015

Claire D. Cronin

11th Plymouth

10/28/2015

Mark J. Cusack

5th Norfolk

10/29/2015

Michael S. Day

31st Middlesex

11/2/2015

Viriato M. deMacedo

Plymouth and Barnstable

11/2/2015

Angelo L. D'Emilia

8th Plymouth

10/29/2015

Marcos A. Devers

16th Essex

10/29/2015

Sal N. DiDomenico

Middlesex and Suffolk

11/4/2015

Shawn Dooley

9th Norfolk

10/30/2015

Michelle M. DuBois

10th Plymouth

10/22/2015

James J. Dwyer

30th Middlesex

10/28/2015

Carolyn C. Dykema

8th Middlesex

10/28/2015

Lori A. Ehrlich

8th Essex

11/3/2015

Tricia Farley-Bouvier

3rd Berkshire

10/28/2015

Kimberly N. Ferguson

1st Worcester

11/4/2015

Carole A. Fiola

6th Bristol

10/23/2015

Linda Dorcena Forry

First Suffolk

10/29/2015

Gloria L. Fox

7th Suffolk

10/26/2015

Paul K. Frost

7th Worcester

10/29/2015

Colleen M. Garry

36th Middlesex

10/23/2015

Carmine L. Gentile

13th Middlesex

11/4/2015

Susan Williams Gifford

2nd Plymouth

10/28/2015

Anne M. Gobi

Worcester, Hampden, Hampshire and Middlesex

11/3/2015

Thomas A. Golden, Jr.

16th Middlesex

11/4/2015

Carlos Gonzalez

10th Hampden

7/19/2019

Kenneth I. Gordon

21st Middlesex

10/29/2015

Danielle W. Gregoire

4th Middlesex

11/4/2015

Paul R. Heroux

2nd Bristol

10/22/2015

Steven S. Howitt

4th Bristol

10/30/2015

Daniel J. Hunt

13th Suffolk

10/28/2015

Randy Hunt

5th Barnstable

11/4/2015

Brian A. Joyce

Norfolk, Bristol and Plymouth

10/21/2015

Hannah Kane

11th Worcester

10/28/2015

Jay R. Kaufman

15th Middlesex

11/4/2015

Peter V. Kocot

1st Hampshire

11/4/2015

Robert M. Koczera

11th Bristol

10/28/2015

John J. Lawn, Jr.

10th Middlesex

10/28/2015

Barbara A. L'Italien

Second Essex and Middlesex

11/2/2015

Jay D. Livingstone

8th Suffolk

10/28/2015

Joan B.  Lovely

Second Essex

11/2/2015

Adrian Madaro

1st Suffolk

10/28/2015

Timothy R. Madden

Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket

10/26/2015

Paul W. Mark

2nd Berkshire

10/29/2015

Christopher M. Markey

9th Bristol

11/4/2015

Joseph D. McKenna

18th Worcester

11/4/2015

Paul McMurtry

11th Norfolk

7/19/2019

Leonard Mirra

2nd Essex

10/28/2015

Rady Mom

18th Middlesex

10/28/2015

Michael O. Moore

Second Worcester

10/23/2015

Frank A. Moran

17th Essex

11/3/2015

David K. Muradian, Jr.

9th Worcester

11/3/2015

Mathew Muratore

1st Plymouth

10/28/2015

Shaunna L. O'Connell

3rd Bristol

11/4/2015

Keiko M. Orrall

12th Bristol

10/29/2015

Jerald A. Parisella

6th Essex

11/4/2015

William Smitty Pignatelli

4th Berkshire

10/29/2015

Elizabeth A. Poirier

14th Bristol

11/3/2015

Denise Provost

27th Middlesex

10/26/2015

Angelo J. Puppolo, Jr.

12th Hampden

10/22/2015

David M. Rogers

24th Middlesex

10/29/2015

Jeffrey N. Roy

10th Norfolk

10/28/2015

Paul A. Schmid, III

8th Bristol

11/2/2015

Frank I. Smizik

15th Norfolk

10/28/2015

Thomas M. Stanley

9th Middlesex

11/4/2015

Benjamin Swan

11th Hampden

10/29/2015

Timothy J. Toomey, Jr.

26th Middlesex

11/4/2015

Jose F. Tosado

9th Hampden

10/22/2015

Paul Tucker

7th Essex

11/2/2015

Steven Ultrino

33rd Middlesex

10/26/2015

Aaron Vega

5th Hampden

11/3/2015

John C. Velis

4th Hampden

11/4/2015

RoseLee Vincent

16th Suffolk

11/4/2015

Chris Walsh

6th Middlesex

10/23/2015

Timothy R. Whelan

1st Barnstable

11/4/2015

Susannah M. Whipps Lee

2nd Franklin

11/4/2015

Donald H. Wong

9th Essex

10/29/2015

Jonathan D. Zlotnik

2nd Worcester

11/4/2015


HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4211        FILED ON: 10/19/2015

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 3898

By Mr. Cantwell of Marshfield, a petition (subject to Joint Rule 12) of James M. Cantwell and others for an investigation by a special commission (including members of the General Court) to study behavioral health promotion and upstream prevention.  Mental Health and Substance Abuse.

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

 

_______________

In the One Hundred and Eighty-Ninth General Court
(2015-2016)

_______________

 

Resolve establishing a special commission on behavioral health promotion and upstream prevention.

 

Resolved, there is hereby established, pursuant to section 2A of chapter 4 of the General Laws, a special legislative commission on behavioral health promotion and upstream prevention, to investigate evidence-based practices, programs and systems to prevent behavioral health disorders and promote behavioral health across the commonwealth.

For the purposes of creating the plan, the commission shall:

(1) consider recommendations from state and federal reports, guides and action plans to promote behavioral health, including, but not limited to: Preventing Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Disorders Among Young People: Progress and Possibilities, published by the Institute of Medicine; the National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices, published by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; and the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention, published by the Surgeon General.

(2) identify sustainable, cost-beneficial, and evidence-based privately or publicly funded programs, implemented inside or outside of the commonwealth, which are designed to promote behavioral health, prevent disorders, and support early detection and intervention of behavioral health disorders;

(3) assess approaches to improve the commonwealth’s system of behavioral health promotion and prevention, including the creation of a single state behavioral health agency, and to increase collaboration at the state and local levels between community coalitions, and public health, mental health, healthcare, education, social services and public safety organizations;

(4) assess innovative approaches for funding promotion and prevention programs, including through health insurance plans and aggregate health insurance dollars;

(5) assess the difference in healthcare spending on behavioral health compared to physical health, and the impact such difference has on major public health problems such as violence, criminality, substance use and chronic illness;

(6) recommend strategies, including legislative action, to shift healthcare spending over the long term from acute and inpatient behavioral health care to promotion and upstream prevention, without diminishing treatment or recovery services for those in need;

(7) recommend evidence-based, primary and secondary-level programs that are community, family or school-based, including whole school approaches, that reduce risk factors and increase protective factors for behavioral health disorders and foster social and emotional health;

(8) recommend programs and practices to improve the commonwealth’s system of behavioral health by 2020, 2022 and 2025;

(9) recommend measurable statewide behavioral health goals consistent with the goals identified in  paragraphs (1) to (8), inclusive, for preventing behavioral health disorders by 2020, 2022 and 2025; and

(10) describe the costs and benefits of achieving the plan goals for 2020, 2022 and 2025, including potential lives saved, improvements in school climate, community health, academic and economic outcomes, and estimated reductions in the rates of mental illness, substance abuse, suicide, homelessness, violence and criminality.  

The commission shall consist of 19 members:  2 members of the house of representatives, 1 of whom shall be the house chair of the joint committee on mental health and substance abuse, or a designee,  and 1 of whom shall be appointed by the minority leader of the house of representatives;  2 members of the senate, 1 of whom shall be the senate chair of the joint committee on mental health and substance abuse, or a designee, and 1 of whom shall be appointed by the minority leader of the senate; the commissioner of mental health, or a designee; the commissioner of public health, or a designee; the commissioner of elementary and secondary education, or a designee; the commissioner of the division of insurance, or a designee; the secretary of the executive office of public safety and security, or a designee; the executive director of the health policy commission, or a designee; the executive director of the center for health information and analysis, or a designee; the director of suicide prevention for the department of public health, or a designee; the director of prevention services for the bureau of substance abuse services, or a designee; the executive director of the Massachusetts community health information profile, or a designee; and the executive director of the mental health legal advisors committee, or a designee; and 4 members who shall be appointed by the governor, 1 of whom shall be a representative from the health insurance industry, 1 of whom shall be an expert in mental and behavioral health promotion, 1 of whom shall be an expert in school and community based public health and 1 of whom shall be a representative from the national alliance on mental illness.  The house and senate chairs of the joint committee on mental health and substance abuse, or their designees, shall serve as the chairs of the commission.

All commission appointments shall be made not later than 60 days after the effective date of this resolve.  The first meeting of the commission shall take place within 90 days of the effective date of this resolve.

The department of public health shall appoint a public or private technical assistance organization competent in behavioral health promotion and prevention to facilitate the work of the commission.

The commission shall report the results of its investigation and study in the form of a plan, hereby known as the promote prevent plan, which shall include all findings and recommendations for achieving measurable outcomes in promoting behavioral health and preventing mental, emotional, and behavioral health disorders.  The commission shall submit its final plan to the clerks for the house of representatives and the senate, no later than 24 months after the date of the first meeting of the commission.

The commission may hold public meetings and fact-finding hearings as it considers necessary; provided, however, that the commission shall conduct at least 3 public hearings to receive testimony from members of the public.  The commission shall make a draft plan available to the public and accept comments on the draft plan before submitting its final plan to the clerks of the house of representatives and the senate.