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.