SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1026        FILED ON: 1/19/2017

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1090

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Kenneth J. Donnelly

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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 bill:

An Act to establish a center of excellence in community policing and behavioral health.

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PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1026        FILED ON: 1/19/2017

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1090

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninetieth General Court
(2017-2018)

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An Act to establish a center of excellence in community policing and behavioral health.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1. Chapter 6A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Addition, is hereby amended by inserting after section 18L the following sections:-

Section 18L1/2. (a) There shall be a center of excellence in community policing and behavioral health, hereinafter called the center, within the executive office of public safety and security. The mission of the center shall be to decrease the unnecessary arrest and incarceration rates and use of emergency departments for people with behavioral health conditions by providing a centralized resource for cost-effective and evidence-based mental health and substance use crisis response training programs for municipal police. The center shall conduct activities in furtherance of its mission, including, but not be limited to: 

(1) serving as a clearinghouse for best practices in police response to individuals with mental illness and substance use disorders;

(2) developing and implementing robust crisis intervention training curricula based on the latest best practices, and using said curricula to provide training to all veteran and new recruit municipal police officers, provided that, training shall be conducted by qualified professionals working in the fields of criminal justice and behavioral health;

(3) providing targeted technical assistance to municipalities to help meet specific local and regional needs and develop collaborative partnerships between law enforcement and human services providers that maximize referrals to treatment services;

(4) establishing metrics for success and evaluation of outcomes for any programs developed by the center;

(5) expanding training and technical assistance resources to other state and municipal public safety personnel to increase expertise in responding to behavioral health issues, including, but not limited to, the state police, transit police, campus police, hospital police, hospital security forces, judiciary offices, office of probation, parole board, and county and state corrections;

(6) providing reimbursement for trainers to ensure recruitment and retention of high quality trainers; and

(7) assisting municipal police departments as needed to cover backfill costs for police officers attending crisis intervention training.

(b) There shall be a planning board, hereinafter referred to as the board, consisting of 5 members: the secretary of public safety and security or the secretary’s designee and the secretary of health and human services or the secretary’s designee, who shall serve as co-chairs of the board; the commissioner of the department of mental health or the commissioner’s designee; the commissioner of the department of public health or the commissioner’s designee; and a representative of the National Alliance on Mental Illness Massachusetts. The board shall convene its first meeting no later than 45 days after the effective date of this act and shall, no later than 6 months after the effective date of this act, develop and promulgate rules and regulations for the governance, management, and administration of the center. The board shall be dissolved upon publication of these rules and regulations.

(c) Upon completion of the board’s requirements set forth in subsection (b), and within 1 year of the effective date of this act, the center shall: (1) research current best practices for responding to individuals suffering from mental health or substance abuse disorder; (2) develop training curricula; (3) provide technical assistance and training to municipalities; and (4) propose a 1-year budget for the center’s activities. The center shall publish a report detailing the status of items (1) through (4).

(d) One year after completion of the center’s requirements set forth in subsection (c) and annually thereafter, the center shall publish a report, which shall include, but not limited to: (1) narrative and statistical information about service demand, delivery and cost, and identified service gaps during the prior year; (2) the effectiveness of the services delivered during the prior year; and (3) review of research analyzed or conducted during the prior year. The annual report shall be submitted, on or before February 1, to the commissioner of mental health, the secretary of public safety, the secretary of health and human services, and the general court, by filing it with the clerks of the senate and the house of representatives, the joint committee on mental health and substance abuse, the joint committee on public safety and homeland security, and the senate and house committees on ways and means.

SECTION 2. Chapter 29 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after Section 2VVVV the following section:-

Section 2WWWW. Criminal Justice and Community Support Trust Fund.

(a) There is hereby established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a separate fund to be known as the Criminal Justice and Community Support Trust Fund, hereinafter called the fund. The fund shall be administered by the executive office of public safety and security, in consultation with the department of mental health, which shall contract with county restoration centers and the center for excellence in community policing and behavioral health, established in section 18L1/2 of chapter 6A, to administer the fund. There shall be credited to the fund any appropriations, grants, gifts or other monies authorized by the general court or other parties and specifically designated to be credited to the fund. The objectives of the fund shall include, but shall not be limited to: supporting jail diversion programs for persons suffering from a mental illness or substance use disorder who interact with law enforcement or the court system during a pre-arrest investigation or the pre-adjudication process in order to divert individuals from lockup facilities and hospital emergency departments to appropriate treatment; developing and providing training for state and municipal law enforcement in evidence-based mental health and substance use crisis response; creating patient-focused on-going community services for individuals who are frequent users of emergency departments and suffer from serious and persistent mental illness; and providing funding for multi-year restoration center grants for the purpose of planning and implementing a restoration center within a county in the commonwealth.

(b) Monies deposited in the fund that are unexpended at the end of the fiscal year shall not revert to the General Fund and shall be available for expenditure in the subsequent year.

(c) The fund may apply for and accept subventions, grants, loans, advances and contributions from any source of money, property, labor or other things of value to be held, used and applied in furtherance of this section.

(d) The center of excellence in community policing and behavioral health shall annually, on or before March 1, file a report to the joint committee on mental health and substance abuse, the joint committee on public safety and homeland security, and the senate and house committees on ways and means detailing the fund’s activities.