HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2720        FILED ON: 1/19/2023

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1275

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Kay Khan and Kate Donaghue

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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 establishing a behavioral health workforce center of excellence.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2720        FILED ON: 1/19/2023

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1275

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE HOUSE, NO. 1346 OF 2021-2022.]

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_______________

In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)

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An Act establishing a behavioral health workforce center of excellence.

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 15A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after Section 45 the following section:-

Section 46. 

(a) There shall be a Behavioral Health Workforce Center of Excellence, herein the Center. The purpose of the Center shall be to gather data and research to advise policy leaders on how to address the crisis in the behavioral health workforce across the commonwealth. In consultation with public institutions of higher education, the commissioner shall establish the center at one of the public institutions of higher education in the commonwealth. The Center shall:

(i) Engage a diverse, cross discipline group of stakeholders to address the needs of the behavioral health field by studying the current landscape, mapping or building clear career ladders, and identifying and addressing training needs;

(ii) Annually inventory the professional licenses and certifications available for those who work in the mental health and addiction treatment field, including, but not limited to, the number of licensed and certified individuals in the state, the academic and supervisory requirements to achieve each certification, the scope of practice of each license, the academic programs available in the state and cost of these programs;

(iii) Annually create demographic and geographic profiles of the current field of practitioners, examine ways to increase the diversity, equity and inclusion of the workforce, and determine recommendations to increase the linguistic and cultural competency of practitioners;

(iv) Annually inventory the number of professional and paraprofessional practitioners delivering direct clinical or recovery services, including practitioner acceptance of insurance;

(v) Work with the advisory committee established herein to annually inventory the workforce needs in the behavioral health system to establish the gaps that exist by professional license and certificate, and practice settings;

(vi) Inventory the number of individuals with professional licenses or certifications who no longer practice behavioral health in third-party reimbursable settings;

(vii) Examine any regulatory changes recommended by licensing and registration entities at the Department of Public Health and offer public written assessments to these entities during the regulatory process that includes the effect of these requirements on the existing workforce and the future workforce pipeline;

(viii) Examine existing training funds across state and federal agencies, including but not limited to, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, the Commonwealth Corporation, the Executive Office of Education, the Executive Office of Health and Human Services and its constituent agencies, and make recommendations on ways to leverage funding and resources to focus on existing and needed training programs for the field;

(ix) Work with existing education and training programs on curriculum improvements focused on best practices in the current behavioral health landscape and coordinate these needs with state purchasing agencies to better align educational institutional with the needs in the field;

(x) Examine existing loan forgiveness opportunities for practitioners and make recommendations on ways to expand current recruitment and retention initiatives;

(xi) Create and fund technical assistance programming for value based purchasing and care preparation, and behavioral health and primary care integration;

(xii) Examine other matters deemed appropriate by the Center.

(b) The Center shall establish an advisory committee. The advisory committee shall be: (i) cochaired by a person appointed by the Department of Higher Education and a person appointed by the Association for Behavioral Healthcare and, (ii) the commissioner shall select members, including, but not limited to, representation from each of the following entities: the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, the Department of Public Health, the Department of Mental Health, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans, NAMI Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Organization for Addiction Recovery, the Parent Professional Advocacy League, the Massachusetts Association for Behavioral Health Systems, the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association, the National Association of Social Workers-Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Psychological Association, the Massachusetts Mental Health Counselors Association, and the Massachusetts Association for Mental Health. The advisory committee shall meet regularly and discuss the state of the behavioral workforce in Massachusetts. The committee shall meet regularly and not less than four times annually.