HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 4667

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, November 5, 2025.

The committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery, to whom was referred the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2207) of Brandy Fluker-Reid for legislation to establish a grant program for increased mental health needs in nonprofit organizations at high risk of hate crimes, reports recommending that the accompanying bill (House, No. 4667) ought to pass.

For the committee,

MINDY DOMB.

        FILED ON: 10/23/2025

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 4667

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)

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An Act building resilience and increasing access to mental health services.

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. Notwithstanding any special or general law to the contrary and subject to appropriation, the department of mental health shall establish a mental health capacity grant program for the purpose of addressing increased mental health needs in nonprofit organizations at high-risk of hate crime and nonprofits that serve populations at high risk of hate crimes, as defined in section 32 of chapter 22C of the General Laws for the purposes of this act.

The program shall make grants available to said nonprofit organizations at high risk of hate crimes and those that serve populations at high risk of hate crimes to increase behavioral health competency of staff who have frequent interactions with targeted communities and to expand supportive programming for said staff and said communities. The grants shall be used to support programming determined by an organization’s specific needs to address mental health, including, but not limited to: (a) mental health first aid training; (b) culturally responsive referral programs; (c) community education and destigmatization of mental health supports; or (d) any other programming shown to positively affect mental health.

The department shall promulgate regulations and may issue further guidance regarding grantmaking; provided, that grants shall be distributed in a geographically equitable manner across the commonwealth and distributed in a manner that correlates with bias types included in the preceding year’s annual hate crime report by the executive office of public safety and security.

Not later than 12 months from the distribution of the first grant and annually thereafter, the commissioner of mental health shall file a report with the clerks of the senate and the house of representatives, the joint committee on mental health, substance use and recovery, the joint committee on racial equity, civil rights, and inclusion and the house and senate committees on ways and means detailing the grant program activities, which shall include, but shall not be limited to: (i) the number of applications received; (ii) the number of grants awarded; (iii) the dollar amount per grant; (iv) the organizational mission of each grantee; (v) the programming supported by each grant; and (vi) priority populations based on annual state reporting on hate crimes and the regional distribution of such funds.