Amendment #996 to H4700

Behavioral Health Innovation Fund

Ms. Decker of Cambridge moves to amend the bill in section 2 by inserting after item 4000-0050 the following item:

XXXX-XXXX For grants administered by the Executive Office of Health and Human Services to support behavioral health workforce, programs, and pilot initiatives necessary to expand upon and maintain behavioral health acute care beds and intensive community based treatment alternatives in order to enable individuals to be diverted from hospitals or those boarding in hospitals to be discharged, including but not limited to inpatient services, community based acute treatment, crisis stabilization services, pediatric and adult respite, hospital diversion programs, and virtual or in-person partial hospitalization capacity through rate incentives in the Commonwealth; provided further that priority shall be given to grants that support children and adolescent behavioral health; provided further that funds shall be inclusive of workforce recruitment and training, and other funds necessary to expand acute behavioral health support with the goal of reducing emergency department boarding; provided further that funds may be expended for investments including but not limited to crisis stabilization services for children and adults who are boarding, telehealth devices, specialized training for clinical and ancillary staff including in community crisis intervention and de-escalation techniques, and for capital and operational funds for acute care hospitals to develop and maintain needed services for psychiatric patients while they are in emergency departments or medical-surgical units in order to receive inpatient psychiatric services, including but not limited to investments in surge space and group therapy spaces in emergency department and medical-surgical settings…………..$10,000,000