2023 CODE OF GEORGIA › Title 37 - MENTAL HEALTH (§§ 37-1-1 — 37-12-14) › Chapter 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS (§§ 37-1-1 — 37-1-125) › Article 6 - GEORGIA BEHAVIORAL HEALTH REFORM AND INNOVATION COMMISSION (§§ 37-1-110 — 37-1-116) › Section 37-1-114.1 - [Repealed effective 6/30/2025] Authority of commission

The commission shall be authorized to:
(1)
Collaborate with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities regarding the assisted outpatient treatment program to develop fidelity protocols for grantees and a training and education program for use by the grantees to train and educate staff, community partners, and others; and provide consultation to the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities in the selection of an organization, entity, or consultant to perform research pursuant to Code Section
37-1-126
and in the development of rules and regulations pursuant to Code Section
37-1-127
;
(2)
Coordinate initiatives to assist local communities in keeping people with serious mental illness out of county and municipal jails and detention facilities, including juvenile detention and, facilitated by nationally recognized experts, to improve outcomes for individuals who have frequent contact with criminal justice, homeless, and behavioral health systems, termed "familiar faces," including, but not limited to:
(A)
Serving as liaison to state and local leaders to inform policy and funding priorities;
(B)
Developing a shared definition of "serious mental illness" in consultation with relevant mental health, judicial, and law enforcement officials and experts;
(C)
Exploring funding options to implement universal screening upon admission into a county or municipal jail or detention facility;
(D)
Developing proposed state guidelines, tools, and templates to facilitate sharing of information among state and local entities compliant with state and federal privacy laws;
(E)
Adopting recommendations to promote the use of pre-arrest diversion strategies that reduce revocations and reduce unnecessary contact with the justice system;
(F)
Developing a shared definition for "high utilization" in consultation with relevant behavioral health and criminal justice experts;
(G)
Implementing improvements to data sharing across and between local and state agencies;
(H)
Improving strategies to refer and connect individuals to needed community based health and social services, including addressing gaps in continuity of care;
(I)
Expanding the use of and support for forensic peer monitors; and
(J)
Analyzing best practices to address and ameliorate the increase in chronic homelessness among persons with behavioral health and substance abuse disorder, particularly the challenges of unsheltered homelessness, and formulating recommendations for policies and funding to address such issues, considering the best practices of other states and the permissible use of all available funding sources;
(3)
Convene representatives from care management organizations, pediatric primary care physicians, family medicine physicians, pediatric hospitals, pharmacy benefits managers, other insurers, experts on early childhood mental health, and pediatric mental health and substance use disorder care professionals to examine:
(A)
How to develop and implement a mechanism for Georgia's managed care program for children, youth, and young adults in foster care, children and youth receiving adoption assistance, and select youth involved in the juvenile justice system to meet the mental and behavioral health needs of such children, youth, and young adults;
(B)
How to develop and implement a mechanism to provide adoptive caregivers with the support necessary to meet the mental and behavioral health needs of children and adolescents for the first 12 months after finalization of adoption;
(C)
Best practices, potential cost savings, decreased administrative burdens, increased transparency regarding prescription drug costs, and impact on turnover on the mental health and substance use disorder professionals workforce; and
(D)
Best practices for community mental health and substance use disorder services reimbursement, including payment structures and rates that cover the cost of service provision for outpatient care, high-fidelity wraparound services, and therapeutic foster care homes, within the bounds of federal regulatory guidance; and
(4)
Establish advisory committees to evaluate specific issues, including:
(A)
Identifying methods to create pathways of care, including physical, behavioral, and dental health care, for children and adolescents, regardless of an individual's specific insurance carrier or insurance coverage; and
(B)
Developing and recommending a solution to ensure appropriate health care services and supports, including better care coordination, for pediatric patients residing in this state who have mental health or substance use disorders and who have had high utilization of emergency departments, crisis services, or psychiatric residential treatment facilities, for the purpose of streamlining care, improving outcomes, reducing return visits to emergency departments, and assisting case managers and clinicians in providing safe treatment while reducing fragmentation.
Added by 2022 Ga. Laws 587,§ 6-2, eff. 7/1/2022.