Bill > SB1450

This bill establishes a three-year Intensive Mobile Team Pilot Program within the Hawaii Department of Health's Adult Mental Health Division to provide specialized outreach and support for chronically houseless individuals with serious brain disorders, primarily focusing on those with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. The program will create a dedicated mobile team of eight and one-tenth full-time equivalent positions, including a clinical supervisor, psychiatrist, social workers, a registered nurse, an epidemiologist, and a program specialist, who will provide comprehensive services such as "street psychiatry," crisis response, medication management, and assistance with hospitalizations and housing placements. The team will work with up to 40 participants, collaborating with law enforcement, hospitals, and community stakeholders to provide intensive, wraparound support. The program will track and report on key metrics like participant arrests, hospitalizations, housing placements, and medication management, with mandatory reports to the legislature in 2026 and 2027. The pilot program is set to be dissolved on June 30, 2028, and is funded through state general revenues, with positions exempted from standard state hiring practices. The bill is designed to address the complex needs of a vulnerable population by providing targeted, mobile mental health interventions.

Budget and Finance, Health and Social Services

https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=1450&year=2025