Bill > H4128

This bill establishes a special legislative commission on behavioral health promotion and upstream prevention, tasked with investigating evidence-based practices, programs, and systems to prevent behavioral health disorders and promote overall behavioral health across the commonwealth. The commission will consider recommendations from various state and federal reports, identify sustainable and cost-beneficial programs for prevention and early intervention, and assess approaches to improve the state's behavioral health system, including potential consolidation into a single agency and increased collaboration among different sectors. It will also examine innovative funding methods for prevention programs, compare healthcare spending on behavioral versus physical health, and recommend strategies, including legislative action, to shift spending towards promotion and prevention without reducing treatment services. The commission will further recommend community, family, and school-based programs to reduce risk factors and enhance protective factors for behavioral health disorders, set measurable statewide behavioral health goals for specific future years, and detail the costs and benefits of achieving these goals, including potential improvements in public health and reductions in various societal problems. The commission will comprise 23 members from the legislature, state agencies, and appointed experts, with legislative chairs of the joint committee on mental health and substance abuse serving as co-chairs, and will be supported by a technical assistance organization. The commission is required to submit a comprehensive "promote prevent plan" with its findings and recommendations within 24 months of its first meeting, after holding public hearings and allowing for public comment on a draft plan.