(a) In this section, “local mental health authority group” means a group of local mental health authorities established by the commission under Chapter 963 (S.B. 633), Acts of the 86th Legislature, Regular Session, 2019.
(b) The commission shall require each local mental health authority group to meet at least quarterly to collaborate on planning and implementing regional strategies to reduce:
(1) costs to local governments of providing services to persons experiencing a mental health crisis;
(2) transportation to mental health facilities of persons served by an authority that is a member of the group;
(3) incarceration of persons with mental illness in county jails that are located in an area served by an authority that is a member of the group; and
(4) visits by persons with mental illness at hospital emergency rooms located in an area served by an authority that is a member of the group.

(c) The commission shall use federal funds in accordance with state and federal guidelines to implement this section.
(d) The commission, in coordination with each local mental health authority group, shall annually update the mental health services development plan that was initially developed by the commission and each local mental health authority group under Chapter 963 (S.B. 633), Acts of the 86th Legislature, Regular Session, 2019. The commission and each group’s updated plan must include a description of:
(1) actions taken by the group to implement regional strategies in the plan; and
(2) new regional strategies identified by the group to reduce the circumstances described by Subsection (b), including the estimated number of outpatient and inpatient beds necessary to meet the goals of each group’s regional strategy.
(e) Not later than December 1 of each year, the commission shall produce and publish on its Internet website a report containing the most recent version of each mental health services development plan developed by the commission and a local mental health authority group.

Text of section effective until April 01, 2025