A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION, To reauthorize the Mental Health Services Delivery Task Force for the limited purposes of monitoring the growth and development of current initiatives in the delivery of mental health services, reviewing and proposing adjustments to the levels of funding, and ensuring that the statutory and regulatory framework complements intended outcomes.

WHEREAS, the South Dakota Legislature has recognized the need to address the delivery and administration of mental health services and the challenges involved in effectively and efficiently providing a continuum of mental health services across a vast and varied state; and

WHEREAS, during the last three interims, task forces consisting of legislators and public and private sector representatives were appointed to begin the process of identifying and understanding the economic, legal, medical, personal, political, and practical dimensions that delineate the field of mental health; and

WHEREAS, from the work of the task forces there emerged the perspective that while regionally focused solutions would require a coordinated effort, ultimately, a regional focus would allow for increased access to multiple levels of mental health services, allow for the provision of such services closer to those needing the services, and ensure that sufficient capacity remains available at the Human Services Center to accommodate those individuals who have acute needs that cannot be appropriately addressed in other community settings; and

WHEREAS, in recent months, the strategic approach to implementing a regionalized service delivery model has highlighted several promising initiatives, including crisis intervention programs, jail-based restoration to competency programs, the development of support programs such as Text4Hope and the 988 Helpline, and the regulatory designation of regionally appropriate facilities that will be able to provide services for many individuals who would otherwise have been transported to the Human Services Center; and

WHEREAS, now more than ever, it is incumbent that these emerging initiatives be monitored and supported in ways that will allow for their growth, their development, and ultimately their long-term viability within the continuum of mental health service delivery:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the House of Representatives of the Ninety-Sixth Legislature of the State of South Dakota, the Senate concurring therein, that the Executive Board of the Legislative Research Council reappoint the members of the 2020 interim task force on the delivery of mental health services, in order to further the objectives described in this resolution; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Executive Board of the Legislative Research Council authorize the task force to meet for no more than two days during the 2021 interim, in order to monitor the growth and development of current initiatives in the delivery of mental health services, review and propose adjustments to the levels of funding for the initiatives, and ensure that the statutory and regulatory framework within which such services are delivered complements the intended outcomes for the state and its residents; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the task force prepare and present a final report regarding the work directed by this resolution to the Executive Board of the Legislative Research Council on or before December 1, 2021.

Adopted by the House of Representatives, February 22, 2021

Concurred in by the Senate, March 3, 2021

_____________________ _____________________ Spencer Gosch Patricia Miller Speaker of the House Chief Clerk

_____________________ _____________________ Larry Rhoden Kay Johnson President of the Senate Secretary of the Senate