Public Health Committee
JOINT FAVORABLE REPORT
Bill No.: HB-5419
AN ACT CONCERNING THE DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH AND
ADDICTION SERVICES' RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING REGIONAL
Title: BEHAVIORAL HEALTH ACTION ORGANIZATIONS.
Vote Date: 3/18/2022
Vote Action: Joint Favorable
PH Date: 3/14/2022
File No.:
Disclaimer: The following JOINT FAVORABLE Report is prepared for the benefit of the
members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and
explanation and does not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber
thereof for any purpose.
SPONSORS OF BILL:
The Public Health Committee
REASONS FOR BILL:
In 2018, the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) reorganized existing
Regional Mental Health Boards and Regional Action Councils, replacing them with five Regional
Behavioral Health Action Organizations (RBHAOs). This bill officially codifies the RBHAOs in
statutes and repeals the laws that established the prior boards and councils. The bill also makes
the corresponding changes in statute to address the transfer of duties from these boards and
councils to the RBHAOs. It requires each RBHAO be a community partner to coordinate
behavioral health planning and education to enhance prevention of behavioral health issues,
promote behavioral health, and advocate for behavioral health needs and services within its
mental health region. The bill establishes responsibilities for the RBHAOs and requires them to
correspond with the communities in fulfilling these duties.
RESPONSE FROM ADMINISTRATION/AGENCY:
Nancy Navarretta, Commissioner, Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services,
(DHMAS):
DMHAS is supportive of this bill. The combination of the Regional Mental Health Boards
(RHBAOs) that focused on mental health, with the Regional Action Councils (RACs) that
focused on substance use prevention created community agencies across the state that
focus on integrated behavioral health, rather than perpetuating a bifurcated system
addressing mental health or substance use. Combining the agencies also achieved fiscal
efficiencies. Codifying the current RBHAOs is an important step in breaking down the
substance use and mental health silos.
NATURE AND SOURCES OF SUPPORT:
Adam Burrows, Superintendent of Schools, Voluntown:
Passage of this legislation will allow our local Prevention Council to continue our work of
offering direct support to the youth of our community with vaping materials, curriculum
upgrades to health teachers, and collaboration with other community organizations.
Donna Culbert, Director of Health, Newtown District Department of Health:
Last year, despite COVID related challenges, our region's RBHAO, the Western CT coalition,
managed to train 397 individuals in the administration of Narcan to save lives. We also
provided the suicide gatekeeper training QPR to 587 people, including 150 police officers.
Western CT Coalition used radios and billboards to raise awareness about underage
drinking, electronic nicotine delivery systems, cannabis, and problem gambling prevention.
Michele Devine, Executive Director, South Eastern Regional Action Council:
Our current fiscal structure is based on grant funding that comes through DMHAS; we cannot
function on this roller coaster anymore. We need to have confidence that we are supported in
our suicide prevention work through, not only a state statute, but also funding. In the future,
we hope to receive dollars from the very systems with whom we collaborate on issues of
prevention. We have so much more we could do and provide to our communities in building
healthy, proactive, and supportive communities and families.
Allison A. Fulton, Executive Director, Western CT Coalition, Inc.:
Problem gambling is an issue that the RBHAOs support through their efforts to mitigate
areas of behavioral health. Passing this bill would demonstrate support from leaders in our
state to help integrate problem gambling awareness and prevention as co-occurring disorders
related to mental health and substance misuse. Through this integration we can better
support CT residents and their overall wellbeing to reduce the impacts of behavioral health
issues across the lifespan.
Thomas Giard, Superintendent, Waterford Public Schools:
Our Regional Action Council has hosted family talks in our district on social emotional and
mental health subjects, such as drug abuse and vaping, that directly connect with the social
and mental health programs taught in our schools. They have been a consistent partner at
our Parent Academy Nights, offering information on suicide prevention, vaping, prescription
drug misuse, and mental health services available for families and the community.
Dani Gorman, Director of Youth Services, Town of Waterford:
The local Prevention Council funding we receive through our Regional Action Council allows
us to facilitate several services and programs, including our very successful education and
prevention program, our Health Fair, and mental health training for our staff. The material
they have provided, especially regarding vaping has been instrumental in changing the views
of the young people we serve.
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Melinda Smith, Superintendent, Thompson Public Schools:
Our district has come to rely on the skilled team of individuals at our Regional Action Council
to provide training and support for our faculty and staff in the areas of substance abuse and
suicide prevention. This bill will ensure that RBHAOs continue to be a vital resource to
support communities, including school districts.
Angela Duhaime, CT Prevention Network:
Passing this bill would demonstrate support for a statewide vision to build a suicide
prevention infrastructure that is supported by legislation and funding, integrating prevention
across co-occurring issues. This bill will increase local prevention councils, coalitions, and
collaboratives, and reduce the impact of substance abuse, mental health, problem gambling,
and suicide on other statewide systems.
Diana Goode, Executive Director, Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling:
While they are supportive of the bill, they propose a substitute to Sec. 10. Currently, their
organization receives 5% of the monies directed to the Chronic Gamblers Rehabilitation Fund
and applies those funds towards operations of our 24/7 problem gambling helpline. They
propose changing the language to not less than 10%. With this additional revenue, they could
offer the increased trainings necessary to begin to bridge the knowledge gap of providers
around the topic of gambling related harm and gambling disorder.
Adele Cyr, Unit Director, Reliance Health, Inc.:
Our Regional Action Council is an important part of the community providing services such as
LPC funding, TIPS trainings, educational billboards, trainings to the community (CAP,
QPR/Narcan, Drug Trends), vaping materials, curriculum to health teachers and
collaborations for prevention and postvention.
Additonal Testimony in Support
Scott Barton, Director, Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nations Good Medicine Project
Pamela Mautte, Director, Alliance for Prevention &Wellness
Giovanna Mozzo, Director, The Hub
Marie Miszewski, Board Member, Western Ct Coalition
Todd Bieri, Amplify, Inc
Karen Ravenelle-Bloom, Prevention Director, Windham PRIDE Coalition
Patricia Calvo, Director, Windham Youth Services
Thomas Burr, Community and Affiliates Relations Manager, NAMI Connecticut
Marcia DuFore, Co-Chair, Keep The Promise Coalition
John Schwartz, Recovery Center Manager, CT Community for Addiction Recovery
Ellen Kleckner, Coordinator of Youth Services, New London Youth Affairs
10 others testified in support
Page 3 of 4 HB-5419
NATURE AND SOURCES OF OPPOSITION:
Kathleen Flaherty, Executive Director, Ct Legal Rights Project, Inc.:
While the sections of this bill that correctly fund and codify the RBHAOs are laudable, Sec. 4
of the bill is very concerning. The language as it exists would remove all representation of
people living with mental health conditions and or substance use disorders from the State
Board of Mental Health and Addiction Services. You cannot remove our representation and
replace us with providers, when providers are already at the table. This section of the bill
must be removed.
Margaret Watt, Policy Chair, National Alliance on Mental Illness Connecticut Chapter:
Sec. 4 of the bill removes any requirement for individuals with lived-experience to be a part of
the State Behavioral Health Board, which further represents the dismantling of the original
vision of these boards. This is a major shift in values that should be addressed by the
legislature. If this bill is enacted, its purpose should be to clearly delineate the guiding values,
realistic priorities, and membership of the RBHAOs, rather than to compile the old statutes
into one document without addressing their complexities.
Mitzy Sky, Advocacy and Education Coordinator, Advocacy Unlimited, Inc:
The RBHAOs are gatekeepers to continue the language and treatment of emotional distress
and behaviors as the disease illness/disease model. Their research and formulas show that
what they are doing is not working as they ask for more money and more services in the
name of prevention and illnesses. We need more peer recovery organizations and people
who lived through devastation and found their way through. These organizations are run by
people with degrees pushing a disease model of care that profits them and keeping the
people seeking help stuck in a cycle of dependency.
David Gedraitis, Waterbury:
This bill should allow review boards to oversee what is going on in DMHAS services. It is
important to monitor DMHAS services to be sure they are providing safe, high quality
treatment for all involved, as well as critical funding. It is vital to fund our nonprofit agencies.
Reported by: Dallas Emerle Date: 4/4/2022
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Statutes affected:
Raised Bill: 4-28g
PH Joint Favorable: 4-28g
File No. 338: 4-28g
Public Act No. 22-69: 4-28g