H.B. 786
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
May 3, 2021
SESSION 2021 HOUSE PRINCIPAL CLERK
H D
HOUSE BILL DRH10366-NDa-134
Short Title: Enhance Local Response/Mental Health Crises. (Public)
Sponsors: Representative Autry.
Referred to:
1 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
2 AN ACT TO CREATE A PILOT PROGRAM THAT WILL PROVIDE GRANTS TO LOCAL
3 LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES IN ORDER TO ENHANCE RESPONSES TO
4 MENTAL OR BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CRISES.
5 The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
6 SECTION 1. The grants funded by this act shall be provided to municipal police
7 departments and county sheriffs' offices for at least one of the following purposes:
8 (1) To establish nonpolice units to address nonviolent, noncriminal 911 calls
9 regarding mental health, homelessness, substance use, or other behavioral
10 health crises.
11 (2) To establish co-responder response models in which law enforcement
12 personnel and mental health specialists jointly respond to 911 calls regarding
13 mental or behavioral health crises.
14 (3) To establish a mental health division or to bolster existing mental health
15 services within a police department or sheriff's office and to increase the
16 amount of law enforcement personnel and 911 communications personnel that
17 have received Crisis Intervention Training.
18 SECTION 2. There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of
19 Public Safety the sum of two million dollars ($2,000,000) in nonrecurring funds in the 2021-2022
20 fiscal year to be distributed as grants to either municipal police departments or county sheriffs'
21 offices as follows:
22 (1) $800,000 to establish eight nonpolice response units with a grant of $100,000
23 each.
24 (2) $700,000 to establish seven co-responder response models with a grant of
25 $100,000 each.
26 (3) $500,000 to increase the amount of law enforcement officers and 911
27 communications personnel that have received Crisis Intervention Training.
28 These funds shall be awarded as five separate grants of $100,000 each.
29 SECTION 3. Grants awarded pursuant to Section 2 of this act shall be awarded to
30 police departments and sheriffs' offices that have active response models for mental or behavioral
31 health crises or that are developing response models that will be in use on or before January 1,
32 2022.
33 SECTION 4. No later than February 1, 2023, the police departments and sheriffs'
34 offices that receive grants pursuant to this act shall report the following information to the
35 Department of Public Safety:
36 (1) Itemized lists and explanations of how grant funds were utilized.
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 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2021
1 (2) Demographic information regarding both participating mental health
2 specialist personnel and individuals served as a result of the localities'
3 dispatched services.
4 (3) Dispatch case types in which nonpolice, co-responder, or mental health
5 division personnel responded.
6 (4) The frequency of unit dispatch.
7 (5) The frequency of police or ambulance backup or requests among nonpolice,
8 co-responder, or mental health division personnel.
9 (6) County involuntary commitment rates before and during the pilot program.
10 (7) Complaints filed against nonpolice, co-responder, or mental health division
11 personnel units.
12 (8) Operating costs associated with each unit.
13 (9) Emergency 911 response metrics analyzing how the pilot services impacted
14 the localities' emergency response services.
15 (10) Results of emergency 911 calls for services that utilized pilot program
16 services.
17 SECTION 5. No later than March 1, 2023, the Department of Public Safety, in
18 consultation with the Department of Health and Human Services, shall report to the Joint
19 Legislative Oversight Committee on Justice and Public Safety regarding the pilot programs
20 funded by this act. The report shall include, at a minimum, the information provided to the
21 Department of Public Safety pursuant to Section 4 of this act.
22 SECTION 6. This act becomes effective July 1, 2021.
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