Liz Linehan

Today, the House of Representatives, with leadership from State Representatives Liz Linehan (D-Cheshire, Southington, Wallingford), Tammy Exum (D-West Hartford, Avon, Farmington), Jonathan Steinberg (D-Westport), Tammy Nuccio (R-Ashford, Tolland, Willington), and William A. Petit Jr. (R-Plainville, New Britain) passed a bipartisan bill to address the immediate, intermediate, and long-term needs of the children's mental and behavioral health system in Connecticut.

The need to address the youth mental health crisis has significantly increased due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The rates of depression, suicide, and self-harm have risen among adolescents and emergency rooms across Connecticut are inundated with patients awaiting placement into inpatient psychiatric beds. Schools across the state are facing a shortage of mental health professionals and are sounding the alarm on the need to expand access and support services.

House Bill 5001, An Act Concerning Children's Mental Health, aims to address the youth mental health crisis and support children and families through the following measures:

Enhancing the Behavioral Health Workforce
o Creates a partnership with Connecticut Children’s to co-ordinate a training program for pediatricians to treat early-stage mental health concerns.
o Provides funding for the recruitment and retention of child and adolescent psychologists to address the state shortage.
o Expands License reciprocity for out of state mental health professionals to increase the number of providers and establishes a need-based state licensure fee scholarship with a focus on diverse applicants.
o Establishes grant program for local school boards, youth camps, and summer programs to hire mental health specialists.
o Creates a screening tool for pediatricians and emergency room physicians to recognize mental health concerns in children for early intervention.

Expanding Behavioral Health Treatment Facilities Across the State
o Creates an intensive outpatient counseling pilot program in Waterbury for a federally qualified health center to provide treatment for adolescents with behavioral health needs. The program, slated to open before Fall 2022, will serve at least 144 children per year.
o Supports opening of the new DCF Urgent Crisis Centers specializing in meeting urgent pediatric behavioral health needs.
o Expands ACCESS Mental Health to provide up to three follow-up telehealth visits directly to certain patients after a pediatrician has first utilized ACCESS Mental Health on behalf of a patient and to provide short term care coordination services, through a contractor, for all patients on whose behalf ACCESS Mental Health is utilized.

Increasing Access Through Insurance Coverage
o Eliminates prior authorization for inpatient psychiatric services in certain circumstances where there is imminent danger in the patient's health or safety, or the health or safety or safety others.
o Requires individual and group health insurers to cover intensive evidence-based services used to treat mental and behavioral health conditions in children and adolescents.
o Requires individual and group insurers to cover collaborative care for behavioral healthcare.

"We understand children must have access to care where and when they need it," Speaker of the House Matt Ritter said. "The pandemic has just heightened the need. I want to thank the bipartisan working group for their countless hours of work on this legislation that will help thousands of children and families."

"Parents want what’s best for their kids, and one of the most difficult things for parents and caregivers is seeing a child struggle and being unable to find them appropriate care, even when that child may be in crisis. The pandemic has been particularly challenging for our youngest residents, underscoring the critical need for us to strengthen our pediatric mental health system. H.B. 5001 is an opportunity to fill the gaps in this system so that children and families can get the care they need," said House Majority Leader Jason Rojas.

"This is a transformative piece of legislation that will have an immediate impact on our behavioral health system. Upon passage, this bill will create an intensive outpatient program in Waterbury to serve at least 144 children each year. It will establish grant programs to put licensed mental health professionals in our schools, support recruitment and retention of our healthcare practitioner workforce, and provide pediatricians with training tools to address mental health needs in the early stages," said Rep. Linehan. "When we invest in children's mental health, we invest in the long-term strategies of helping kids grow into happy, healthy adults. I am so proud of this legislative and thankful my legislative colleagues and the stakeholders who have been instrumental in this work. We need to act now for the children of our state. This bill will save lives."

"This bill addresses the urgency of now, while simultaneously building a framework for the delivery of mental and behavioral healthcare for all children and youth throughout the state of CT," Rep. Exum said. "I am so proud of this landmark legislation that will literally save lives. HB-5001 is a culmination of serious work, hard work – on a bipartisan basis. I would like to thank Speaker Ritter for his support of this bill, along with my colleagues, Reps. Linehan, Steinberg, Petit and Nuccio, for their exceptional work. I am proud to have worked with them on such an important piece of legislation on behalf of the children of Connecticut."

“The pandemic has changed all of us; we’ve all paid a price. But perhaps children the most. It’s time that we addressed longstanding problems in the delivery of essential mental health care,” said Rep. Steinberg. "This critically important legislation will make a real difference for children across our state. It represents the hard work of members of all four legislative caucuses, all of us committed to addressing the mental health needs of our kids in a manner that can only be described as transformative. This is a big bill, a comprehensive bill, and it represents governmental problem-solving at its best. I’m very proud of our work on this legislation.”

“The past two years of the pandemic and corresponding response have exacerbated our state's mental health crisis, especially among our children and young adults. This bill demonstrates the legislature's commitment to prioritize mental health by offering immediate support for those in need and making strides towards long-term solutions to help provide adequate care while also gathering data to ensure we are investing in the correct initiatives," said Rep. Nuccio. "The incentives for recruiting child and adolescent mental health specialists and psychiatrists are particularly important as we require a robust workforce to provide these services. This measure will help attract professionals to our state and improve the accessibility and affordability of these services for years to come. Additionally, Connecticut will be a national leader by providing two mental health wellness visits for our fully insured residents. This is a new direction which prioritizes mental health and works to destigmatize obtaining services."

"One of my top priorities this legislative session was to improve ways the state handles issues surrounding children's mental health, which was worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic," Rep. Petit said. "This bill is an excellent start in bolstering the number of providers, programs, and our overall approach to increase access to care while also expanding the quality of care we provide."

“We all should feel pride in this historic moment. This bill is bold and far-reaching, demonstrating Connecticut’s commitment to improving the lives of all our children and their families. Never before has our state come together to find ways of improving the wide range of issues affecting kids’ mental and emotional health,” said Howard Sovronsky, Chief Behavioral Health Officer, Connecticut Children’s.

House Bill 5001 is complementary to Senate Bill 2, which has passed in the Senate and will be heard on the House floor prior to the end of session on May 4, 2022.