(1) (a) The office of behavioral health in the state department may contract with cities and counties for the creation, maintenance, or expansion of criminal justice diversion programs. The goal of each program created pursuant to this section should be to connect law enforcement officers with behavioral health providers to assist individuals in need of behavioral health intervention or to divert individuals from the criminal justice system.
(b) The office of behavioral health in the state department may require criminal justice diversion programs contracted pursuant to subsection (1)(a) of this section to participate as a mobile crisis service in the behavioral health crisis response system, created pursuant to section 27-60-103.
On or before November 1, 2021, and on or before each November 1 thereafter, thestate department shall include an update regarding the current status of funding and the criminal justice diversion programs implemented pursuant to this section in its report to the judiciary committees of the senate and the house of representatives, the health and human services committee of the senate, the public health care and human services committee of the house of representatives, or any successor committees, as part of its "State Measurement for Accountable, Responsive, and Transparent (SMART) Government Act" presentation required by section 2-7203.
The state board of human services, created in section 26-1-107, may promulgaterules to implement the provisions of this section.
Source: L. 2020: Entire section added, (HB 20-1017), ch. 288, p. 1426, § 10, effective September 14.