(1) Each behavioral health administrative services organization shall establish a recovery navigator program. The program shall provide community-based outreach, intake, assessment, and connection to services and, as appropriate, long-term intensive case management and recovery coaching services, to youth and adults with substance use disorder, including for persons with co-occurring substance use disorders and mental health conditions, who are referred to the program from diverse sources and shall facilitate and coordinate connections to a broad range of community resources for youth and adults with substance use disorder, including treatment and recovery support services.
(2) The authority shall establish uniform program standards for behavioral health administrative services organizations to follow in the design of their recovery navigator programs. The uniform program standards must be modeled upon the components of the law enforcement assisted diversion program and address project management, field engagement, biopsychosocial assessment, intensive case management and care coordination, stabilization housing when available and appropriate, and, as necessary, legal system coordination. The authority must adopt the uniform program standards from the components of the law enforcement assisted diversion program to accommodate an expanded population of persons with substance use disorders, including persons with co-occurring substance use disorders and mental health conditions, and allow for referrals from a broad range of sources. In addition to accepting referrals from law enforcement, the uniform program standards must provide guidance for accepting referrals on behalf of persons with substance use disorders, including persons with co-occurring substance use disorders and mental health conditions, from various sources including, but not limited to, self-referral, family members of the individual, emergency department personnel, persons engaged with serving homeless persons, including those living unsheltered or in encampments, fire department personnel, emergency medical service personnel, community-based organizations, members of the business community, harm reduction program personnel, faith-based organization staff, and other sources within the criminal legal system, as outlined within the sequential intercept model. In developing response time requirements within the statewide program standards, the authority shall require, subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, that responses to referrals from law enforcement occur immediately for in-custody referrals and shall strive for rapid response times to other appropriate settings such as emergency departments.
(3) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the authority shall provide funding to each behavioral health administrative services organization for the development of its recovery navigator program. Before receiving funding for implementation and ongoing administration, each behavioral health administrative services organization must submit a program plan that demonstrates the ability to fully comply with statewide program standards. The authority shall establish a schedule for the regular review of behavioral health administrative services organizations' programs. The authority shall arrange for technical assistance to be provided by the LEAD national support bureau to all behavioral health administrative services organizations.
(4) Each behavioral health administrative services organization must have a substance use disorder regional administrator for its recovery navigator program. The regional administrator shall be responsible for assuring compliance with program standards, including staffing standards. Each recovery navigator program must maintain a sufficient number of appropriately trained personnel for providing intake and referral services, conducting comprehensive biopsychosocial assessments, providing intensive case management services, and making warm handoffs to treatment and recovery support services along the continuum of care. Program staff must include people with lived experience with substance use disorder to the extent possible. The substance use disorder regional administrator must assure that staff who are conducting intake and referral services and field assessments are paid a livable and competitive wage and have appropriate initial training and receive continuing education.
(5) Each recovery navigator program must submit quarterly reports to the authority with information identified by the authority and the substance use recovery services advisory committee. The reports must be provided to the substance use recovery services advisory committee for discussion at meetings following the submission of the reports.
[ 2021 c 311 § 2.]
NOTES:
Effective date—2021 c 311 §§ 1-11 and 13-21: "Sections 1 through 11 and 13 through 21 of this act are necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and take effect immediately [May 13, 2021]." [ 2021 c 311 § 26.]