Information About the Commission
The Middlesex County Restoration Center Commission is responsible for designing and piloting a restoration center in Middlesex County. The restoration center will divert individuals with behavioral health (mental health and substance use) conditions from arrest or unnecessary hospitalization in New England’s most populous county by expanding behavioral health treatment capacity in a community-based setting.
Members of the Commission
- Middlesex Sheriff Peter J. Koutoujian (Co-Chair)
- Dr. Danna Mauch, PhD, President, and CEO of the Massachusetts Association for Mental Health (Co-Chair)
- Senator Cindy Friedman
- Representative Kenneth Gordon
- Scott Taberner, Executive Office of Health, and Human Services
- Nancy Connolly, Assistant Secretary for Forensic Services, Department of Mental Health
- Deirdre Calvert, Director of the Bureau of Substance Addiction Services, Department of Public Health
- Lydia Conley, President and CEO, Association for Behavioral Healthcare
- Eliza Williamson, Director of Programs, National Alliance for Mental Illness of Massachusetts
- Chief Justice Paula Carey, Massachusetts Trial Court
- Chief Roy Frost, Chief of Police, Billerica Police Department
- Audrey Shelto, President and Chief Executive Officer, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation
Work of the Commission
In its first year, the Commission submitted findings and recommendations from an analysis of the gaps in the current system of behavioral health care and criminal justice diversionary services.
In its second year, the Commission submitted findings from a planning process to design a restoration center in Middlesex County, based primarily on the work of a contracted consulting entity, Advocates, Inc.
In its third year, the Commission submitted a plan for accomplishing the task of piloting a restoration center in Middlesex County, details on a Request for Responses to procure a provider to pilot said services, and legislative recommendations for Year Four of the Commission.
In its fourth year, the Commission developed strategies to procure a provider entity to operate a four-year restoration center pilot program in Middlesex County.
Legislative Authority
This legislation establishes the Commission and describes its authority and duties.
Chapter 69 of the Acts of 2018, An Act relative to criminal justice reform
SECTION 225. (a) There shall be a restoration center commission in the former county of Middlesex to plan and implement a county restoration center and program to divert persons suffering from mental illness or substance use disorder who interact with law enforcement or the court system during a pre-arrest investigation or the pre-adjudication process from lock-up facilities and hospital emergency departments to appropriate treatment.
(b) The commission shall consist of 11 members: the Middlesex county sheriff or a designee who shall serve as co-chair; a representative from the Massachusetts Association for Mental Health who shall serve as co-chair; a representative of the National Alliance for Mental Illness Massachusetts; a representative from the Middlesex County Chiefs Association, from police departments within Middlesex county that have received critical incident training or have established a local jail diversion program; a representative from the Association for Behavioral Healthcare, Inc.; 1 member of the senate appointed by the senate president; a; 1 member of the house of representatives appointed by the speaker of the house; a representative from the department of mental health with knowledge of sequential intercept mapping and forensic services; a representative from the department of public health with knowledge of sequential intercept mapping and forensic services; a representative from the trial courts who shall be appointed by the chief justice of the trial court and who shall have specialty court experience or probation experience within Middlesex county; and a representative from MassHealth who shall have knowledge of insurance vehicles, including Medicaid. The commission shall hold its first meeting not later than 30 days after the effective date of this act.
(c) The commission shall develop and implement a 3-year plan to build a restoration center in the former county of Middlesex. In the first year, the commission shall: (i) perform an examination of state and national best practices including, but not limited to, the Bexar County model, which has received national recognition from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration for its success in diverting individuals with behavioral health issues away from the criminal justice system and into appropriate treatment; and (ii) review the current capacity of mental health providers within the former county of Middlesex to provide behavioral health services to individuals suffering from mental illness or substance use disorders who interact with law enforcement or the court system and the barriers they face to accessing treatment. In the second year, the commission shall develop a jail diversion program and an initial pilot focused on providing integrated community-based services from a centralized location and perform an analysis of potential costs and cost savings. In the third year, the commission shall develop a restoration center and secure funding for a subsequent 2-year period.
(d) Within 1 year after the effective date of this act, the commission shall submit its findings and recommendations for a restoration center, together with drafts of legislation necessary to carry out those recommendations, including a report on the current capacity to provide behavioral health services to individuals suffering from mental illness or substance use disorder, which shall include, but not be limited to, the type of services pre-arrest, pre-release and post-release, location of services, types of patients served and barriers to diverting individuals away from the criminal justice system and into treatment. Within 2 years after the effective date of this act, the commission shall report on the outcome of the pilot programs and provide a full implementation plan for a restoration center including, but not limited to, deliverables, barriers to implementation and costs. Reports shall be submitted to the senate and house committees on ways and means, the joint committee on mental health and substance abuse, the executive office of public safety and security, the executive office of health and human services and the governor. The commission shall thereafter produce an annual report, which shall include, but not be limited to, a list of services and programs, populations served and financial information.
C.126 of the Acts of 2022, An Act Making Appropriations for the Fiscal Year 2023
SECTION 142. (a) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, there shall be a restoration center commission in the former county of Middlesex, as previously established in section 225 of chapter 69 of the acts of 2018, to continue the planning and implementation of the second phase of recommendations of said commission.
(b) The commission shall consist of: the Middlesex county sheriff, or a designee, who shall serve as co-chair; the president of the Massachusetts Association for Mental Health, Inc., or a designee, who shall serve as co-chair; 1 member appointed by the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Massachusetts, Inc.; 1 member appointed by the Middlesex County Chiefs of Police Association from a police department within the former Middlesex county that has received critical incident training or has established a local jail diversion program; 1 member of the senate; 1 member of the house of representatives; a member appointed by the chief justice of the trial court with specialty court experience; 3 members appointed by the secretary of health and human services, 1 of whom shall be from MassHealth with knowledge of insurance vehicles, 1 of whom shall be from the department of mental health with knowledge of criminal legal system diversion and forensic services and 1 of whom shall be from the bureau of substance addiction services with knowledge of criminal legal system diversion and forensic services; 1 member appointed by the co-chairs from the philanthropic community with experience in funding programs that divert individuals with behavioral health conditions from the criminal justice system and emergency rooms into appropriate treatment; and 1 member appointed by the Association for Behavioral Healthcare, Inc., who shall serve as a nonvoting member of the commission.
(c) The commission shall: (i) oversee implementation planning and program operation of the county restoration center and program to divert persons suffering from mental illness or substance use disorder who interact with law enforcement or the court system during a pre-arrest investigation or the pre-adjudication process from lock-up facilities and hospital emergency departments to appropriate treatment; (ii) select an independent evaluator to institute a rapid cycle evaluation of center implementation to inform improvements to the center’s model of care; (iii) determine the advisability of replicating the center’s model of care across the commonwealth based on input from behavioral health provider organizations and program evaluation of and operating results for the center and develop a framework for replicating the center’s model of care; and (iv) establish a center of excellence to disseminate program knowledge, promote broad scale adoption of the center’s model of care and implement a learning community for statewide practice transformation.
(d) Annually, not later than November 1, the commission shall provide a written report to the clerks of the senate and the house of representatives, the senate and house committees on ways and means, the joint committee on mental health, substance use and recovery and the joint committee on healthcare financing summarizing the commission’s activities over the previous fiscal year.