Bill Text: MI HB5278 | 2023-2024 | 102nd Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Military affairs: other; veteran service officer mental health training program; establish. Amends title of 1953 PA 192 (MCL 35.621 - 35.624) & adds sec. 3b. TIE BAR WITH: HB 5276'23, HB 5280'23, HB 5277'23, HB 5279'23
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 14-5)
Status: (Introduced) 2023-10-31 - Bill Electronically Reproduced 10/26/2023 [HB5278 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2023-HB5278-Introduced.html
HOUSE BILL NO. 5278
A bill to amend 1953 PA 192, entitled
"An act to create a county department of veterans' affairs in certain counties, and to prescribe its powers and duties; to create the county veteran service fund and to provide for contributions to and expenditures from that fund; and to transfer the powers and duties of the soldiers' relief commission in those counties,"
(MCL 35.621 to 35.624) by amending the title, as amended by 2018 PA 210, and by adding section 3b.
the people of the state of michigan enact:
An act to create a county department of veterans' affairs in certain counties, and to prescribe its powers and duties; to create the county veteran service fund and to provide for contributions to and expenditures from that fund; and to transfer the powers and duties of the soldiers' relief commission in those counties; to create a county veteran service officer training program; and to provide for the powers and duties of certain state governmental officers and entities.
Sec. 3b. (1) The agency shall work with the department to establish a county veteran service officer training program to train county veteran service officers to provide mental health and substance abuse screenings to veterans. The agency may work with any other state department, nonprofit organization, and stakeholder the agency considers necessary to design and implement the training program.
(2) The director of the office of mental health and suicide prevention within the agency shall oversee and supervise the training program. The agency shall offer the training program to any county veteran service officer.
(3) The agency shall offer retraining either yearly or every other year as determined by the agency for individuals who complete the training program.
(4) The mental health and substance abuse screening described in subsection (1) must be based on the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale or Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview and do all of the following:
(a) Provide for rapid referral and follow-up, if required, by a trained behavioral health professional.
(b) Identify additional social needs indicators.
(c) Provide to the veteran who receives the mental health and substance abuse screening information on additional indicators and contact information for reaching out for assistance after the mental health and substance abuse screening has been conducted.
(d) Provide a written screening report.
(e) Include a disclaimer that the mental health and substance abuse screening is intended to be purely informational and is not considered a replacement for a full evaluation by a licensed health care professional.
(5) The agency must provide a veteran who undergoes a mental health and substance abuse screening described in this section a copy of the screening report, on request, and retain the screening report for 2 years. A copy of the screening report of a veteran may be provided to a medical or behavioral health professional outside the mental health and substance abuse screening process only on the written release of that veteran.
(6) The agency shall implement a data collection policy that informs the agency where and how often the mental health and substance abuse screenings are conducted and how often the mental health and substance abuse screenings lead to additional referrals. The data collected must not contain any personal health identifying information.
(7) A screening report prepared under this section is not subject to disclosure under the freedom of information act, 1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 to 15.246.
(8) As used in this section:
(a) "Agency" means the Michigan veterans affairs agency.
(b) "Department" means the department of military and veterans affairs.
(c) "Training program" means the county veteran service officer training program created under subsection (1).
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act does not take effect unless all of the following bills of the 102nd Legislature are enacted into law:
(a) Senate Bill No.____ or House Bill No. 5276 (request no. 03396'23).
(b) Senate Bill No.____ or House Bill No. 5280 (request no. 04209'23).
(c) Senate Bill No.____ or House Bill No. 5277 (request no. 04674'23).
(d) Senate Bill No.____ or House Bill No. 5279 (request no. 04675'23).
