ATLANTA (September 23, 2021) | Recently, Sen. Brian Strickland (R – McDonough), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, was appointed by Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan to serve on the Georgia Behavioral Health Reform and Innovation Commission.
“This Commission is comprised of experts from around the state that are coming together to offer expertise to address mental health and the impact it has on our citizens individually and the way it impacts all citizens in this state through the way mental health challenges are currently being handled,” said Sen. Strickland. “I look forward to offering my legal and legislative experience to this Commission and working with the other members to bring forth meaningful legislation to address what remains one of the biggest challenges facing our state.”
The Georgia Behavioral Health Reform and Innovation Commission was created in 2019 with the passage of House Bill 514. The Commission is tasked with conducting a comprehensive review of the behavioral health system in Georgia, including the behavioral health services and facilities available in Georgia, the identification of behavioral health issues in children, adolescents, and adults, the role the educational system has in the identification and treatment of behavioral health issues, the impact behavioral health issues have on the court system and correctional system, the legal and systemic barriers to treatment of mental illnesses, workforce shortages that impact the delivery of care, whether there is sufficient access to behavioral health services and supports and the role of payers in such access, the impact of how untreated behavioral illness can impact children into adulthood, the need for aftercare for persons exiting the criminal justice system, and the impact of behavioral illness on the state’s homeless population.
You can read the full text of HB 514 here: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/55534
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For Immediate Release:
Sept. 24, 2021
Andrew Allison, Director
404.656.0028