HELENA — After more than a year of work, a state commission has come out with its final report, laying out recommendations for how to invest millions of dollars into Montana’s behavioral health system.
Monday at the State Capitol, the Behavioral Health System for Future Generations Commission presented their report to Gov. Greg Gianforte.
“This has been a monumental task,” Gianforte said. “You’ve taken the challenge and delivered, and we’re very appreciative.”
Last year, the Montana Legislature passed and Gianforte signed House Bill 872, which set aside $300 million over the coming years to strengthen services for people with behavioral health needs or developmental disabilities.
The bill created the commission and tasked them with recommending how to use that money.
The final report lists 22 long-term recommendations, along with 11 “near-term initiatives” the state could implement immediately. The longer-term ideas include things like expanding crisis response and stabilization services, boosting case management programs and adding more workforce training and support for service providers.
Last week, Gianforte announced the state had adopted the latest short-term recommendation, using $2.5 million to create grants to help rural and tribal communities design locally-developed behavioral health solutions.
The report says it could take more than $100 million to initially launch all the recommended long-term initiatives — but another $131 million a year in federal and state funding to keep them going afterward. That means it’s going to take years — and support from the Legislature — to make them a reality.
State Rep. Bob Keenan, R-Bigfork, who chaired the commission, said he’s optimistic about where things will go from here.
“It was a challenge to get the bill through the Legislature, but since the legislators across the state have watched us go through this process, I can't tell you the number of people that have come up to me and supported what we're trying to do with this commission, and have asked how they can help,” he said. “I think we've got a bit of a grass fire amongst legislators that recognize that these mental health challenges, service challenges are all over the state – they impact so many people and so many lives, in so many towns and villages.”
Commission members said they’re proud of the work they’ve done — and of the way they worked together.
“I think that this commission can almost serve as a role model of creative governance through collaboration and relationships,” said Rep. Dave Fern, D-Whitefish. “We on the commission, and with the folks at DPHHS, I think are lifelong friends. We can get rid of our labels and kind of roll up our sleeves and try to problem solve and then go out and meet the people. And so I'm very enthusiastic about maybe a future with more commissions that can tackle some of our major problems facing our people.”
The work of the commission is still not complete. Keenan said they’ll meet next month to start discussing how to use a separate $75 million that was set aside for capital spending on things like state facilities.
Leaders said the most significant milestone at Monday’s meeting is that, regardless of what happens next, the state now has a plan for addressing these behavioral health needs.
“Governor, we're excited to turn this report over to you for our continued work together,” said Sen. John Esp, R-Big Timber, who spoke about having wanted to tackle these issues in the Legislature for years. “Please treat it gently. Our families are depending on this.”
