(1) The Oversight and Accountability Council shall approve grants and funding provided by the Oregon Health Authority in accordance with this section to implement Behavioral Health Resource Networks and increase access to community care. A Behavioral Health Resource Network is an entity or collection of entities that individually or jointly provide some or all of the services described in subsection (2)(e) of this section.

(2)(a) The authority shall establish an equitable:

(A) Process for applying for grants and funding by agencies or organizations, whether government or community based, to establish Behavioral Health Resource Networks for the purposes of immediately screening the acute needs of individuals with substance use, including those who also have a mental illness, and assessing and addressing any ongoing needs through ongoing case management, harm reduction, treatment, housing and linkage to other care and services.

(B) Evaluation process to assess the effectiveness of Behavioral Health Resource Networks that receive grants or funding.

(b) Recipients of grants or funding must be licensed, certified or credentialed by the state, including certification under ORS § 743A.168 (9), or meet criteria prescribed by rule by the authority under ORS § 430.390. A recipient of a grant or funding under this subsection may not use the grant or funding to supplant the recipient’s existing funding.

(c) The council and the authority shall ensure that residents of each county have access to all of the services described in paragraph (e) of this subsection.

(d) Applicants for grants and funding may apply individually or jointly with other network participants to provide services in one or more counties.

(e) A network must have the capacity to provide the following services and any other services specified by the authority by rule but no individual participant in a network is required to provide all of the services:

(A) Screening by certified addiction peer support or wellness specialists or other qualified persons designated by the council to determine a client’s need for immediate medical or other treatment to determine what acute care is needed and where it can be best provided, identify other needs and link the client to other appropriate local or statewide services, including treatment for substance use and coexisting health problems, housing, employment, training and child care. Networks shall provide this service 24 hours a day, seven days a week, every calendar day of the year through a telephone line or other means. Networks may rely on the statewide telephone hotline established by the authority under ORS § 430.391 for telephone screenings during nonbusiness hours such as evenings, weekends and holidays. Notwithstanding paragraph (c) of this subsection, only one grantee in each network within each county is required to provide the screenings described in this subparagraph.

(B) Comprehensive behavioral health needs assessment, including a substance use screening by a certified alcohol and drug counselor or other credentialed addiction treatment professional. The assessment shall prioritize the self-identified needs of a client.

(C) Individual intervention planning, case management and connection to services. If, after the completion of a screening, a client indicates a desire to address some or all of the identified needs, a case manager shall work with the client to design an individual intervention plan. The plan must address the client’s need for substance use treatment, coexisting health problems, housing, employment and training, child care and other services.

(D) Ongoing peer counseling and support from screening and assessment through implementation of individual intervention plans as well as peer outreach workers to engage directly with marginalized community members who could potentially benefit from the network’s services.

(E) Assessment of the need for, and provision of, mobile or virtual outreach services to:

(i) Reach clients who are unable to access the network; and

(ii) Increase public awareness of network services.

(F) Harm reduction services and information and education about harm reduction services.

(G) Low-barrier substance use treatment.

(H) Transitional and supportive housing for individuals with substance use.

(f) If an applicant for a grant or funding under this subsection is unable to provide all of the services described in paragraph (e) of this subsection, the applicant may identify how the applicant intends to partner with other entities to provide the services, and the authority and the council may facilitate collaboration among applicants.

(g) All services provided through the networks must be evidence-informed, trauma-informed, culturally specific, linguistically responsive, person-centered and nonjudgmental. The goal shall be to address effectively the client’s substance use and any other social determinants of health.

(h) The networks must be adequately staffed to address the needs of people with substance use within their regions as prescribed by the authority by rule, including, at a minimum, at least one person in each of the following categories:

(A) Alcohol and drug counselor certified by the authority or other credentialed addiction treatment professional;

(B) Case manager;

(C) Addiction peer support specialist certified by the authority;

(D) Addiction peer wellness specialist certified by the authority;

(E) Recovery mentor, certified by the Mental Health and Addiction Certification Board of Oregon or its successor organization; and

(F) Youth support specialist certified by the authority.

(i) Verification of a screening by a certified addiction peer support specialist, wellness specialist or other person in accordance with paragraph (e)(A) of this subsection shall promptly be provided to the client by the entity conducting the screening. If the client executes a valid release of information, the entity shall provide verification of the screening to the authority or a contractor of the authority and the authority or the authority’s contractor shall forward the verification to the court, in the manner prescribed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, to satisfy the conditions for dismissal under ORS § 153.062 or 475.237.

(3)(a) If moneys remain in the Drug Treatment and Recovery Services Fund after the council has committed grants and funding to establish behavioral health resource networks serving every county in this state, the council shall authorize grants and funding to other agencies or organizations, whether government or community based, and to the nine federally recognized tribes in this state and service providers that are affiliated with the nine federally recognized tribes in this state to increase access to one or more of the following:

(A) Low-barrier substance use treatment that is evidence-informed, trauma-informed, culturally specific, linguistically responsive, person-centered and nonjudgmental;

(B) Peer support and recovery services;

(C) Transitional, supportive and permanent housing for persons with substance use;

(D) Harm reduction interventions including, but not limited to, overdose prevention education, access to short-acting opioid antagonists, as defined in ORS § 689.800, and sterile syringes and stimulant-specific drug education and outreach; or

(E) Incentives and supports to expand the behavioral health workforce to support the services delivered by behavioral health resource networks and entities receiving grants or funding under this subsection.

(b) A recipient of a grant or funding under this subsection may not use the grant or funding to supplant the recipient’s existing funding.

(4) In awarding grants and funding under subsections (1) and (3) of this section, the council shall:

(a) Distribute grants and funding to ensure access to:

(A) Historically underserved populations; and

(B) Culturally specific and linguistically responsive services.

(b) Consider any inventories or surveys of currently available behavioral health services.

(c) Consider available regional data related to the substance use treatment needs and the access to culturally specific and linguistically responsive services in communities in this state.

(d) Consider the needs of residents of this state for services, supports and treatment at all ages.

(5) The council shall require any government entity that applies for a grant to specify in the application details regarding subgrantees and how the government entity will fund culturally specific organizations and culturally specific services. A government entity receiving a grant must make an explicit commitment not to supplant or decrease any existing funding used to provide services funded by the grant.

(6) In determining grants and funding to be awarded, the council may consult the comprehensive addiction, prevention, treatment and recovery plan established by the Alcohol and Drug Policy Commission under ORS § 430.223 and the advice of any other group, agency, organization or individual that desires to provide advice to the council that is consistent with the terms of this section.

(7) Services provided by grantees, including services provided by a Behavioral Health Resource Network, shall be free of charge to the clients receiving the services. Grantees in each network shall seek reimbursement from insurance issuers, the medical assistance program or any other third party responsible for the cost of services provided to a client and grants and funding provided by the council or the authority under this section may be used for copayments, deductibles or other out-of-pocket costs incurred by the client for the services.

(8) Subsection (7) of this section does not require the medical assistance program to reimburse the cost of services for which another third party is responsible in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1396a(25). [2021 c.2 § 2; 2021 c.10 § 16; 2021 c.591 § 2; 2023 c.248 § 7; 2023 c.593 § 24]

See note under 430.383.