CS for SB 7068 Summary

• Consolidates mental health and substance abuse treatment frameworks under chapter 394 (mental health) instead of separate chapter 397 statutes, creating unified involuntary examination and placement procedures for both conditions.

• Establishes mental health and substance abuse treatment advance directives (similar to living wills) allowing individuals to document treatment preferences and designate surrogates to make care decisions if they become incapacitated.

• Creates treatment-based mental health court programs authorized by counties to divert individuals with mental illness from criminal justice system into community-based treatment with judicial oversight.

• Implements a Forensic Hospital Diversion Pilot Program in five judicial circuits to provide community-based competency restoration and reintegration services as alternative to state forensic hospitals.

• Requires substantial revisions to behavioral health managing entity contracts focusing on performance-based accountability, coordinated care organization designation, and improved integration of behavioral health with primary care services.