Section 142 Middlesex Restoration Center
(a) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, there shall be a restoration center commission in the former county of Middlesex, as previously established in section 225 of chapter 69 of the acts of 2018, to continue the planning and implementation of the second phase of recommendations of said commission.
(b) The commission shall consist of: the Middlesex county sheriff, or a designee, who shall serve as co-chair; the president of the Massachusetts Association for Mental Health, Inc., or a designee, who shall serve as co-chair; 1 member appointed by the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Massachusetts, Inc.; 1 member appointed by the Middlesex County Chiefs of Police Association from a police department within the former Middlesex county that has received critical incident training or has established a local jail diversion program; 1 member of the senate; 1 member of the house of representatives; a member appointed by the chief justice of the trial court with specialty court experience; 3 members appointed by the secretary of health and human services, 1 of whom shall be from MassHealth with knowledge of insurance vehicles, 1 of whom shall be from the department of mental health with knowledge of criminal legal system diversion and forensic services and 1 of whom shall be from the bureau of substance addiction services with knowledge of criminal legal system diversion and forensic services; 1 member appointed by the co-chairs from the philanthropic community with experience in funding programs that divert individuals with behavioral health conditions from the criminal justice system and emergency rooms into appropriate treatment; and 1 member appointed by the Association for Behavioral Healthcare, Inc., who shall serve as a nonvoting member of the commission.
(c) The commission shall: (i) oversee implementation planning and program operation of the county restoration center and program to divert persons suffering from mental illness or substance use disorder who interact with law enforcement or the court system during a pre-arrest investigation or the pre-adjudication process from lock-up facilities and hospital emergency departments to appropriate treatment; (ii) select an independent evaluator to institute a rapid cycle evaluation of center implementation to inform improvements to the center's model of care; (iii) determine the advisability of replicating the center's model of care across the commonwealth based on input from behavioral health provider organizations and program evaluation of and operating results for the center and develop a framework for replicating the center's model of care; and (iv) establish a center of excellence to disseminate program knowledge, promote broad scale adoption of the center's model of care and implement a learning community for statewide practice transformation.
(d) Annually, not later than November 1, the commission shall provide a written report to the clerks of the senate and the house of representatives, the senate and house committees on ways and means, the joint committee on mental health, substance use and recovery and the joint committee on healthcare financing summarizing the commission's activities over the previous fiscal year.