HB 671-FN-A - AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE
18Feb2015… 0354h
2015 SESSION
15-0767
01/10
HOUSE BILL 671-FN-A
AN ACT relative to mental health first aid training and making an appropriation therefor.
SPONSORS: Rep. MacKay, Merr 14; Rep. Snow, Hills 42; Rep. Deloge, Merr 16; Rep. LeBrun, Hills 32; Rep. Frazer, Merr 13; Rep. Kenison, Merr 15; Sen. Feltes, Dist 15; Sen. Reagan, Dist 17
COMMITTEE: Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs
AMENDED ANALYSIS
This bill establishes a line item in the state budget for the purpose of accepting financial support for establishing mental health first aid training programs. The bill makes an appropriation for the purposes of the bill.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
18Feb2015… 0354h
15-0767
01/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Fifteen
AN ACT relative to mental health first aid training and making an appropriation therefor.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Statement of Purpose.
I. The general court recognizes the emergence of mental health first aid and the increasing role it plays nationally in educating and empowering community leaders, health care education and safety officials, and others who may deal with mental health crises on the local level. New Hampshire has already established itself as a leader in this movement by holding the first statewide mental health first aid training program in 2014.
II. It is the intent of the general court to support and encourage mental health first aid training programs through state, county, and local public-private partnerships, using the curriculum and format prescribed by the National Council on Behavioral Health. Therefore, the general court hereby establishes a line item in the state budget to accept financial support for such programs.
2 State Operating Budget for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 2017. There is hereby established a line item in the state operating budget ending June 30, 2017 to accept grants, federal funds, and other financial support for the mental health first aid training programs described in section 1 of this act.
3 Appropriation; Mental Health First Aid Program. The sum of $1 for the biennium ending June 30, 2017 is hereby appropriated to the department of health and human services for the purposes of section 2 of this act. The governor is authorized to draw a warrant for said sum out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.
4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect July 1, 2015.
LBAO
15-0767
Revised 01/29/15
HB 671-FN-A FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT establishing a state mental health first aid program and making an appropriation therefor.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Department of Health and Human Services states this bill, as introduced, will increase state, county, and local expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2016 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on state, county, or local revenue.
This bill appropriates $1 to from the state general fund to the Department of Health and Human Services for the biennium year ending June 30, 2017 for the purpose of this act.
METHODOLOGY:
The Department states this bill would require the Department to establish a mental health first aid training program utilizing trainers certified by a national authority. The Department indicates the cost to certify the trainers is $2,000 per trainer. The train-the-trainer model requires that each trainer, in conjunction with another certified trainer, conducts three trainings with each training reaching approximately 25 individuals. Each individual trained would receive a handbook at a cost of $16. The Department states the legislation appears to contemplate training a large number of individuals. In order to manage a large training program, the Department assumes a training coordinator (LG 21) would be needed to:
• Collaborate with the community mental health system;
• Develop the training program;
• Apply for any available federal grants;
• Arrange for training sites;
• Conduct an evaluation program; and
• Prepare and submit annual reports to the legislature.
The Department estimates the total annual costs for the training coordinator would be $71,000 in FY 2016, $69,000 in FY 2017, $72,000 in FY 2018 and $75,000 in FY 2019. The Department is not able to provide a complete estimate of the fiscal impact because it does not have information on the number of individuals that would be trained, the availability or amount of federal grants, or the number or size of training grants that will be awarded.