Montana Legislature Adjourns: Update on Two Years Worth of Work For Mental Health in Montana

May 9, 2023

The 2023 Montana Legislature has concluded. It was a long and challenging session. Much of NAMI Montana’s work this year was built two years in advance through interim studies on mental health and criminal justice that closely examined the challenges facing Montana’s mental health treatment system — for adults and youth, in community settings, and in inpatient facilities.

NAMI Montana’s Key Legislative Priorities

Going into the session, NAMI Montana focused on the following goals:

• Improving funding for youth suicide prevention

• Enhancing reimbursement for community mental health crisis beds

• Improving reimbursement rates for community behavioral health providers

• Calling for legislative implementation of Certified Community Behavioral Health Centers (CCBHCs)

• Improving the conditional release process for offenders with serious mental health conditions

• Strengthening Montana State Hospital and other state health facilities

NAMI Montana was fortunate to work closely with Governor Gianforte and bipartisan legislators to make meaningful progress on all of these priorities.

Key Bills NAMI Montana Helped Advance

While it’s impossible to capture everything that passed during the session, the following bills represent major efforts that NAMI Montana helped draft and support. We are deeply grateful to the bill sponsors and everyone who supported these measures.

• HB 286 — Rep. Mary Caferro
  Allows HEART funds to be used for youth suicide prevention

• HB 557 — Rep. Jennifer Carlson
  Allows HEART funds to be used for community mental health crisis beds

• SB 6 — Senator Jen Gross
  Improves the conditional release process for individuals with serious mental health conditions

• HB 310 — Rep. Jennifer Carlson
  Requires reporting and transparency around the use of HEART funds

• HB 346 — Rep. Jonathan Windy Boy
  Updates and continues the Tribal Youth Coding Internship Program

Major Budget and Infrastructure Investments

Two of the most significant wins for mental health care were tied directly to the Governor’s budget:

• HB 2 — Rep. Llew Jones
  State budget bill that significantly increased provider reimbursement rates for mental health services

• HB 872 — Rep. Bob Keenan
  Establishes planning and funding for long-term behavioral health system infrastructure through the Future Generations initiative

These investments represent critical steps toward rebuilding Montana’s public mental health treatment system.

Certified Community Behavioral Health Centers (CCBHCs)

While legislation to fully implement CCBHCs did not pass this session — including bills sponsored by Rep. Ed Stafman and Rep. Jane Gillette — progress continues.

Montana DPHHS successfully applied for and received a major CCBHC planning grant from SAMHSA, keeping Montana on a strong path toward adopting this proven model of behavioral health financing and care delivery.

What Comes Next

The policy break was brief. NAMI Montana has already met with the Behavioral Health Division regarding implementation of newly passed statutes, and interim legislative committees will resume meetings over the summer.

We remain committed to advancing policies that improve access, quality, and outcomes for Montanans living with mental health conditions and their families.

Sincerely,

Matt Kuntz, JD

Executive Director
NAMI Montana