Same strategy, different bills.

House Bill 348 would provide for legal counsel in certain areas of family law – protective order, custody, or visitation proceedings.

House Bill 367 would require that a 24/7 behavioral health crisis response system be established state-wide to assist people with mental illness.

The annual cost to fully implement each bill would exceed $10 million.

Unamended, the bills will die.

However, an amended bill could put into law the state’s commitment to provide these services on a pilot basis in one or two counties.

That’s the compromise I proposed when I met with advocates and interested parties.
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Success in the court room and the emergency room would make the case for expansion of these programs and the dollars needed to fund it.