Massachusetts § 2I - Substance Abuse Services Fund

§ 2I. Substance Abuse Services Fund

Section 2I. (a) There shall be established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a Substance Abuse Services Fund to be expended, without further appropriation, by the department of public health. The commissioner of public health shall, as trustee, administer the fund. The fund shall consist of revenues collected by the commonwealth including: (i) any revenue from appropriations or other monies authorized by the general court and specifically designated to be credited to the fund; (ii) any funds from public and private sources, including gifts, grants and donations to provide substance use disorder treatment services; (iii) any interest earned on such revenues; and (iv) any funds provided from other sources. Money remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the General Fund.

(b) All expenditures from the fund shall support the expansion of substance use disorder treatment services including, but not limited to: (i) detoxification services; (ii) clinical stabilization services; (iii) residential treatment services; (iv) outpatient treatment services; (v) counseling; (vi) promoting the access of primary care providers, including nurse practitioners and physician assistants, to available, trained and certified addiction physician specialists for consultation or referral; and (vii) educating primary care providers, including nurse practitioners and physician assistants, about addiction prevention and treatment and encouraging primary care physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants to screen for signs of substance abuse.

(c) In making expenditures from the fund, the commissioner shall prioritize: (i) treatment methods that are evidence-based and cost effective; (ii) ensuring substance use disorder treatment access to historically underserved populations; and (iii) availability of a continuum of services and care for clients entering substance use disorder treatment at any level.

(d) The commissioner of public health shall report quarterly to the executive office for administration and finance, the joint committee on mental health and substance abuse and the house and senate committees on ways and means on: (i) the way funds were spent in the previous quarter including, but not limited to, an itemized accounting of the goods and services that were procured; (ii) an accounting of substance use disorder services provided by the fund, broken down by month and type of service, from 2011 to the current quarter, inclusive; (iii) the number of clients served, by month and type of service, by the goods and services procured in the previous quarter; (iv) amounts expended by type of service for each month in the prior quarter; and (v) procurement and service goals for the subsequent quarter.