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Rep. Tina outlines H.456 to expand community-based services, housing and diversion for justice-involved individuals
Summary
Representative Tina presented H.456 to the Human Services Committee, proposing a package of community-based services, residential recovery facilities, pilot telehealth in corrections and a temporary moratorium on building a new prison while alternatives are evaluated.
Representative Tina introduced H.456 to the House Human Services Committee, describing a comprehensive package aimed at “reducing harm, restoring justice, promoting recovery and building resilience” by prioritizing state-funded, community-based services and housing for justice-involved individuals rather than building a new correctional facility.
Tina said the bill reflects long-standing concerns about deinstitutionalization without adequate community supports and proposed specific investments including grants for supportive and transitional housing prioritizing justice-involved and marginalized populations; funding for residential recovery facilities; community-justice centers and restorative-justice programs; and pilot programs that expand substance-use and mental-health outpatient services inside correctional facilities using community-based providers via telehealth. She noted one proposal to fund provider visits or telehealth in jails from a pilot fund until Medicaid billing or other payers take effect, to ensure continuity of care during incarceration and at release.
Sponsor testimony also recommended delaying construction of any new prison (a temporary moratorium) while communities pilot alternatives and measure cost savings, and suggested the Joint Legislative Justice Oversight Committee monitor reinvestments and report on outcomes. Tina discussed potential cost savings from bringing people back from out-of-state facilities and reinvesting those funds into local housing and services. Committee members engaged on topics including diversion, residential secure recovery facilities, Medicaid coverage beginning prior to release (noting current 90-day pre-release Medicaid provisions), and the practicalities of telehealth infrastructure in correctional settings.
No committee vote occurred; the sponsor asked committee members to consider elements of the proposal in ongoing human-services and justice-related work and signaled willingness to refine the text with legislative counsel.
