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Lawmakers hear resolution asking legislative management to study services for people with neurological conditions and behavioral symptoms
Summary
Representative Gretchen Dobrevitch asked the Senate Human Services Committee to refer House Concurrent Resolution 3029 for interim study to examine inpatient, community‑based services and waivers for people with neurological conditions, citing connections to incarceration, homelessness and frequent hospitalization.
Representative Gretchen Dobrevitch (District 11, Fargo) asked the Senate Human Services Committee to support House Concurrent Resolution 3029, a request that legislative management study inpatient services, community‑based supports and current waivers for people with neurological conditions whose behavioral symptoms place them at risk of incarceration, inappropriate placement or homelessness.
Dobrevitch said the resolution grew from constituent requests and would examine gaps in services for adults on the autism spectrum, people with acquired brain injuries and other neurological conditions. “It is estimated that 60 percent of incarcerated people have traumatic brain injuries,” Dobrevitch said, explaining the study would explore whether earlier intervention could reduce incarceration, recidivism and housing instability.
Rebecca Quinn, associate director at the UND Center for Rural Health, testified in support and described work by a geri‑psychiatric task force and local programs that identify people with brain injury needs in behavioral health and corrections systems. Quinn told the committee the state has developed stronger community supports for children with autism but fewer services for adults once they leave school. She noted that “more than half of the individuals in our gero psych facilities are under the age of 65,” and said the study could help identify how adult‑aging services and behavioral‑health supports overlap and where new options might be developed.
Quinn also cited pilot work integrating brain‑injury screening into the Department of Corrections and said the UND center recently secured a Department of Justice grant to expand screening in corrections.
No appropriation was attached to the resolution when Dobrevitch filed it; she asked the committee to consider whether an appropriation could be added or whether leadership could secure funding through other committee budgets to support a contracted evaluator if the study is adopted.
Committee members asked whether UND staff had talked with state specialists; Dobrevitch said Rebecca Quinn had been “key in developing the resolution” and Quinn confirmed she had sketched graphics and requested broader study resources.
The committee did not take a final vote on the resolution during the hearing. Dobrevitch said she would accept amendments and urged committee members to consider referring the resolution for interim study to legislative management.
