Committee approves bill moving certain facility regulation from DCH to DBHDD

The Senate Health and Human Services Committee advanced a department bill (LC570270S) that moves regulation of certain facilities from the Department of Community Health (DCH) to the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD). Committee members said the change aligns regulatory authority with the agencies that most regularly interact with those programs.

The bill would shift licensing and inspection responsibilities for facilities such as residential mental-health programs, community living arrangements (CLAs) serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, drug-abuse treatment programs and narcotic treatment programs from DCH to DBHDD. The presenter said the staff who regulate those programs would move with the responsibilities and that the budget already reflects that change.

Melanie Simon, general counsel for DCH, told the committee that unlicensed facilities providing those services would fall under DBHDD enforcement and that investigations of unlicensed or criminal activity are often coordinated with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation or the state law department. “Because these statutes do require licensure, a facility that's providing the services and is not licensed would be an unlicensed facility and DBHDD would be pursuing those investigations,” Simon said.

Senators discussed recovery residences and a planned study committee on that issue. The sponsor moved the bill; the motion was seconded and the committee approved it unanimously. The transcript does not record a roll-call tally.