Evers signs four mental health bills into law, but vetoes out-of-state telehealth bill

Gov. Tony Evers signed four mental health-related bills into law last week, but vetoed a fifth that would have allowed Wisconsin residents to receive out-of-state telehealth counseling services.

Three bills gave support to law enforcement officers, public safety personnel and correctional officers, while the fourth would expand the number of regional crisis urgent care and observation centers, replicating what is available at Winnebago Mental Health Institute and allowing patients to be treated closer to home.

These new laws, in addition to harm reduction efforts related to legalizing xylazine or "tranq" testing strips, were penned the wake of Evers declaring 2023 "The Year of Mental Health" in which he stated Jan. 24, 2023, "We cannot look back two years from now as we prepare the next budget and wonder whether we should’ve done more and sooner to take good care of our mental health. Let’s take this seriously, and let’s start today."

The laws signed last week emphasize the importance of behavioral health education and assistance in times of crisis.

Here's a look at each of the bills.

Expansion of crisis center facilities will treat patients closer to home

Under the current emergency detention process, a patient is taken either to Winnebago Mental Health Institute or an emergency room to be evaluated and admitted. It sometimes requires law enforcement officers to cuff people in crisis and transport them hundreds of miles from an ER to a treatment center.

The new law expands the crisis urgent care and observation centers to ensure that people in crisis have someone to contact, someone to respond and a safe place to get help.

Under the law, DHS will establish a process to certify centers across the state, taking into account where they are located, their number of beds, and the estimated population they will serve, among other criteria. The department will also establish a grant program to help support them.

"Crisis urgent care and observation facilities will provide staff and services to de-escalate and treat young people and adults experiencing a mental health crisis without long wait times or family having to travel for hours," DHS Deputy Secretary Deb Standridge wrote in a press release. "And when law enforcement is involved, they no longer need to decide between an emergency room or jail."

Law enforcement officers will have access to virtual behavioral health crisis care services

If the increasing volume of 988 calls in Wisconsin serves as an indication, more Wisconsinites are experiencing mental health crises that sometimes require emergency detention.

But research shows that emergency detentions, without the guidance provided by behavioral health professional through virtual crisis care, can mean more people needlessly get involuntarily committed, according to a 2023 report in part conducted by researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

The new law, signed by Evers, pilots a program that gives law enforcement officers direct contact to a virtual crisis care service. It's intended to put medical professionals in the virtual seat alongside responding officers, to advise them on how to respond to a person having a mental health crisis.

It's a bill that state Sen. Jesse James, R-Altoona, the only active-duty officer in the Wisconsin Legislature, said he wholeheartedly supports.

"By reducing the amount of involuntary commitments or the need to relocate those experiencing a manic episode, police departments are able to save precious time, resources, and taxpayer dollars," James said.

Later this year, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services will establish a pilot program for virtual crisis care services for use by law enforcement, according to text from the new law. DHS will be reviewing proposals from certified county crisis agencies and award contracts to a select group of agencies.

Those agencies may contract with local law enforcement jurisdictions to provide telehealth equipment and virtual behavioral health care.

Because it's a pilot program, by May 1, 2025, DHS will submit information from the various crisis agencies to the Joint Finance Committee, such as the number of incidents handled and an estimate of how many working hours were saved by utilizing the virtual crisis care services.

First responders to receive peer-counseling support and critical incident stress management

More law enforcement officers and firefighters die by suicide than they do from line-of-duty deaths, according to the Ruderman Family Foundation. That may be part of why testimonials poured in to support a bill that would give first responders access to crisis services.

To put the need into perspective, the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found that, while 90% of the general public risks experiencing one critical event in their lifetime, first responders can experience anywhere between 100 to more than 1,000 critical incidents throughout their careers.

This law allows the Wisconsin Department of Justice to create a program that establishes peer support and critical stress management service teams, which first responder agencies can establish as part of their services.

Under the new law, certain public safety personnel will be able to provide emotional and moral support, plus coping mechanism, for personnel or volunteers affected by a critical incident.

More mental health training to come for correctional officers

Nearly 10% of all Wisconsin prisoners in solitary confinement today have a serious mental illness.

And just over 1,800 prisoners in Wisconsin have been diagnosed with a serious mental illness such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, personality disorder and severe depression, according to the most recent data from the Wisconsin Department of Corrections.

This new law would require training for correctional staff on how they identify and report symptoms of psychosis and the transfer of inmates in active psychosis to a mental health treatment facility or the Wisconsin Resource Center, based on the opinion of a health care professional of the jail, prison or DOC.

The law also requires that, if an incarcerated person experiences active psychosis for more than 72 hours, the Department of Corrections must authorize the transfer of the individual to a state treatment facility or the Wisconsin Resource Center.

Evers vetoes out-of-state behavioral telehealth services bill

So far, Evers has only vetoed one mental health-related bill that's landed on his desk and it has to do with using out-of-state mental health providers. The bill would have enabled out-of-state providers to practice via telehealth without first needing to be licensed within the state, so long as their license was in good standing.

But in his veto statement delivered Friday, Evers said such a bill risks Wisconsinites receiving subpar or even "unethical" behavioral health treatment. Wisconsin, he noted, is already part of PSYPACT, an interstate compact designed to facilitate telepsychology work. This allows psychologists who practice in other PSYPACT states to attain an authority to practice interjurisdictional telepsychology.

Of concern to the governor is the fact that, in cases where poor treatment or unethical behavior does occur, patients have little recourse for complaints.

"Credentialing examining boards in Wisconsin and the Department of Safety and Professional Services have no jurisdiction in other states, complaints filed on an out-of-state practitioner would not be able to be acted upon in Wisconsin, leaving patients and consumers fighting those matters across state lines," Evers wrote. "I cannot support legislation that is likely to ultimately reduce healthcare quality and patient protections for Wisconsinites across our state."

Natalie Eilbert covers mental health issues for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin. She welcomes story tips and feedback. You can reach her at neilbert@gannett.com or view her Twitter profile at @natalie_eilbert. If you or someone you know is dealing with suicidal thoughts, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or text "Hopeline" to the National Crisis Text Line at 741-741.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Evers signs four bills into law that support mental health services