Wisconsin Legislature: 249,6m

15. A description of any injuries, assaults, or other safety-related incidents.

16. A breakdown of funding, including the amounts and sources of funding.

17. The number of clients served.

18. Facility capacity, specifically the number of staffed beds.

(f) Notwithstanding the certification requirements set forth under this subsection, any facility that before the effective date of this paragraph .... [LRB inserts date], is providing crisis intervention services that on or after the effective date of this paragraph .... [LRB inserts date], would otherwise require certification as a crisis urgent care and observation facility may on and after the effective date of this paragraph .... [LRB inserts date], continue to provide these services without obtaining certification from the department under this subsection.

(3) Admissions. (a) A crisis urgent care and observation facility certified under this section may accept individuals for any of the following services:

1. Voluntary stabilization.

2. Observation and treatment, including for assessments for mental health or substance use disorder.

3. Screening for suicide and violence risk.

4. Medication management and therapeutic counseling.

(b) A crisis urgent care and observation facility certified under this section shall accept an adult individual for emergency detention under s. 51.15 and may accept a youth for emergency detention under s. 51.15. If the facility does not have capacity to accept an adult individual for purposes of emergency detention or if the facility does not accept a youth for purposes of emergency detention, that individual shall be transported to another appropriate facility in accordance with rules established by the department under sub. (4). A county crisis assessment under s. 51.15 (2) (c) is required prior to admission to a crisis urgent care and observation facility for purposes of emergency detention, but the medical clearance requirement under s. 51.15 (2) (b) does not apply to crisis urgent care and observation facility admissions for purposes of emergency detention.

(c) The department shall encourage each crisis urgent care and observation facility certified under this section to operate with the intent to admit individuals for no longer than 5 days, except in exceptional circumstances.

(4) Rules. The department shall promulgate rules to implement this section, including all of the following:

(a) Establishment of the grant program described under sub. (2), including procedures for administration and establishment of criteria for awarding grants.

(b) Establishment of requirements for crisis urgent care and observation facilities to match a portion of any grant awarded by the department under this section, as set forth under sub. (2) (c) 10., and for determining what types of contributions may count toward the matching requirement. The matching requirement established by the department under this paragraph may be fulfilled through in-kind contributions.

(d) Minimum security requirements for crisis urgent care and observation facilities certified under this section.

(e) Establishment of a target range for the number of beds in a crisis urgent care and observation facility certified under this section.

(f) Establishment of policies and criteria to ensure that law enforcement and other persons authorized to transport or cause transportation of an individual for purposes of emergency detention have clear standards and procedures regarding all of the following:

1. The circumstances under which law enforcement and other persons may bring an individual to a crisis urgent care and observation facility certified under this section.

2. The determination as to which facility law enforcement and other persons authorized to transport or cause transportation of an individual for purposes of emergency detention may take an individual.

(g) Establishment of policies relating to interfacility transfers initiated at a crisis urgent care and observation facility, including how such transfers should occur and who should be involved in such transfers. Barring exigent circumstances that necessitate law enforcement involvement, law enforcement may not transport an individual for purposes of an interfacility transfer from a crisis urgent care and observation facility.

(h) Establishment of procedures to coordinate communication regarding bed availability in a crisis urgent care and observation facility before the arrival of a patient and establishment of a process for determining where to take an individual in need of crisis services if a crisis urgent care and observation facility does not have capacity or otherwise does not accept an individual.

(i) Establishment of policies for coordination between crisis urgent care and observation facilities certified under this section and any facility established or operated with funding received under s. 165.12 from settlement proceeds from the opiate litigation, as defined in s. 165.12 (1), as well as policies to encourage awareness of and communication and coordination with other facilities that provide services similar to those provided by crisis urgent care and observation facilities.

(j) Establishment of procedures to require a crisis urgent care and observation facility to coordinate continuity of care with, when appropriate, a hub-and-spoke health home pilot program for any patient treated at a crisis urgent care and observation facility for a period of 5 or fewer days. The department shall establish procedures for follow-up with other transition facilities in the event that a hub-and-spoke health home pilot program is appropriate but not available.

(k) Establishment of policies and procedures for crisis urgent care and observation facilities that intend to accept both youths and adults, including requirements that youths be treated in a separate part of the facility from adults, policies to address youth-related treatment issues, including parental input, and staff training for youth-specific issues.

(L) Establishment of appropriate staffing level requirements, including policies to ensure the availability of adequate in-person and on-site care.

(m) Establishment of requirements to define the population to be served at a given crisis urgent care and observation facility, including establishment of any minimum age requirements.

(5) Coordination. In accordance with rules established by the department under sub. (4) (i), a crisis urgent care and observation facility certified under this section shall coordinate to the fullest extent possible with any facility established or operated with funding received under s. 165.12 from settlement proceeds from the opiate litigation, as defined in s. 165.12 (1), as well as with other facilities that provide services similar to those provided by crisis urgent care and observation facilities.

249,6m Section 6m. 51.043 of the statutes is created to read:

51.043 Crisis hostels. (1) Definitions. In this section:

(a) “Crisis hostel” means a mental health stabilization program with a maximum of 15 beds that provides crisis stabilization services to an adult individual to prevent or de-escalate the individual's mental health crisis and avoid admission of the individual to a more restrictive setting.

(b) “Crisis stabilization services” means optional emergency mental health services that provide short-term, intensive, community-based services to avoid the need for inpatient hospitalization.

(2) Certification required; exemption. (a) Except as provided in par. (b), no person may operate a crisis hostel without a certification from the department.

(b) If a county has, by the effective date of this paragraph .... [LRB inserts date], established a crisis hostel and operates the crisis hostel pursuant only to certification under ch. DHS 34, Wis. Adm. Code, where individuals whose anticipated length-of-stay is longer than 23 hours due to needs outside of crisis stabilization, and crisis stabilization services are provided in a distinct and separate area from where an individual may spend the night, the county may continue to provide crisis stabilization services without obtaining additional residential licensure and is not required to receive a certification under this section. Needs outside of crisis stabilization may include housing insecurity or stability issues necessitating coordination of transportation, advocacy, and housing assistance.

(d) The department shall establish application fees and biennial certification fees.

(e) A crisis hostel operated under par. (a) or (b) is not subject to facility regulation under ch. 50.

(3) Admissions. (a) An individual 18 years of age or older may be admitted to a crisis hostel to receive crisis stabilization services.

(b) Crisis stabilization services may only be provided at a crisis hostel on a voluntary basis to individuals who are 18 years of age or older. Crisis hostel staff may not admit an individual who is transported to the hostel involuntarily for emergency detention under s. 51.15.

(4) Rules. The department shall promulgate rules to implement this section.

249,7 Section 7. 51.15 (2) (d) of the statutes is amended to read:

51.15 (2) (d) Detention under this section may only be in a treatment facility approved by the department or the county department, if the facility agrees to detain the individual, or a state treatment facility. The department shall approve for purposes of this subsection any facility certified under s. 51.036.

249,8 Section 8. Nonstatutory provisions.

(1) When considering the initial certifications of crisis urgent care and observation facilities under s. 51.036, the department of health services shall, to the fullest extent possible, prioritize certification of a crisis urgent care and observation facility to be located at least 100 miles from the Winnebago Mental Health Institute and in the region of the state defined as the western region according to the department's division of the state into five regions by county as of January 5, 2023, for purposes of data analysis and communication.