                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

PROGRAM FOR MENTAL HEALTH AND REHABILITATIVE SERVICES (§ 2.2-2001.1)

A. The Department, in cooperation with the Department of Behavioral Health and
Developmental Services and the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services,
shall establish a program to monitor and coordinate mental health and
rehabilitative services support for military service members transitioning from
military to civilian life, veterans, members of the Virginia National Guard,
Virginia residents in the Armed Forces Reserves, and their family members. The
purpose of the program is to, in a cost-effective manner, refer such
transitioning service members, veterans, members of the Virginia National Guard,
Virginia residents in the Armed Forces Reserves, and their family members to
mental health, physical rehabilitation, and other services as needed to help
them achieve individually identified goals and to periodically monitor their
progress toward achieving those goals.

B. The program shall, subject to the availability of public and private funds
appropriated for such purposes, (i) build awareness of veterans&#8217; service
needs and the availability of the program through marketing, outreach, training
for first responders, service providers, and others; (ii) collaborate with
relevant agencies of the Commonwealth, localities, and service providers; (iii)
develop and implement a consistent method of determining how many veterans in
the Commonwealth are in need of mental health, physical rehabilitation, or other
services currently or may be in need of such services in the future; (iv) work
with veterans to develop a coordinated resources plan that identifies
appropriate service providers to meet the veteran&#8217;s service needs; (v)
refer veterans to appropriate and available providers on the basis of needs
identified in the coordinated resources plan; and (vi) monitor progress toward
individually identified goals in accordance with the coordinated resource plan.
			Coordinated resources plans shall be developed and veterans shall be referred
to necessary services in a timely manner. The program shall prioritize veterans
served on the basis of the immediacy and severity of service needs and the
likelihood that those needs are attributable to the veteran&#8217;s military
service or combat experience.

C. The program shall cooperate with localities that may establish special
treatment procedures for veterans and active military service members such as
authorized by §§ 9.1-173 and 9.1-174. To facilitate local involvement and
flexibility in responding to the problem of crime in local communities and to
effectively treat, counsel, rehabilitate, and supervise veterans and active
military service members who are offenders or defendants in the criminal justice
system and who need access to proper treatment for mental illness, including
major depression, alcohol or drug abuse, post traumatic stress disorder,
traumatic brain injury or a combination of these, any city, county, or
combination thereof may develop, establish, and maintain policies, procedures,
and treatment services for all such offenders who are convicted and sentenced
for misdemeanors or felonies that are not felony acts of violence, as defined in
§ 19.2-297.1. Such policies, procedures, and treatment services shall be
designed to provide:

   1. Coordination of treatment and counseling services available to the criminal
   justice system case processing;

   2. Enhanced public safety through offender supervision, counseling, and
   treatment;

   3. Prompt identification and placement of eligible participants;

   4. Access to a continuum of treatment, rehabilitation, and counseling services
   in collaboration with such care providers as are willing and able to provide
   the services needed;

   5. Where appropriate, verified participant abstinence through frequent alcohol
   and other drug testing;

   6. Prompt response to participants&#8217; noncompliance with program
   requirements;

   7. Ongoing monitoring and evaluation of program effectiveness and efficiency;

   8. Ongoing education and training in support of program effectiveness and
   efficiency;

   9. Ongoing collaboration among public agencies, community-based organizations
   and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs health care networks, the Veterans
   Benefits Administration, volunteer veteran mentors, and veterans and military
   family support organizations; and

   10. The creation of a veterans and military service members&#8217; advisory
   council to provide input on the operations of such programs. The council shall
   include individuals responsible for the criminal justice procedures program
   along with veterans and, if available, active military service members.

D. The Commissioner shall include the results of the program in the annual
report submitted to the Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs, the Governor,
and the General Assembly pursuant to &#xA7; 2.2-2004. The report shall include
the number of transitioning service members, veterans, members of the Virginia
National Guard, Virginia residents in the Armed Forces Reserves, and their
family members affected by covered military members&#8217; service and
deployments for whom coordinated resources plans are developed and who are
referred for services; information about services provided to transitioning
service members, veterans, members of the Virginia National Guard, Virginia
residents in the Armed Forces Reserves, and their family members, including
information about the types of services provided and the quality of those
services; and the number of transitioning service members, veterans, members of
the Virginia National Guard, Virginia residents in the Armed Forces Reserves,
and their family members identified by the program as in need of services but
not referred for services.

HISTORY: 2008, cc. 584, 754; 2009, cc. 813, 840; 2010, c. 58; 2011, cc. 772,
847; 2012, cc. 803, 835; 2017, c. 497; 2018, c. 648; 2023, cc. 246, 247.