§ 28:14 — Funding priorities; cost-effectiveness

§14. Funding priorities; cost-effectiveness
A. The department may ensure that all current and future funds are expended in the
most cost-effective manner and services are provided in accordance with recommended best
practices subject to state oversight to ensure accountability to taxpayers and the public. The
department may evaluate existing proposed expenditure plans for behavioral health services
and determine the best use of such funds to achieve positive policy outcomes in the
behavioral health community. This effort may involve the use of innovative methods of
expanding the reach of current funding and securing increased local, regional, state, federal,
or private source funding in the future. The department may develop methods for estimating
the need for behavioral health services in certain regions of the state, with special attention
to underfunded and inaccessible programs, and allocate state funds or resources according
to that need.
B. The state may continue to provide funding for behavioral health services that are
not less than the existing allocations from the state general fund.

Legislative History

Acts 2012, No. 506, §1; Acts 2017, No. 369, §2.