Montana Lawmakers Approve $124 Million To Revamp Behavioral Health System

Montana lawmakers approved about $124 million in state spending and up to $40 million in federal funds over the next two years to strengthen the state's behavioral health system. The plans call for building a new mental health facility in eastern Montana, adding more beds at existing state facilities, funding more crisis beds in communities, revising some civil and criminal commitment procedures, and reimbursing counties when criminal defendants who are ordered to state facilities are held in county jails.

The state has experienced waitlists for care and has been working in recent years to reverse the loss of community . . .