Georgia Restructures Public Behavioral Health Community Service Boards

Georgia lawmakers enacted a bill to restructure the state’s Community Service Boards (CSBs) that provide public mental health, substance use, and developmental disability services across the state. The legislation is Senate Bill (SB) 535. The legislation was supported by the Georgia Association of Community Service Boards (GACSB).

The legislation centralizes oversight at the state level, and the Commissioner of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD) will appoint each board’s executive director. The executive directors will be responsible for hiring, discipline, termination of employees, contract execution, and day-to-day management of board operations, including contracting . . .