S1446 Restoration of Funding for Assertive Community Treatment

SUPPORT -This bill restores funding for Medicaid mental health treatment, including the  Assertive Community Treatment Program - an intensive, community-based model for individuals with serious and persistent mental illness.

Effective July 1, 2026, the law reinstates funding for the mobile ACT program, which had been discontinued following Medicaid budget cuts in FY 2026. The program serves individuals who have not succeeded in traditional treatment settings and has demonstrated strong outcomes in stabilizing patients and preventing crises. Notably, in the three months after the program was shut down, four former patients died, compared to just one death in the 18 months prior—underscoring the program’s impact.

Funding is restored through exemptions to program transfer limitations within the Department of Health and Welfare, utilizing personnel savings, the Millennium Income Fund, and the State-Directed Opioid Settlement Fund.

This legislation was signed into law on April 2, 2026.