Utah lawmakers on Wednesday rejected a bill meant to promote research-proven mental-health treatment in Utah, saying the measure needed more work, and referred it instead for further study.
House Bill 199, sponsored by Rep. Kelly Miles, R-Ogden, would push mental-health and substance-abuse facilities in Utah to use more “evidence-based” treatment programs backed by substantial scientific research.
HB199 also would require Utah’s 13 publicly funded treatment centers to report to state officials which programs they are using that are evidence-based. And the state would form a special task force to study the performance of the centers, based on mental-health outcomes and other factors.