The 2008 Session of the General Assembly appropriated $10.3 million in Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 and $18.0 million in FY 2010 in Item 316.KK of Grants to Localities from the general fund to provide emergency services, crisis stabilization services, case management, and inpatient and outpatient mental health services for individuals who are in need of emergency mental health services or who meet the criteria for mental health treatment set forth pursuant to House Bill 559 and Senate Bill 246, 2008 Session of the General Assembly. The item also states that funding provided in it also shall be used to offset the fiscal impact of (i) establishing and providing mandatory outpatient treatment, pursuant to House Bill 499 and Senate Bill 246, 2008 Session of the General Assembly; and (ii) attendance at involuntary commitment hearings by community services board staff who have completed the preadmission screening report, pursuant to House Bill 560 and Senate Bill 246, 2008 Session of the General Assembly.

Item 316.KK requires the Commissioner of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services, in consultation with the Virginia Association of Community Services Boards, the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court, the Department of Medical Assistance Services, the Virginia Sheriffs' Association, the Medical Society of Virginia, and the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association, to implement a process for determining the allocation of funding in this item. The item lists several factors for consideration in the allocation process. These factors include an estimate of the number of consumers expected to utilize services, a method for distributing the funding across services to address the mental health treatment needs of consumers with mental illness, funding needed to support the involuntary commitment process, and an estimate of the impact of treatment costs on the Involuntary Mental Commitment Fund at the Department of Medical Assistance Services.

Finally, Item 316.KK requires the Commissioner to report on the assumptions and process used to allocate funding in it across agencies and service categories, as well as the amount of the allocations, to the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees by September 1, 2008. This report describes the activities of the Department and other stakeholders regarding the allocation of these funds and fulfills the requirement in Item 316.KK.