An Act providing for community energy facilities; imposing duties on the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, electric distribution companies and subscriber organizations; and providing for prevailing wage and labor requirements.

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Aerion Abney and 46 co-sponsors

NC HB 504 launches a 3-town pilot pairing a full-time mental health clinician with police in Matthews, Pineville, and Mint Hill to improve crisis response and referrals.

Referred to Consumer Protection & Professional Licensure

Purpose / Intent

HB 504 establishes a short‑term pilot co‑responder program that pairs mental health professionals with law enforcement officers to respond to mental‑health‑related calls. The intent is to improve crisis response, connect persons in distress to appropriate services, and reduce reliance on traditional police‑only responses.

Key provisions

Appropriation: Nonrecurring General Fund appropriation of $474,680 for each year of the 2025–2027 fiscal biennium to Mecklenburg County, to be allocated to three municipalities for the pilot.

Local allocations (annual):

Town of Matthews: $131,280
Town of Pineville: $171,700
Town of Mint Hill: $171,700

Use of funds: To hire and integrate one full‑time mental health professional within the law enforcement agency of each listed locality. Each mental health professional will be paired with law enforcement — either on a dedicated co‑responder team or as part of a specialized unit — to respond to incidents identified as involving mental health crises or persons with mental health needs.

Pilot model: Designed as a localized co‑responder model (mental health clinician + officer) rather than a statewide program; focused on integration, hiring, and operational pairing.

Who is affected

Directly: Mecklenburg County and the three municipalities (Matthews, Pineville, Mint Hill), their local law enforcement agencies, and the hired mental health professionals.

Indirectly: Residents and individuals in mental‑health crisis who may receive a co‑responder response; emergency dispatch and local behavioral health service providers who may coordinate care or referrals.

Timeline / Procedural notes

Bill effective date: July 1, 2025 (Section 2).

Status reported: Passed first reading (filed Nov 12, 2024 / first read Mar 3, 2025) and referred to appropriations in the House. (See official legislative history for subsequent committee actions or final enactment.)

Funding is nonrecurring for the 2025–2027 biennium (i.e., one‑time annual amounts within that period).

Potential impacts and considerations

Expected benefits: Faster, more clinically informed responses to behavioral‑health incidents; improved diversion to treatment and services; potential reductions in arrests, injuries, or use of force in mental‑health encounters.

Limitations: Funding is nonrecurring and limited to three localities — sustainability beyond the pilot would require additional local/state funding. Implementation success will depend on hiring qualified clinicians, training, dispatch protocols, data collection, interagency coordination, and clear scopes of practice.

Evaluation: The bill text does not specify mandated outcome reporting or evaluation metrics; jurisdictions may wish to track outcomes (e.g., referrals, transport to care, arrests, emergency department use) to inform future scaling decisions.

For local officials, service providers, and community stakeholders, key next steps include planning integration logistics, defining roles and protocols for co‑responder shifts, and establishing data collection to measure pilot outcomes.

Bill