The Utah Office of Licensing (OL), under the Division of Licensing and Background Checks (DLBC) is sharing important information regarding recent statute updates from the 2026 General Legislative Session that may impact you as a provider or licensee.
Type of facility or program:
All Human Service providers related to behavioral health receiving centers, mental health and substance use disorder, justice involved individuals and homelessness.
Overview of Statute Update and Potential Impact
- Except for actions affecting Section 59-12-205, the requirements for this bill take effect Wednesday, May 6, 2026. OL will begin enforcing newly enacted statutory requirements that impact specific licensed facilities or programs within the state.
- We strongly encourage you to carefully review the statutory language H.B. 572 Behavioral Health, Mental Health, and Social Services Amendments and proactively assess your facility’s or program’s current practices in relation to these new requirements, which:
- Requires a standardized consent form specifically designed for justice-involved individuals to authorize the disclosure of mental health or substance use disorder (SUD) information to healthcare providers, courts, first responders, and parole services.
- Creates a new receiving center license type.
- Mandates background checks consistent with are for all other human services license types.
- Amends existing legal provisions governing involuntary commitments and court-ordered assisted outpatient treatment for mental illness.
- Directs DHHS to maintain a centralized database of involuntary commitments. Rules for Behavioral Health Receiving Centers detailing how these centers must communicate with law enforcement and prosecutors regarding a justice-involved individual’s participation in treatment will be created.
- Allows Congregate Shelter Service providers to expand their bed capacity limits under specific, defined conditions.
- Formalizes a community-based peer support specialist program, expanding the network of non-clinical recovery assistance available to your patients.
- Creates a new Family Outreach Specialist position within DHHS. This specialist will engage directly with families who have recently lost a loved one to suicide or overdose, and will assist the medical examiner with suicide intervention, prevention, and postvention.
- Provides a standardized list of DHHS approved mental health and SUD screening tools utilized within jail settings, which may help align continuity of care for justice-involved patients transitioning to provider services.
- Transfers administration and reporting for the Governor’s Suicide Prevention Fund has shifted from the Governor’s office directly to the Office of Substance Use and Mental Health.
- Renames the Utah Substance Use and Mental Health Advisory Committee to the Utah Behavioral Health Policy Review Committee, with amended duties. Additionally, the Behavioral Health Commission is forming a working group to investigate the creation of a statewide central authority to coordinate all behavioral health initiatives.
- Adjusts local government tax revenue distributions for homeless shelters and alters responsibilities for the Underage Drinking Prevention Restricted Account.
Next Steps for OL
- Recognizing that the full implementation of these new requirements will require updates to existing administrative rules and internal operational procedures within OL, a phased approach to assess compliance will be adopted during this interim period.
- Until the new rules and new procedural guidelines are developed, OL will evaluate compliance with these recent statutory additions or changes through our current OL inspections and statute language.
Questions or Guidance
Please do not hesitate to contact your assigned licensor directly if you have questions, require clarification on specific aspects of the requirements, or need guidance on how these changes may affect your operations.
Understanding these changes is crucial for maintaining compliance and ensuring the health and safety of clients. OL is committed to providing the necessary support and resources to facilitate a smooth and effective transition to these new requirements.