Social Determinants of Mental Health Fund

(a) There is established a Social Determinants of Mental Health Fund, which shall be a separate, nonlapsing account. The account shall contain any moneys required by law to be deposited in the account, the resources of which shall be used by the Commissioner of Children and Families to assist families in covering the cost of mental health services and treatment for their children. The commissioner shall establish eligibility criteria for families to receive such assistance based on social determinants of mental health, with a goal toward reducing racial, ethnic, gender and socioeconomic mental health disparities. As used in this section, “social determinants of mental health” includes, but is not limited to, discrimination and social exclusion, adverse early life experiences, low educational attainment, poor educational quality and educational inequality, poverty, income inequality and living in socioeconomically deprived neighborhoods, food insecurity, unemployment, underemployment and job insecurity, poor housing quality and housing instability, impact of climate change, adverse features of the structures and systems in which persons live or work and poor access to health care. (b) The commissioner may accept on behalf of the fund any federal funds or private grants or gifts made for purposes of this section. The commissioner shall use such funds to make grants to families for the purposes described in this section.