January 7, 2025 – The Utah Behavioral Health Commission, the central authority for coordinating behavioral health initiatives across the state, has released its first annual report.
The Commission was created by legislation from 2024 and first began convening in July 2024. The report details the newly created Commission’s key activities and accomplishments between July and December 2024, including recommendations on key budget priorities and legislative policies for the 2025 General Session of the Utah Legislature.
Commission activities included reviewing an inventory of existing measures and targets, organizing subcommittees, identifying recommendations for the 2025 Legislature, and planning the future work of the Commission.
In this year’s report, the Commission’s top recommendation is to ensure that funding for behavioral health is addressed early in the state’s annual budgeting process. This crucial change would help stabilize funding for behavioral health services and could prevent cuts to essential public behavioral health programs.
The Commission’s other top recommendations for the 2025 General Session include:
- Funding for two additional crisis centers (also called receiving centers) in rural Utah.
- Funding for two additional mobile crisis outreach teams (MCOTs).
- Developing a 60-bed low-acuity treatment unit at Utah State Hospital.
- Increasing Medicaid peer reimbursement rates by 35 percent.
“The behavioral health system is unquestionably fractured, ” said Ally Isom, chair of the Utah Behavioral Health Commission. “Though many people receive support and find recovery, far too many Utahns lack access to crucial services, services that help them live a better life. For every commissioner, our immediate task has a human face–the real people, families and communities who shoulder outcomes every day. We are deeply committed to prioritize integrated solutions for a healthier, more resilient Utah.”
In 2025, the Commission’s work will be to convert the current Behavioral Health Assessment & Master Plan into a strategic plan. The strategic plan will then guide the Commission in its other efforts, which include continuing to make policy and budget recommendations to the Legislature and engaging with the private sector.
The Commission is committed to working with stakeholders across the state to improve Utah’s behavioral health system. The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) provides administrative support for the Commission. The Commission’s 2024 Annual Report is available on the DHHS Office of Substance Use and Mental Health website.
About the Utah Behavioral Health Commission
The Utah Behavioral Health Commission was created in 2024 to serve as the central authority for coordinating behavioral health initiatives between state and local governments, health systems, and other interested persons, to make sure Utah’s behavioral health systems are comprehensive, aligned, effective, and efficient.
As part of the DHHS administrative support for the Commission, this release has been sent on behalf of the Commission. DHHS does not speak for the Commission or its members, but can assist reporters in making contact.
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The eleven-member Utah Behavioral Health Commission started meeting in July 2024. The chart below identifies the 11 commissioners:
| Name | Title | Seat |
| Evan Done | Associate Director, Utah Support Advocates for Recovery Awareness | Representative with lived experience with substance use disorder |
| Julie Henderson Hardle | Retired, Recovery and Resiliency Manager at Optum/United Healthcare | Representative with lived experience with mental health |
| Ally Isom, Chair | Chief Strategy & Marketing Officer, Clyde Companies | Family representative |
| Tracy Gruber, JD | Executive Director, Utah Department of Health and Human Services | State behavioral health system representative |
| Tammer Attallah, MBA, LCSW | Executive Clinical Director, Intermountain Healthcare | Major healthcare systems representative |
| Jordan Sorenson, MHA | Director, Behavioral Health Policy and Emergency Preparedness, Utah Hospital Association | Private acute care representative |
| Adam Cohen, MBA | President & Chief Executive Officer, Odyssey House of Utah | Private outpatient representative |
| Mike Deal, MPA | Executive Director, Southwest Behavioral Health Center | Utah Behavioral Health Committee of the Utah Association of Counties representative |
| Kyle Snow, MBA | Executive Officer, Northeastern Counseling Center | Rural communities representative |
| James Ashworth, MD | Associate Professor (Clinical) | Large employers representative |
| Elaine Navar, LCSW | Licensed Clinical Social Work Therapist | Historically underrepresented populations representative |