(1) The department will base matching fund grants awarded under this subchapter on the criteria specified in 53-21-1203, MCA.

(2) The total amount of matching fund grants will not exceed available funding appropriated by the Montana Legislature.

(3) The department will evaluate each county or multicounty grant application submitted pursuant to ARM 37.89.1009 and award matching fund grants based on the likelihood, as determined by the department, that the plan would promote appropriate utilization of the Montana State Hospital (MSH) for emergency and court-ordered detention and evaluation and would ultimately result in cost savings to the state if implemented.

(4) The department will match county and other local entity funds or in-kind contributions using a sliding scale for state grants as provided in 53-21-1203, MCA.

(a) The sliding scale is determined by calculating historical county use of the state hospital using the previous year's admission data versus total state use of the state hospital and county population versus total state population.

(b) The department may grant up to 70% of the local investment to counties below the statewide average admission rate.

(c) The department may match the local investment of cash and in-kind contributions to any county whose MSH admissions are at or above the statewide average admission rate on a sliding scale of 50% to 70% in equal 5% increments. The department's match will not be less than 50% of the local investment.

(5) The county population will be the figure published in Table 1: Annual Estimates of the Population for Counties of Montana: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2007 (CO-EST2007-01-30). Source: Population Division, U.S. Census Bureau that is adopted and incorporated by reference. Copies of the table may be obtained from the Department of Public Health and Human Services, Addictive and Mental Disorders Division, P.O. Box 202905, Helena, MT 59620.

(6) The department will recalculate the sliding scale match rate annually using the formula described in 53-21-1203, MCA, based on the prior year's admissions to MSH.