BILL ANALYSIS

 

 

 

C.S.H.B. 4138

By: Schatzline

Human Services

Committee Report (Substituted)

 

 

 

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

 

The adoption process can be very expensive and, for many, even prohibitively expensive. At the same time, the number of children in Texas without a permanent home is in the tens of thousands according to data from the Department of Family and Protective Services. As such, legislative action is needed to help lower the costs for parents looking to adopt. C.S.H.B. 4138 seeks to provide for the establishment of the Texas Adoption Assistance Program, which is to be administered by the Health and Human Services Commission, through which parents living in Texas making under $400,000 annually will be eligible to receive adoption assistance grants.

 

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

 

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

 

It is the committee's opinion that rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the Health and Human Services Commission in SECTION 1 of this bill.

 

ANALYSIS

 

C.S.H.B. 4138 amends the Family Code to require the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) to establish and administer the Texas Adoption Assistance Program for the purpose of encouraging the adoption of Texas children by providing adoptive parents with private sector and public assistance with adoption-related expenses. The bill requires HHSC to select and certify organizations that meet the eligibility requirements to participate in the program and to solicit applications and select and approve new certified organizations on an ongoing basis to meet the needs in Texas. The bill authorizes a certified organization to solicit and accept donations and award adoption assistance grants in Texas under the conditions and limitations provided by the bill.

 

C.S.H.B. 4138 authorizes an organization to apply to HHSC for certification and establishes that an organization is eligible for certification only if the following conditions are met:

·         according to the organization's charter, the organization has the ability to award grants to eligible parents;

·         the organization uses its annual revenue for the purpose of awarding those grants, except for a portion of the revenue that may be used for reasonable operating expenses;

·         the organization is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization;

·         the organization's mission includes providing services or other assistance to families, women, or children; and

·         the organization agrees, if certified, to assist eligible parents with the payment of adoption-related expenses in partnership with the state and to be independently audited on an annual basis and file the audit report with HHSC.

The bill requires HHSC to revoke a certification on finding that a certified organization is not in compliance with any of these eligibility requirements or otherwise intentionally and substantially violates the bill's provisions.

 

C.S.H.B. 4138 requires a certified organization to do the following:

·         comply at all times with the certification eligibility requirements;

·         submit to an annual independent audit under guidelines provided by HHSC and file the audit report with HHSC;

·         distribute all program money in the manner provided by the bill;

·         give each donor a receipt for money donated to the organization that includes the name of the organization, the name of the donor, the amount of the donation, and any other information required by HHSC; and

·         of the amount of money received from donations made by donors for the purpose of providing adoption assistance grants, distribute not less than 97 percent in the form of adoption assistance grants and use not more than three percent to pay operating expenses.

 

C.S.H.B. 4138 makes eligible for an adoption assistance grant a person who resides in Texas on the date the grant is awarded, has an annual gross household income that is not more than $400,000, and is an adoptive parent under an adoption order of a child who is younger than 18 years old on September 1 of the state fiscal year in which the grant is awarded. The bill sets out the maximum amount of an adoption assistance grant based on the annual gross household income of an eligible parent or parents as follows:

·         if not more than $320,000, the maximum grant is an amount equal to half of the amount of any adoption-related expenses incurred by the parent or parents;

·         if more than $320,000 and not more than $340,000, the maximum grant is an amount equal to 40 percent of the amount of any adoption-related expenses incurred by the parent or parents;

·         if more than $340,000 and not more than $360,000, the maximum grant is an amount equal to 30 percent of the amount of any adoption-related expenses incurred by the parent or parents;

·         if more than $360,000 and not more than $380,000, the maximum grant is an amount equal to 20 percent of the amount of any adoption-related expenses incurred by the parent or parents; and

·         if more than $380,000 and not more than $400,000, the maximum grant is an amount equal to 10 percent of the amount of any adoption-related expenses incurred by the parent or parents.

For these purposes, adoption-related expenses are expenses incurred by the parent or parents for legal fees for adoption paperwork, hiring legal representation, a home study by the Department of Family and Protective Services, adoption advertisements, adoption-related counseling, medical expenses of the birth mother, case management, or, in the case of an open adoption, communication support.

 

C.S.H.B. 4138 requires a certified organization, each state fiscal year, to award a number of one-time adoption assistance grants, as determined by the organization based on available funds, to eligible parents who apply to HHSC in the manner prescribed by HHSC rule. The bill prohibits a certified organization from providing adoption assistance grants in a manner that does not comply with that requirement and entitles a certified organization that provides money for such a grant to state matching funds to be used as additional money for the grant award. If HHSC determines that the amount appropriated to HHSC for a state fiscal year is not sufficient to match all grants awarded under the program, HHSC is still required to continue to perform its other duties with respect to the program without matching grants awarded by a certified organization.

 

C.S.H.B. 4138 requires HHSC to adopt rules and procedures to implement, administer, and enforce the bill's provisions.

 

EFFECTIVE DATE

 

September 1, 2023.

 

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

 

While C.S.H.B. 4138 may differ from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

 

The substitute changes the entity responsible for establishing and administering the program from the comptroller of public accounts, as in the introduced, to HHSC.

 

The substitute expands the criteria included in the introduced that an organization must meet to be eligible for certification by including the organization having the ability to award grants to eligible parents per its charter and the organization using its annual revenue for that purpose, except for the portion used for reasonable operating expenses.

 

The substitute includes a provision that was not in the introduced specifying the expenses that constitute adoption-related expenses for the purpose of calculating the maximum amount of an adoption assistance grant an eligible parent or parents may receive.