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Senate Bill 821 |
Senate Author: Nelson |
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Effective: 9-1-19 |
House Sponsor: Price |
State law provides for the establishment of a children's advocacy center to serve a county or two or more contiguous counties with respect to child abuse victims and the delivery of related services. Senate Bill 821 amends the Family Code to revise the duties of such a center and the multidisciplinary team within each center. The bill requires a center to enter into a memorandum of understanding regarding participation in multidisciplinary team responses to abuse and neglect cases. The bill requires the statewide organization with which the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) contracts to provide training, technical assistance, evaluation services, among other assistance, for local children's advocacy center programs to develop and adopt standards for children's advocacy centers and to contract with eligible centers to establish, maintain, and enhance the services provided by the centers. The bill revises the eligibility requirements for an organization to receive such a contract from HHSC.