By Davila H.B. No. 2485
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the establishment and powers and duties of a healthy
1-3 start pilot program modeled after the Hawaii healthy start program.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subtitle B, Title 2, Health and Safety Code, is
1-6 amended by adding Chapter 45 to read as follows:
1-7 CHAPTER 45. HEALTHY START PILOT PROGRAM
1-8 SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
1-9 Sec. 45.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
1-10 (1) "Program" means the healthy start pilot program
1-11 established under this chapter.
1-12 (2) "Family support worker" means a person providing
1-13 home-based family support services.
1-14 (3) "Home-based family support services" means
1-15 services to provide pregnant women and new parents with information
1-16 and access to health care, social services, and related services
1-17 through home visits by workers trained in the Hawaii healthy start
1-18 model.
1-19 (4) "High risk" means at risk of child abuse or
1-20 neglect as determined by a valid and reliable assessment
1-21 instrument.
1-22 Sec. 45.002. HEALTHY START PILOT PROGRAM. (a) The
1-23 department shall establish a healthy start pilot program modeled
1-24 after the Hawaii healthy start program to provide services to
2-1 families and children during the prenatal through preschool years.
2-2 (b) The goal of the program is to prevent child abuse and
2-3 neglect. The program shall be designed to:
2-4 (1) promote optimal child development;
2-5 (2) improve family coping skills and functioning; and
2-6 (3) promote positive parenting skills and
2-7 intrafamilial interaction.
2-8 (c) The program shall provide:
2-9 (1) prenatal to preschool family and children's
2-10 services;
2-11 (2) home-based family support; and
2-12 (3) referral to community services.
2-13 SUBCHAPTER B. PRENATAL TO PRESCHOOL FAMILY
2-14 AND CHILDREN'S SERVICES
2-15 Sec. 45.021. PRENATAL TO PRESCHOOL FAMILY AND CHILDREN'S
2-16 SERVICES PILOT PROJECT. (a) As part of the program, the
2-17 department shall establish a prenatal to preschool family and
2-18 children's services pilot project.
2-19 (b) The pilot project must begin operation not later than
2-20 January 1, 1994.
2-21 (c) The project shall be administered by a grant recipient
2-22 selected under Section 45.026.
2-23 Sec. 45.022. HEALTH FACILITIES SCREENING. (a) The prenatal
2-24 to preschool family and children's services pilot project shall
2-25 provide systematic clinic-based or hospital-based screening for
2-26 high-risk families of newborns in selected counties.
2-27 (b) Health facility screening shall be accomplished by a
3-1 family support worker, who shall examine patient records for
3-2 evidence of child abuse or neglect risk indicators.
3-3 (c) A family support worker shall interview a mother who is
3-4 a member of a high-risk family identified under Subsection (b) to
3-5 encourage participation in the program.
3-6 Sec. 45.023. FAMILY SUPPORT WORKER. (a) The prenatal to
3-7 preschool family and children's services pilot project shall
3-8 provide home-based family support services to families who accept
3-9 the services under Section 45.022.
3-10 (b) The services provided under this section shall include
3-11 home visits by a family support worker to assess the needs of the
3-12 family and to refer the family to appropriate services. The family
3-13 support worker shall identify the specific needs of the family to
3-14 ensure that appropriate services are used and that the services are
3-15 used with the appropriate frequency. The family support worker
3-16 shall coordinate the use of these services.
3-17 (c) The family support worker shall assist participating
3-18 families in selecting a primary health care provider to promote
3-19 preventive health care and positive child development. The family
3-20 support worker shall:
3-21 (1) monitor the scheduling and completion of health
3-22 care visits and the availability of transportation for the visits;
3-23 (2) review the results of the visits; and
3-24 (3) coordinate future visits or referrals to necessary
3-25 services.
3-26 (d) The family support worker shall provide continuous
3-27 follow-up with the family until the child born at the time the
4-1 family was identified as a high-risk family under Section 45.022
4-2 reaches the age of five.
4-3 Sec. 45.024. TRAINING PROGRAMS. The prenatal to preschool
4-4 family and children's services pilot project shall provide a
4-5 structured training program modeled after the Hawaii healthy start
4-6 training program. The training program shall establish uniform
4-7 standards for delivery of services under this subchapter.
4-8 Sec. 45.025. INTERAGENCY AGREEMENT. The department may
4-9 enter into an interagency agreement with other state agencies to
4-10 facilitate coordination and increase the likelihood of healthy
4-11 outcomes for families at high risk for abuse or neglect.
4-12 Sec. 45.026. ADMINISTRATION OF PILOT PROJECT. The board
4-13 shall adopt rules governing the establishment of a grant to a child
4-14 abuse prevention organization for the development and
4-15 implementation of the prenatal to preschool family and children's
4-16 services pilot project.
4-17 Sec. 45.027. DUTIES OF GRANT RECIPIENT. The recipient of
4-18 the grant under Section 45.026 shall:
4-19 (1) implement the prenatal to preschool family and
4-20 children's services pilot project as required by this subchapter;
4-21 and
4-22 (2) use existing programs and services to implement
4-23 the project.
4-24 SUBCHAPTER C. TERMINATION OF PROGRAM
4-25 Sec. 45.051. TERMINATION OF PILOT PROJECT. The pilot
4-26 project established under this chapter terminates August 31, 1999.
4-27 Sec. 45.052. REPORT. (a) The department shall prepare a
5-1 written report on the effectiveness of the pilot project and shall
5-2 file a copy of this report with the governor and each house of the
5-3 legislature not later than February 1 of each odd-numbered year.
5-4 (b) The department shall conduct or arrange for an
5-5 independent evaluation of the project based on the Hawaii healthy
5-6 start program evaluation guidelines. The department shall make
5-7 recommendations on further implementation of the healthy start
5-8 program.
5-9 (c) This chapter expires September 1, 1999.
5-10 SECTION 2. The importance of this legislation and the
5-11 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-12 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-13 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-14 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
5-15 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
5-16 passage, and it is so enacted.