By: Davila H.B. No. 2485
73R5558 KLL-F
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.
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) "Resource mother" means a person providing
1-13 resource mother services.
1-14 (3) "Resource mother services" means services to
1-15 provide pregnant women and new mothers with information and access
1-16 to health care, social services, and related services through home
1-17 visits by women who have experience as mothers and who know about
1-18 services available to pregnant women and new mothers.
1-19 Sec. 45.002. HEALTHY START PILOT PROGRAM. (a) The
1-20 department shall establish a healthy start pilot program to provide
1-21 services to families and children during the prenatal through
1-22 preschool years.
1-23 (b) The goal of the program is to prevent child abuse and
1-24 neglect. The program shall be designed to:
2-1 (1) promote optimal child development;
2-2 (2) improve family coping skills and functioning; and
2-3 (3) promote positive parenting skills and
2-4 intrafamilial interaction.
2-5 (c) The program shall provide:
2-6 (1) infant mortality prevention services;
2-7 (2) prenatal to preschool family and child protection
2-8 services; and
2-9 (3) resource mother services.
2-10 (d) To the extent possible, the department shall develop and
2-11 implement the services required under this section to facilitate
2-12 the coordination of those services.
2-13 SUBCHAPTER B. INFANT MORTALITY PREVENTION
2-14 Sec. 45.011. INFANT MORTALITY PREVENTION PILOT PROJECT. (a)
2-15 As part of the program, the department shall establish an infant
2-16 mortality prevention pilot project.
2-17 (b) The project must begin operation not later than June 1,
2-18 1994, and must operate in two counties identified by the board as
2-19 having the highest infant mortality rates in the state.
2-20 Sec. 45.012. PILOT PROJECT SERVICES. The infant mortality
2-21 prevention pilot project shall:
2-22 (1) identify barriers to positive birth outcomes;
2-23 (2) encourage collaboration and cooperation among
2-24 providers of health care, social services, and other services to
2-25 pregnant women and women of childbearing years;
2-26 (3) encourage pregnant women and women of childbearing
2-27 years to seek health care and other services that result in
3-1 positive birth outcomes; and
3-2 (4) develop an inventory of existing community
3-3 resources, including public and private organizations, that provide
3-4 infant mortality prevention services in the targeted counties.
3-5 Sec. 45.013. RESOURCE MOTHER SERVICES. The pilot project
3-6 shall provide resource mother services.
3-7 Sec. 45.014. COUPON BONUS PROGRAM. (a) The pilot project
3-8 shall collaborate with local chambers of commerce, businesses, and
3-9 other public or private civic organizations to establish a coupon
3-10 bonus program to encourage pregnant women to seek prenatal care and
3-11 to encourage women with children who are less than one year of age
3-12 to use periodic health screening, diagnosis, and treatment
3-13 services.
3-14 (b) The coupon bonus program shall provide for:
3-15 (1) the distribution of coupons for goods or services
3-16 to pregnant women and to women with children who are less than one
3-17 year of age residing in the targeted counties; and
3-18 (2) validation of the coupons by health care providers
3-19 following the provision of prenatal care or the provision of health
3-20 screening, diagnosis, and treatment services to a child who is less
3-21 than one year of age.
3-22 SUBCHAPTER C. PRENATAL TO PRESCHOOL FAMILY
3-23 AND CHILD PROTECTION SERVICES
3-24 Sec. 45.021. PRENATAL TO PRESCHOOL FAMILY AND CHILD
3-25 PROTECTION SERVICES PILOT PROJECT. (a) As part of the program,
3-26 the department shall establish a prenatal to preschool family and
3-27 child protection services pilot project.
4-1 (b) The pilot project must begin operation not later than
4-2 June 1, 1994, and must operate in at least six counties selected by
4-3 the board, including the two counties participating in the infant
4-4 mortality prevention pilot project under Section 45.011. In
4-5 selecting participating counties under this subsection, other than
4-6 the counties participating in the infant mortality prevention pilot
4-7 project, the board shall consult with the grant recipient selected
4-8 under Section 45.027.
4-9 (c) The project shall be administered by a grant recipient
4-10 selected under Section 45.027.
4-11 Sec. 45.022. HOSPITAL-BASED SCREENING. (a) The prenatal to
4-12 preschool family and child protection services pilot project shall
4-13 provide systematic hospital-based screening for high-risk families
4-14 of newborns in the selected counties.
4-15 (b) Hospital-based screening shall be accomplished by a
4-16 resource mother, who shall examine hospital admissions data
4-17 relating to childbirth for high-risk families identified by risk
4-18 indicators under rules adopted by the board.
4-19 (c) A resource mother shall interview a woman who is a
4-20 member of the high-risk family identified under Subsection (b) to
4-21 encourage the woman to accept resource mother services.
4-22 Sec. 45.023. RESOURCE MOTHER SERVICES. (a) The prenatal to
4-23 preschool family and child protection services pilot project shall
4-24 provide resource mother services to women who accept the services
4-25 under Section 45.022.
4-26 (b) The services provided under this section shall include
4-27 home visits by a resource mother to assess the needs of the family
5-1 and to refer the family to appropriate health and social services.
5-2 The resource mother shall identify the specific needs of the family
5-3 to ensure that appropriate services are used and that the services
5-4 are used with the appropriate frequency. The resource mother shall
5-5 coordinate the use of these services.
5-6 (c) The resource mother shall assist participating families
5-7 in selecting a primary care provider to promote preventive health
5-8 care and positive child development. The resource mother shall:
5-9 (1) monitor the scheduling and completion of health
5-10 care visits and the availability of transportation for the visits;
5-11 (2) review the results of the visits; and
5-12 (3) coordinate future visits or referrals to necessary
5-13 services.
5-14 (d) The resource mother shall provide continuous follow-up
5-15 with the family until the child born at the time the family was
5-16 identified as a high-risk family under Section 45.022 reaches the
5-17 age of five.
5-18 Sec. 45.024. TRAINING PROGRAMS. The prenatal to preschool
5-19 family and child protection services pilot project shall provide a
5-20 structured training program in the dynamics of abuse and neglect.
5-21 The training program shall establish uniform standards for delivery
5-22 of services under this subchapter.
5-23 Sec. 45.025. INTERAGENCY AGREEMENT. The department may
5-24 enter into an interagency agreement with the Texas Department of
5-25 Human Services governing referral of high-risk families identified
5-26 under Section 45.022 to programs or services provided by the Texas
5-27 Department of Human Services.
6-1 Sec. 45.026. CRISIS CHILD CARE. The prenatal to preschool
6-2 family and child protection services pilot project shall provide
6-3 crisis child care to participants in the pilot project through
6-4 existing child care services.
6-5 Sec. 45.027. ADMINISTRATION OF PILOT PROJECT; REQUEST FOR
6-6 PROPOSALS. (a) The board shall adopt rules governing the awarding
6-7 of a grant to a statewide child abuse prevention organization for
6-8 the development and implementation of the prenatal to preschool
6-9 family and child protection services pilot project.
6-10 (b) The rules must include criteria for the awarding of the
6-11 grant. The criteria must include a requirement that the grant
6-12 recipient provide $1 for the operation of the program for each $2
6-13 granted by the state.
6-14 (c) The department shall develop a request for proposal in
6-15 connection with awarding the grant and shall make the request for
6-16 proposal available to any organization requesting it before
6-17 December 1, 1993. Proposals must be received by the department not
6-18 later than February 1, 1994.
6-19 Sec. 45.028. DUTIES OF GRANT RECIPIENT. The recipient of
6-20 the grant under Section 45.027 shall:
6-21 (1) implement the prenatal to preschool family and
6-22 child protection services pilot project as required by this
6-23 subchapter;
6-24 (2) coordinate the pilot project with the infant
6-25 mortality prevention pilot project;
6-26 (3) use existing programs and services to implement
6-27 the program; and
7-1 (4) use nonprofit home health programs in the
7-2 development and implementation of the program.
7-3 SUBCHAPTER D. TERMINATION OF PROGRAM
7-4 Sec. 45.051. TERMINATION OF PILOT PROJECTS. The pilot
7-5 projects established under this chapter terminate August 31, 1997.
7-6 Sec. 45.052. REPORT. (a) The department shall prepare a
7-7 written report on the effectiveness of the pilot projects and shall
7-8 file a copy of this report with the governor and each house of the
7-9 legislature not later than February 1 of each odd-numbered year.
7-10 (b) The report shall include an evaluation of the prenatal
7-11 to preschool family and child protection services pilot project and
7-12 its effects on the reduction in risk factors for its participants
7-13 and recommendations for changes in or expansion of the pilot
7-14 project.
7-15 (c) This chapter expires September 1, 1997.
7-16 SECTION 2. The importance of this legislation and the
7-17 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
7-18 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
7-19 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
7-20 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
7-21 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
7-22 passage, and it is so enacted.