By: Madla S.C.R. No. 80 73R3782 BNL-D CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1-1 WHEREAS, The recent implementation of the federal Americans 1-2 With Disabilities Act (ADA) has focused greater attention on the 1-3 unique needs of persons with physically, mentally, or emotionally 1-4 handicapping conditions; and 1-5 WHEREAS, Such individuals can live productive and fulfilling 1-6 lives when given technical assistance, therapy, training, and 1-7 support, and the State of Texas offers a wide array of such 1-8 services under the auspices of several different health and human 1-9 services agencies; and 1-10 WHEREAS, Simply having these services available, however, is 1-11 not enough; those citizens in need of assistance must be able to 1-12 locate and use the programs that are most beneficial to them, and 1-13 that process is complicated by the current, uncoordinated system 1-14 that houses services in several different state agencies while 1-15 failing to provide a cohesive picture of all available services; 1-16 and 1-17 WHEREAS, Deaf-blind individuals are particularly at risk 1-18 because services for them are offered through as many as five 1-19 different state agencies, each of which has different criteria for 1-20 evaluating persons applying for aid; many of these agencies work 1-21 within certain age limits, and as individuals grow older and age 1-22 out of one program, they often remain unaware that other programs 1-23 exist at different agencies to serve their changing needs; and 1-24 WHEREAS, Moreover, many individuals who are deaf-blind also 2-1 have additional disabilities that qualify them for a variety of 2-2 other services, but persons with multiple disabilities are rarely 2-3 encouraged to pursue all the forms of aid that exist for them and 2-4 often they are unaware that they qualify for additional programs; 2-5 and 2-6 WHEREAS, Even when individuals in need of help are aware of 2-7 the opportunities available to them, they are often impeded in 2-8 their attempts to obtain services by the very disabilities that 2-9 qualify them for the aid; if these individuals are unable to apply 2-10 for services to which they are entitled because they cannot 2-11 communicate with the provider or because they cannot arrange 2-12 transportation to an agency office, then the existing programs are 2-13 not meeting the needs of those whom they are intended to serve; and 2-14 WHEREAS, Service providers must employ more workers, such as 2-15 communication and mobility specialists, who are familiar with the 2-16 specific needs of their clients if they hope to address this 2-17 serious problem, and the provisions of the ADA require that they do 2-18 so in a timely fashion; and 2-19 WHEREAS, State agencies can vastly improve the quality and 2-20 efficiency of current health and human services programs by 2-21 streamlining their operations, by informing their clients of all 2-22 available programs, and by ensuring that all Texans have equal 2-23 access to state services, and in doing so they will bring the 2-24 State of Texas into greater compliance with the tenets of the ADA; 2-25 now, therefore, be it 2-26 RESOLVED, That the 73rd Legislature of the State of Texas 2-27 hereby direct all state agencies that are involved in the provision 3-1 of health and human services to people with disabilities to develop 3-2 and implement policies to improve access to state services by 3-3 persons with disabilities and to monitor compliance with these 3-4 policies by their contracted service providers.