By Naishtat H.B. No. 1427
74R2344 CBH-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to supported employment of persons with a disability.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. (a) Chapter 121, Human Resources Code, is
1-5 amended by adding Sections 121.0014 and 121.0015 to read as
1-6 follows:
1-7 Sec. 121.0014. VISION STATEMENT. (a) The Health and Human
1-8 Services Commission, each health and human services agency, and
1-9 each state agency that administers a workforce development program
1-10 shall adopt the following statement of vision:
1-11 The State of Texas shall ensure that all Texans with
1-12 disabilities have the opportunity and support necessary
1-13 to work in individualized, competitive employment in
1-14 the community and to have choices about their work and
1-15 careers.
1-16 (b) In this section, "health and human services agency"
1-17 means an agency listed by Section 19, Article 4413(502), Revised
1-18 Statutes.
1-19 Sec. 121.0015. INTERAGENCY WORK GROUP. (a) An interagency
1-20 work group is created to implement the action plan adopted at the
1-21 1994 Supported Employment Summit.
1-22 (b) The work group is composed of a representative of the:
1-23 (1) Central Education Agency, appointed by the
1-24 commissioner of education;
2-1 (2) Texas Commission for the Blind, appointed by the
2-2 commissioner of that agency;
2-3 (3) Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental
2-4 Retardation, appointed by the commissioner of mental health and
2-5 mental retardation; and
2-6 (4) Texas Rehabilitation Commission, appointed by the
2-7 commissioner of that agency.
2-8 (c) A member of the work group serves at the will of the
2-9 appointing agency.
2-10 (d) The work group shall elect a presiding officer and any
2-11 other necessary officers.
2-12 (e) The work group shall meet at the call of the presiding
2-13 officer.
2-14 (f) The appointing agency is responsible for the expenses of
2-15 a member's service on the work group. A member of the work group
2-16 receives no additional compensation for serving on the work group.
2-17 (g) The comptroller shall monitor the work group and the
2-18 implementation of the action plan.
2-19 (b) Not later than November 15, 1996, the comptroller shall
2-20 submit to the governor and the legislature a report describing the
2-21 progress made toward implementing the action plan adopted at the
2-22 1994 Supported Employment Summit.
2-23 SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 111, Human Resources Code,
2-24 is amended by adding Section 111.0205 to read as follows:
2-25 Sec. 111.0205. WORK INCENTIVES AND SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY
2-26 INCOME (SSI). (a) The commission shall employ a person at the
2-27 commission's central office to:
3-1 (1) train counselors to understand and use work
3-2 incentives; and
3-3 (2) review cases to ensure that commission clients are
3-4 informed of the availability of and assisted in obtaining work
3-5 incentives and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) (42 U.S.C.
3-6 Section 1381 et seq.).
3-7 (b) The commission shall ensure that each contract to
3-8 provide services to clients of a community center include a
3-9 provision requiring the center to:
3-10 (1) train counselors about federal social security
3-11 incentives to fund supported employment;
3-12 (2) determine each client's eligibility for work
3-13 incentives and SSI; and
3-14 (3) provide clients and their families with related
3-15 information.
3-16 SECTION 3. Section 122.004(d), Human Resources Code, is
3-17 amended to read as follows:
3-18 (d) The committee shall contract with sheltered workshops to
3-19 provide any necessary services, including assisting the workshops
3-20 in submitting applications for the selection of suitable products
3-21 or services and distributing orders among workshops <make rules
3-22 regarding designation of a central nonprofit agency to facilitate
3-23 the distribution of orders among agencies serving blind or other
3-24 severely disabled persons and regarding other matters related to
3-25 the state's use of the products and services of blind and severely
3-26 disabled persons>. The committee shall establish commission rates
3-27 that a workshop must pay to the committee for the provision of
4-1 services under this subsection. The commission rate shall be
4-2 included in the selling price of a commodity or in the contract
4-3 price of a service and may not exceed four percent of the
4-4 applicable price. Commissions collected under this section may be
4-5 appropriated only to the committee to administer this chapter and
4-6 to provide additional supported employment opportunities.
4-7 SECTION 4. (a) Section 21.510(e), Education Code, is
4-8 amended to read as follows:
4-9 (e) Each school district shall develop and annually review
4-10 an individual transition plan (ITP) for each student enrolled in a
4-11 special education program who is at least 16 years of age. The ITP
4-12 shall include a goal of competitive employment. The ITP shall be
4-13 developed in a separate document from the individualized education
4-14 program (IEP) and shall not be considered a part of the IEP. The
4-15 school district shall coordinate development of the ITP with any
4-16 participating agency as provided in the memorandum of understanding
4-17 in order to provide continuity and coordination of services among
4-18 the various agencies and between the ITP and IEP. The district
4-19 shall request the participation in the development of the ITP of
4-20 any participating agency recommended by school personnel or
4-21 requested by the student or the student's parent. The district
4-22 shall invite the student and the student's parents or guardians to
4-23 participate in the development of the ITP. Only those components
4-24 of the ITP which are the responsibility of the district shall be
4-25 incorporated into the student's IEP. Only the failure to implement
4-26 those components of a student's ITP which are included in the IEP
4-27 and are the responsibility of the school district shall be subject
5-1 to the due process procedures of the Education of the Handicapped
5-2 Act, Public Law 94-142 (20 U.S.C. Section 1400 et seq.) or to
5-3 Central Education Agency complaint procedures. The failure of the
5-4 district to develop and annually review an ITP for a student shall
5-5 be subject only to the Central Education Agency complaint
5-6 procedures and not to the due process procedures of the Education
5-7 of the Handicapped Act, Public Law 94-142 (20 U.S.C. Section 1400
5-8 et seq.). A monitoring visit under Section 21.509 of this code
5-9 shall include a review of the transition planning requirements
5-10 under this section. A school district is not liable for the
5-11 failure of another agency to implement those components of the ITP
5-12 that are designated as the responsibility of that agency under the
5-13 memorandum of understanding.
5-14 (b) Section 21.510(e), Education Code, as amended by this
5-15 section, applies to an individual transition plan developed for
5-16 each school year beginning with the 1995-1996 school year.
5-17 (c) The Central Education Agency shall study the possible
5-18 effects of amending Section 21.510, Education Code, to require the
5-19 development of an individual transition plan for each child who is
5-20 at least 14 years of age. Not later than November 15, 1996, the
5-21 agency shall submit to the governor and the legislature a report on
5-22 the effects of changing the age requirement.
5-23 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
5-24 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
5-25 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-26 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-27 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-1 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.