By: Ellis, Gallegos S.B. No. 1343
Truan
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the establishment and operation of a healthy
1-2 start/healthy families program.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Subtitle B, Title 2, Health and Safety Code, is
1-5 amended by adding Chapter 46 to read as follows:
1-6 CHAPTER 46. HEALTHY START/HEALTHY FAMILIES PROGRAM
1-7 Sec. 46.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
1-8 (1) "Family assessment process" means a method for:
1-9 (A) determining the level of stress families are
1-10 experiencing and the factors contributing to their stress;
1-11 (B) assessing the family need for supportive
1-12 services and parenting education; and
1-13 (C) referring families to the healthy
1-14 start/healthy families program or to other resources appropriate to
1-15 the family's needs.
1-16 (2) "Family assessment worker" means a person trained
1-17 by a certified healthy start/healthy families trainer who
1-18 implements and facilitates the family assessment process.
1-19 (3) "Family support worker" means a person providing
1-20 home-based family support services who is trained by certified
1-21 healthy start/healthy families trainers.
1-22 (4) "Home-based family support services" means
1-23 services to provide pregnant women and new parents with information
2-1 and access to health care, social services, and related services
2-2 through home visits by family support workers trained by certified
2-3 healthy start/healthy families trainers.
2-4 (5) "Program" means the healthy start/healthy families
2-5 program established under this chapter.
2-6 Sec. 46.002. HEALTHY START/HEALTHY FAMILIES PROGRAM.
2-7 (a) The department shall establish a healthy start/healthy
2-8 families pilot program modeled after the Hawaii healthy start
2-9 program to provide services to single mothers and their children
2-10 during the prenatal period, from birth through five years of age,
2-11 or both. Subject to the availability of funding, the department
2-12 shall establish the pilot program in five communities of varying
2-13 population size.
2-14 (b) The goal of the program is to prevent child abuse and
2-15 neglect. The program shall be designed to:
2-16 (1) promote optimal child development;
2-17 (2) improve family coping skills and functioning;
2-18 (3) promote positive parenting skills and
2-19 intrafamilial interaction;
2-20 (4) ensure 100 percent immunization rates; and
2-21 (5) increase school readiness.
2-22 (c) The program shall provide:
2-23 (1) family and children's services during the prenatal
2-24 period, from birth through five years of age, or both;
2-25 (2) home-based family support; and
3-1 (3) referral to community services and referral to
3-2 individuals providing those services.
3-3 (d) The program shall be administered by a grant recipient
3-4 selected under Section 46.007.
3-5 Sec. 46.003. PROGRAM OBJECTIVES. The goals of the program
3-6 established under this chapter are to:
3-7 (1) decrease the number of families reported for child
3-8 abuse or neglect during program participation;
3-9 (2) decrease the risk factors for child abuse or
3-10 neglect in families participating in the program;
3-11 (3) improve the handling of family-related stress and
3-12 decrease the number of emergency requests to the program by
3-13 families participating in the program;
3-14 (4) improve bonding relationships in families
3-15 participating in the program;
3-16 (5) fully immunize infants participating in the
3-17 program not later than two years of age;
3-18 (6) provide a family participating in the program with
3-19 an individualized family support plan not later than the 45th day
3-20 after the family joins the program;
3-21 (7) assist a family participating in the program in
3-22 accessing needed community resources as stated in their family
3-23 support plan;
3-24 (8) enable a family participating in the program to
3-25 access community services without assistance before leaving the
4-1 program;
4-2 (9) increase the number of infants in families
4-3 participating in the program who receive well-child visits; and
4-4 (10) increase the number of families participating in
4-5 the program who are involved in parent support groups or parent
4-6 education activities.
4-7 Sec. 46.004. HEALTH FACILITIES ASSESSMENTS; FAMILY
4-8 ASSESSMENT PROCESS. (a) The program shall provide systematic
4-9 clinic-based or hospital-based assessment of all births to single
4-10 mothers in the target area in selected counties.
4-11 (b) An assessment shall be accomplished by a family
4-12 assessment worker who visits briefly with the parents and obtains
4-13 written permission to examine patient records to assess if there
4-14 are obvious environmental stresses that would warrant a full
4-15 assessment interview.
4-16 (c) If a full assessment is warranted, the family assessment
4-17 worker shall visit with the parents to determine the type of
4-18 support the family needs, if any, and explain and encourage
4-19 participation in the program.
4-20 (d) Before the family elects to participate in the program,
4-21 the family assessment worker shall inform the participants of their
4-22 rights concerning involvement in the program and shall fully
4-23 disclose the support services the program offers.
4-24 Sec. 46.005. FAMILY SUPPORT WORKER. (a) The program shall
4-25 provide home-based family support services to families who accept
5-1 the services under Section 46.004.
5-2 (b) The services provided under this section shall include
5-3 home visits by a family support worker to assess the needs of the
5-4 family and to refer the family to appropriate services. The family
5-5 support worker shall identify the specific needs of the family to
5-6 ensure that appropriate services are used and that the services are
5-7 used with the appropriate frequency. The family support worker
5-8 shall coordinate the use of these services.
5-9 (c) The family support worker shall assist participating
5-10 families in selecting a primary health care provider to promote
5-11 preventive health care and positive child development. The family
5-12 support worker shall:
5-13 (1) monitor the scheduling and completion of health
5-14 care visits and the availability of transportation for the visits;
5-15 (2) review the results of the visits; and
5-16 (3) coordinate future visits or referrals to necessary
5-17 services.
5-18 (d) The family support worker shall provide continuous
5-19 follow-up with the family until the child born at the time the
5-20 family accepts the services under Section 46.004 reaches the age of
5-21 six.
5-22 Sec. 46.006. TRAINING PROGRAM. The program shall provide a
5-23 structured training program with trainers certified by the Hawaii
5-24 healthy start training program. The training program shall
5-25 establish uniform standards for delivery of services under this
6-1 chapter.
6-2 Sec. 46.007. GRANT. (a) Subject to the availability of
6-3 funds appropriated by the legislature, the board shall adopt rules
6-4 governing the establishment of a grant to a community agency or
6-5 nonprofit organization serving youths that has experience in
6-6 providing child abuse prevention services or related services for
6-7 the development and implementation of the program.
6-8 (b) A local governmental unit or a private entity may
6-9 provide matching funds to a grant recipient under this section.
6-10 Sec. 46.008. DUTIES OF GRANT RECIPIENT. The recipient of
6-11 the grant under Section 46.007 shall:
6-12 (1) implement the program as required by this chapter;
6-13 and
6-14 (2) collaborate with existing community programs and
6-15 services to implement the program.
6-16 Sec. 46.009. EVALUATION OF PROGRAM. The department shall
6-17 conduct or arrange for an independent evaluation of the program
6-18 based on the Hawaii healthy start program evaluation guidelines.
6-19 The department shall make recommendations on further implementation
6-20 of the program.
6-21 SECTION 2. The healthy start/healthy families program
6-22 required by Chapter 46, Health and Safety Code, as added by this
6-23 Act, shall begin operations not later than January 1, 1996.
6-24 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
6-25 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
7-1 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
7-2 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
7-3 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
7-4 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
7-5 passage, and it is so enacted.