By Harris S.C.R. No. 20 74R3434 SMC-D CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1-1 WHEREAS, Services provided to at-risk youth and their 1-2 families in Texas are fragmented among a number of agencies, which 1-3 results in a lack of coordination and confusion about inconsistent 1-4 and overlapping responsibilities; and 1-5 WHEREAS, Fifteen state agencies, each with independent 1-6 boards, serve children and families; in addition to those under the 1-7 purview of the Health and Human Services Commission, the Texas 1-8 Education Agency, the Texas Youth Commission, the Children's Trust 1-9 Fund of Texas Council, and the Communities in Schools program also 1-10 serve children; and 1-11 WHEREAS, The majority of services available currently focus 1-12 on crisis intervention rather than prevention or early 1-13 intervention; rather than prioritizing services in a manner that 1-14 would support families and build on their strengths, the state 1-15 tends to intervene in the most expensive and intensive manner; and 1-16 WHEREAS, The creation of a single agency dedicated to 1-17 providing children and their families with all needed services at a 1-18 centralized location would ensure the consistent and coordinated 1-19 application of resources; at-risk youths and their families could 1-20 be identified at an earlier stage and referred to the appropriate 1-21 department within the agency for services; and 1-22 WHEREAS, State policy-makers in Texas have long recognized 1-23 that people with complex problems are often poorly served by a 1-24 fragmented social service system, and it is imperative that the 2-1 state improve the coordination and delivery of children's 2-2 services; now, therefore, be it 2-3 RESOLVED, That the 74th Legislature of the State of Texas 2-4 hereby request the comptroller of public accounts to conduct a 2-5 performance review to determine if state agencies that provide 2-6 services to children should be combined or overseen by a single 2-7 board or agency; and, be it further 2-8 RESOLVED, That the secretary of state forward an official 2-9 copy of this resolution to the comptroller of public accounts.