LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
                          Austin, Texas

                           FISCAL NOTE
                       74th Regular Session

                          April 12, 1995



 TO:     Honorable John Whitmire, Chair         IN RE: Committee Substitute
         Committee on Criminal Justice          for
         Senate                                                House Bill
         Austin, Texas                          No. 1409










FROM: John Keel, Director

In response to your request for a Fiscal Note on House Bill No.
1409 (relating to children and family issues, including health
and human services issues) this office has determined the
following:

The bill would make no appropriation but could provide the legal
basis for an appropriation of funds to implement the provisions
of the bill.

The bill would authorize the Health and Human Services Commission
(HHSC) to certify the creation of local Child and Family
Commissions.  A local Child and Family Commission would be
required to assess the need for child and family resources in the
community, monitor the effectiveness and efficiency with which
public and private organizations that receive public money
deliver services, and submit to the HHSC strategic plans for
services.

With consent of the Legislative Budget Board, the HHSC in
conjunction with the affected agencies, would be required to
develop a budget mechanism to combine state and local funds to
provide grants to local Child and Family Commissions and to
distribute grant funds that may be appropriated by the
Legislature for local Child and Family Commissions.  Grants to
local commissions would need to be matched by local resources, be
distributed based on a county's child population and per capita    




income.  The HHSC could retain a maximum of 2 percent of any
funds appropriated for state grants for the administration of the
program.  Community Assistance Grants certified by the commission 
for the purpose on providing an incentive for a community to
establish a local child and family commission would be required
to be in proportion with the child population in the county, not
to exceed $50,000, be matched equal to at least one-half of the
grant amount by local resources, and may not extend beyond a
period of one year.

The State Auditor would be required to develop standardized forms
and schedules for a local commission to use in conducting an
annual financial audit.

The bill would require the Commissioner of Health and Human
Services to coordinate the program services and eligibility
requirements, funding, enrollment periods, fees, and
administrative functions of the child care programs of the
Department of Human Services, the pre-kindergarten programs of
the Central Education Agency, and the federal Head Start programs
by no later than December 1, 1996.  The Commissioner of Health
and Human Services would be required to report the results of
this initiative to the Legislature by December 1, 1996.

The bill would require the Department of Health to establish a
program to promote public awareness of the importance of prenatal
care no later than January 1, 1996.  In addition, the department
is required to develop a plan to increase accessibility of dental
services for children.  The plan would target children who are
eligible for but not receiving medical assistance (Medicaid). 
The department would be required to submit a plan and budget by
September 1, 1996 and present the same to the Seventy-fifth
Legislature.

The bill would require the Department of Mental Health and Mental
Retardation ( MHMR), Central Education Agency, and the Department
of Protective and Regulatory Services to develop a plan for
providing services to children with severe mental or emotional
disorders who require residential treatment.  MHMR would be
required to submit a plan, estimated budget needs, and
recommendations for any statutory changes to implement the plan
to the Governor and the Legislature no later than January 15,
1997.

The bill would require the Comptroller to establish a pilot
project to determine the effectiveness of using investment
budgeting to measure the cost-effectiveness of certain children's
prevention services.  The Comptroller would report its findings
regarding the effectiveness of the pilot program to the Governor
and the Seventy-fifth Legislature no later than January 15, 1997.

The fiscal implications of this bill as reported by the Health
and Human Services Commission would include the addition of one
staff person as a program administrator to coordinate the child    




care programs in the 1996-97 biennium.  The requirements relating
to the delivery of services to children and families are not 
expected to increase costs for HHSC because the Commission
anticipates assistance from other health and human services
agencies.

The Commissioner of Health stated, "Though the effectiveness of
the campaign will at least in part depend upon additional funding
that might be made available, we are confident that we can
initiate a prenatal care awareness campaign using existing TDH
resources."

The other agencies affected by this bill indicated that no
significant new costs were anticipated by the provisions of the
bill.

The probable fiscal implication of implementing the provisions of
the bill during each of the first  five years following passage
is estimated as follows:
     



            Fiscal  Probable Cost Out      Change in   
             Year      of  General      Number of State
                     Revenue Fund 001   Employees from 
                                            FY 1995    
                                                       
          1996                 $54,439              1.0
          1997                  50,439              1.0
                                                       
          1998                       0               .0
                                                       
          1999                       0               .0
          2000                       0               .0
                                                       
                                                       
                                                       
       Similar annual fiscal implications would continue as long as the
provisions of the bill are in effect.


Source:   Comptroller of Public Accounts, State Auditor's Office,
Commission for the Blind,
                          Department of Human Services,
Department of Health, Health and Human
                          Services Commission, Texas Department
of Mental Health and Mental
                          Retardation, Central Education Agency -
Administration
          LBB Staff: JK, AZ, RR