SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1-1 WHEREAS, The Texas Health and Human Services Commission 1-2 convened a work group, at the direction of the 74th Legislature, to 1-3 identify barriers to the use of home-based and community-based 1-4 long-term care services and to recommend strategies to remove those 1-5 barriers; and 1-6 WHEREAS, The work group found that the current long-term care 1-7 delivery system is fragmented and duplicative; and 1-8 WHEREAS, The work group found that the state administers 1-9 multiple waiver programs providing home-based and community-based 1-10 long-term care services, each of which provides a different but 1-11 incomplete array of services based on specific diagnosis-related 1-12 eligibility criteria and suggested that consolidation of the 1-13 waivers might enable the state to provide a more comprehensive 1-14 array of services, better tailored to individual needs, while also 1-15 reducing administrative duplication; and 1-16 WHEREAS, The work group also found that eligibility criteria 1-17 based on diagnosis rather than on an individual's functional need 1-18 is a major barrier to services and that eligibility determination 1-19 based on level of functioning would allow for more individualized 1-20 service delivery; and 1-21 WHEREAS, The work group also found that many caseworkers and 1-22 case managers of home-based and community-based long-term care 1-23 programs know little about other home-based and community-based 2-1 long-term care programs and have no comprehensive source of 2-2 information available and that this lack of knowledge and 2-3 information hinders their effectiveness in assisting clients; now, 2-4 therefore, be it 2-5 RESOLVED, That the 75th Legislature of the State of Texas 2-6 hereby direct the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, in 2-7 conjunction with the appropriate agencies, to develop a plan to 2-8 coordinate long-term care service delivery and administration in 2-9 order to expand the array of available services, to enhance client 2-10 access to services and reduce the length of waiting lists, to 2-11 provide services in the least restrictive setting, and to maximize 2-12 funding and eliminate administrative duplication and to report its 2-13 findings by January 15, 1998, to the governor, lieutenant governor, 2-14 speaker of the house of representatives, the Senate Health and 2-15 Human Services Committee, the House Human Services and Public 2-16 Health Committees, and the Sunset Advisory Commission; and, be it 2-17 further 2-18 RESOLVED, That the legislature also direct the Texas Health 2-19 and Human Services Commission to determine the feasibility of 2-20 collapsing the multiple waivers for home-based and community-based 2-21 long-term care services into a single waiver which would provide 2-22 the state with the flexibility to determine the appropriate service 2-23 mix for each individual based on functional need, to maximize the 2-24 array of available services, and to reduce administrative 2-25 duplication; and, be it further 3-1 RESOLVED, That the legislature also direct the Texas Health 3-2 and Human Services Commission to oversee the development and 3-3 evaluation of a uniform functional assessment process, irrespective 3-4 of age or diagnosis, for all long-term care programs offered by the 3-5 state, contingent upon the commission receiving gifts and grants of 3-6 money, property, or services for the purposes of developing and 3-7 evaluating this assessment process; and, be it further 3-8 RESOLVED, That the legislature also direct the Texas Health 3-9 and Human Services Commission to work with the appropriate agencies 3-10 to develop training for caseworkers and case managers of long-term 3-11 care programs which familiarizes them with the range of long-term 3-12 care programs offered by the state; and, be it further 3-13 RESOLVED, That the Texas Health and Human Services Commission 3-14 report on its progress with the multiple waiver study, the 3-15 development and evaluation of a uniform functional assessment 3-16 process, and the caseworker training by January 15, 1999, to the 3-17 governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the house of 3-18 representatives, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, 3-19 and the House Human Services and Public Health Committees; and, be 3-20 it further 3-21 RESOLVED, That the secretary of state forward an official 3-22 copy of this resolution to the Texas Health and Human Services 3-23 Commission. _______________________________ _______________________________ President of the Senate Speaker of the House I hereby certify that S.C.R. No. 14 was adopted by the Senate on March 20, 1997. _______________________________ Secretary of the Senate I hereby certify that S.C.R. No. 14 was adopted by the House on May 13, 1997. _______________________________ Chief Clerk of the House Approved: _______________________________ Date _______________________________ Governor