By: Moncrief S.C.R. No. 14 97S0307/1 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 1-24 long-term care programs and have no comprehensive source of 2-1 information available and that this lack of knowledge and 2-2 information hinders their effectiveness in assisting clients; now, 2-3 therefore, be it 2-4 RESOLVED, That the 75th Legislature of the State of Texas 2-5 hereby direct the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, in 2-6 conjunction with the appropriate agencies, to develop a plan to 2-7 coordinate long-term care service delivery and administration in 2-8 order to expand the array of available services, to enhance client 2-9 access to services and reduce the length of waiting lists, to 2-10 provide services in the least restrictive setting, and to maximize 2-11 funding and eliminate administrative duplication and to report its 2-12 findings by January 15, 1998, to the governor, lieutenant governor, 2-13 speaker of the house of representatives, the Senate Health and 2-14 Human Services Committee, the House Human Services and Public 2-15 Health Committees, and the Sunset Advisory Commission; and, be it 2-16 further 2-17 RESOLVED, That the legislature also direct the Texas Health 2-18 and Human Services Commission to determine the feasibility of 2-19 collapsing the multiple waivers for home-based and community-based 2-20 long-term care services into a single waiver which would provide 2-21 the state with the flexibility to determine the appropriate service 2-22 mix for each individual based on functional need, to maximize the 2-23 array of available services, and to reduce administrative 2-24 duplication; and, be it further 2-25 RESOLVED, That the legislature also direct the Texas Health 3-1 and Human Services Commission to oversee the development and 3-2 evaluation of a uniform functional assessment process, irrespective 3-3 of age or diagnosis, for all long-term care programs offered by the 3-4 state; and, be it further 3-5 RESOLVED, That the legislature also direct the Texas Health 3-6 and Human Services Commission to work with the appropriate agencies 3-7 to develop training for caseworkers and case managers of long-term 3-8 care programs which familiarizes them with the range of long-term 3-9 care programs offered by the state; and, be it further 3-10 RESOLVED, That the Texas Health and Human Services Commission 3-11 report on its progress with the multiple waiver study, the 3-12 development and evaluation of a uniform functional assessment 3-13 process, and the caseworker training by January 15, 1999, to the 3-14 governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the house of 3-15 representatives, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, 3-16 and the House Human Services and Public Health Committees; and, be 3-17 it further 3-18 RESOLVED, That the secretary of state forward an official 3-19 copy of this resolution to the Texas Health and Human Services 3-20 Commission.