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.