1-1 By: Moncrief S.C.R. No. 14 1-2 (In the Senate - Filed February 5, 1997; February 10, 1997, 1-3 read first time and referred to Committee on Health and Human 1-4 Services; March 6, 1997, reported favorably, as amended, by the 1-5 following vote: Yeas 11, Nays 0; March 6, 1997, sent to printer.) 1-6 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1 By: Moncrief 1-7 Amend S.C.R. No. 14 on page 2, line 3 by inserting the 1-8 following language between "state" and ";": 1-9 ", contingent upon the commission receiving gifts and grants of 1-10 money, property, or services for the purposes of developing and 1-11 evaluating this assessment process" 1-12 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1-13 WHEREAS, The Texas Health and Human Services Commission 1-14 convened a work group, at the direction of the 74th Legislature, to 1-15 identify barriers to the use of home-based and community-based 1-16 long-term care services and to recommend strategies to remove those 1-17 barriers; and 1-18 WHEREAS, The work group found that the current long-term care 1-19 delivery system is fragmented and duplicative; and 1-20 WHEREAS, The work group found that the state administers 1-21 multiple waiver programs providing home-based and community-based 1-22 long-term care services, each of which provides a different but 1-23 incomplete array of services based on specific diagnosis-related 1-24 eligibility criteria and suggested that consolidation of the 1-25 waivers might enable the state to provide a more comprehensive 1-26 array of services, better tailored to individual needs, while also 1-27 reducing administrative duplication; and 1-28 WHEREAS, The work group also found that eligibility criteria 1-29 based on diagnosis rather than on an individual's functional need 1-30 is a major barrier to services and that eligibility determination 1-31 based on level of functioning would allow for more individualized 1-32 service delivery; and 1-33 WHEREAS, The work group also found that many caseworkers and 1-34 case managers of home-based and community-based long-term care 1-35 programs know little about other home-based and community-based 1-36 long-term care programs and have no comprehensive source of 1-37 information available and that this lack of knowledge and 1-38 information hinders their effectiveness in assisting clients; now, 1-39 therefore, be it 1-40 RESOLVED, That the 75th Legislature of the State of Texas 1-41 hereby direct the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, in 1-42 conjunction with the appropriate agencies, to develop a plan to 1-43 coordinate long-term care service delivery and administration in 1-44 order to expand the array of available services, to enhance client 1-45 access to services and reduce the length of waiting lists, to 1-46 provide services in the least restrictive setting, and to maximize 1-47 funding and eliminate administrative duplication and to report its 1-48 findings by January 15, 1998, to the governor, lieutenant governor, 1-49 speaker of the house of representatives, the Senate Health and 1-50 Human Services Committee, the House Human Services and Public 1-51 Health Committees, and the Sunset Advisory Commission; and, be it 1-52 further 1-53 RESOLVED, That the legislature also direct the Texas Health 1-54 and Human Services Commission to determine the feasibility of 1-55 collapsing the multiple waivers for home-based and community-based 1-56 long-term care services into a single waiver which would provide 1-57 the state with the flexibility to determine the appropriate service 1-58 mix for each individual based on functional need, to maximize the 1-59 array of available services, and to reduce administrative 1-60 duplication; and, be it further 1-61 RESOLVED, That the legislature also direct the Texas Health 1-62 and Human Services Commission to oversee the development and 2-1 evaluation of a uniform functional assessment process, irrespective 2-2 of age or diagnosis, for all long-term care programs offered by the 2-3 state; and, be it further 2-4 RESOLVED, That the legislature also direct the Texas Health 2-5 and Human Services Commission to work with the appropriate agencies 2-6 to develop training for caseworkers and case managers of long-term 2-7 care programs which familiarizes them with the range of long-term 2-8 care programs offered by the state; and, be it further 2-9 RESOLVED, That the Texas Health and Human Services Commission 2-10 report on its progress with the multiple waiver study, the 2-11 development and evaluation of a uniform functional assessment 2-12 process, and the caseworker training by January 15, 1999, to the 2-13 governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the house of 2-14 representatives, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, 2-15 and the House Human Services and Public Health Committees; and, be 2-16 it further 2-17 RESOLVED, That the secretary of state forward an official 2-18 copy of this resolution to the Texas Health and Human Services 2-19 Commission. 2-20 * * * * *