LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
FISCAL NOTE
75th Regular Session
March 26, 1997
TO: Honorable Toby Goodman, Chair IN RE: House Bill No. 1826
Committee on Juvenile Justice and Family Issues By: Goodman
House
Austin, Texas
FROM: John Keel, Director
In response to your request for a Fiscal Note on HB1826 ( Relating
to the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services, the
protection of children from abuse and neglect, and the conservatorship
of children.) this office has detemined the following:
Biennial Net Impact to General Revenue Funds by HB1826-As Introduced
Implementing the provisions of the bill would result in a net
positive impact of $10,677,164 to General Revenue Related Funds
through the biennium ending August 31, 1999.
The bill would make no appropriation but could provide the legal
basis for an appropriation of funds to implement the provisions
of the bill.
Fiscal Analysis
The bill would amend numerous provisions in the Family Code
and the Education Code relating to the protection of children
from abuse and neglect, and the roles and responsibilities of
the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services.
Implementation
of several provisions in the bill would have no significant
fiscal impact. These include provisions that would add new
grounds for the involuntary termination of parental rights;
exempt the department from paying fees to obtain medical records
during an investigation; allow the department to pay funeral
expenses for foster children who die in conservatorship; and
require the Board of Protective and Regulatory Services to adopt
rules implementing a program of cooperative mediation services.
They also include provisions that would allow the department
to recover the cost of foster care from the estate of a child
or parent.
A potential exists for increased costs due to
implementation of several other provisions in the bill, but
this would be dependent on board rules and agency implementation
policies. The provisions that could increase costs would remove
a cap on the total amount of foster care payments, including
medical care; remove limitations on medical care payments; allow
the department to make protective foster care payments for a
broader range of children; and allow the Board of Protective
and Regulatory Services to adopt rules establishing criteria
and guidelines for the payment of foster care, and for the care
of children who reach age 18 in conservatorship and continue
to attend school regularly through age 21.
Implementation
of several provisions relating to permanency planning for children
in the department's temporary managing conservatorship would
have a significant fiscal impact. These provisions would require
the court to dismiss a suit filed by the department affecting
the parent-child relationship on the first Monday after the
first anniversary of the child's placement in temporary managing
conservatorship. The court could extend the department's temporary
managing conservatorship for up to 180 days under certain circumstances.
The effective date for these provisions would be September
1, 1997, and the change in law would apply to suits filed before
the effective date.
Methodolgy
The provisions relating to permanency planning for children
in temporary managing conservatorship would significantly increase
the workload of the department's child protective services program
and legal staff. It is assumed that the workload increase would
be heaviest in fiscal year 1998, when the department would implement
new permanency planning procedures and begin moving a backlog
of about 3,500 foster children who have been in conservatorship
for 12 or more months through the court system in preparation
for a final court order.
The cost of the additional workload
would be more than offset by a savings in foster care and other
purchased services. The department estimates that 337 children
would leave the foster care system during fiscal year 1998 due
to implementation of the new permanency planning provisions.
The number of children leaving the system after 1998 would
rise steadily, from 1,693 in 1999 to nearly 2,500 in the year
2002. This would result in a five-year savings of more than
$110 million in foster care payments and $1.7 million in other
purchased service payments. The department also estimates that
the number of children receiving adoption subsidy payments would
increase by about 150 over five years due to implementation
of the bill's provisions, and foster care savings have been
adjusted accordingly.
Implementation of the bill's provisions
would require additional child protective service workers and
legal staff to handle the new permanency planning requirements.
These costs have been adjusted for a gradual implementation
of the program in 1998. The cost estimate uses federal revenue
from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.
In the event that TANF funds are unavailable for allocation,
General Revenue may need to be substituted.
The probable fiscal implications of implementing the provisions
of the bill during each of the first five years following passage
is estimated as follows:
Five Year Impact:
Fiscal Year Probable Probable Probable Probable Change in Number
Savings/(Cost) Savings/(Cost) Savings/(Cost) Savings/(Cost) of State
from General from General from Federal Funds from Federal Funds Employees from
Revenue Fund Revenue Fund FY 1997
0001 0001 0555 0555
1998 ($4,604,926) $3,156,825 ($3,417,593) $1,641,687 180.0
1998 (2,377,816) 14,503,081 (1,764,721) 7,542,235 95.0
2000 (2,476,691) 16,460,143 (1,838,101) 8,559,992 97.0
2001 (2,676,583) 18,764,019 (1,986,453) 9,758,108 103.0
2002 (2,778,174) 21,203,445 (2,061,850) 11,026,716 104.0
Net Impact on General Revenue Related Funds:
The probable fiscal implication to General Revenue related funds
during each of the first five years is estimated as follows:
Fiscal Year Probable Net Postive/(Negative)
General Revenue Related Funds
Funds
1998 ($1,448,101)
1999 12,125,265
2000 13,983,452
2001 16,087,436
2002 18,425,271
Similar annual fiscal implications would continue as long as
the provisions of the bill are in effect.
Implementation of the bill's provisions would significantly
increase the workload of counties that provide legal representation
for children in the temporary managing conservatorship of the
Department of Protective and Regulatory Services. The department
estimates that the additional workload would cause local governments
to hire additional attorneys at a cost of $7 million statewide
during the first two years of the bill's implementation.
Source: Agencies: 501 Department of Health
405 Department of Public Safety
530 Department of Protective and Regulatory Services
324 Department of Human Services
LBB Staff: JK ,CB ,NM