LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
FISCAL NOTE
75th Regular Session
March 17, 1997
TO: Honorable Rodney Ellis, Chair IN RE: Senate Bill No. 34
Committee on Jurisprudence By: Zaffirini
Senate
Austin, Texas
FROM: John Keel, Director
In response to your request for a Fiscal Note on SB34 ( Relating
to the parent-child relationship, suits affecting the parent-child
relationship, and the protection of children.) this office has
detemined the following:
Biennial Net Impact to General Revenue Funds by SB34-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.
The bill would amend several chapters of the
Family Code relating to children in the managing conservatorship
of the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services. It
would also require the Office of Court Administration to prepare
an annual report on judicial efficiency in certain family law
cases pertaining to these children.
Fiscal Analysis
A number of the bill's provisions would have no significant
fiscal impact. These include requiring a man to declare paternity
within 30 days of the birth of a child; authorizing the court
to use new grounds for terminating the parent-child relationship;
requiring the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services
(PRS) to maintain a computerized database of foster care and
adoption information; and requiring the Office of Court Administration
(OCA) to prepare the annual report on judicial efficiency.
The
bill's provisions relating to permanency planning for children
in the managing conservatorship of PRS would have a significant
fiscal impact. The bill would require the department to recommend
to the court one of two alternatives after a child has been
in conservatorship for one year: returning the child to the
child's parents and dismissing the suit, or terminating parental
rights and retaining conservatorship. The effective date for
this provision would be September 1, 1997. The bill would require
the court to select between the two alternatives when issuing
an order at the first permanency hearing on or after the first
anniversary of the child's placement in conservatorship. The
effective date for this provision is September 1, 1998.
Methodolgy
It is assumed that these provisions would significantly increase
the workload of the department's child protective services program
and legal staff. The workload increase would be heaviest in
fiscal year 1998, when the department would implement new permanency
planning procedures and begin moving 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 of reunification
or termination.
It is also assumed that the cost of the
additional workload would be more than offset by a savings in
foster care and other purchased service payments, because the
provisions of the bill would cause children to leave the system
more quickly due to reunification with their family or termination
of parental rights and eventual adoption by another family.
The Department of Protective and Regulatory Services estimates
that 337 children in conservatorship would leave the foster
care system during fiscal year 1998 due to implementation of
the bill's 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 2001. 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 estimates
that the number of children receiving adoption subsidy payments
would increase by 150 due to implementation of the bill's provisions,
and foster care savings have been adjusted for the increase
in adoption subsidy payments.
The department estimates that
implementation of the bill's provisions would require additional
child protective service workers and legal staff to handle the
new permanency planning requirements. Staffing 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 90.0
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 result in a significant
additional cost for local government because many counties provide
legal representation for children in the 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
530 Department of Protective and Regulatory Services
302 Office of the Attorney General
LBB Staff: JK ,BB ,NM