LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
FISCAL NOTE
75th Regular Session
March 19, 1997
TO: Honorable Judith Zaffirini, Chair IN RE: Senate Bill No. 359
Committee on Health & Human Services By: Brown
Senate
Austin, Texas
FROM: John Keel, Director
In response to your request for a Fiscal Note on SB359 ( Relating
to the continuation and operation of the Department of Protective
and Regulatory Services, the provision of services to children
and families, and suits affecting the parent-child relationship;
providing penalties.) this office has detemined the following:
Biennial Net Impact to General Revenue Funds by SB359-As Introduced
Implementing the provisions of the bill would result in a net
positive impact of $9,332,761 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 provide for the continuation of the Department
of Protective and Regulatory Services (DPRS) for the standard
12-year Sunset review cycle. DPRS is subject to the provisions
of the Texas Sunset Act. The amount set forth for the administration
of the agency in the General Appropriation Bill, as introduced,
($526,225,721 in fiscal year 1998 and $540,736,010 for fiscal
year 1999) would be contingent upon passage of Senate Bill 359
or similar legislation. The appropriation would be financed
from the General Revenue fund, federal funds, appropriated receipts,
and interagency contracts, and would provide for approximately
5,907 employees.
Implementation of two provisions in the
bill would result in a gain to the General Revenue fund which
cannot be estimated at this time due to a lack of historical
data. The first provision would require DPRS to charge licensed
child-care facilities for reimbursement of the reasonable cost
of providing services related to corrective action plans. The
second provision would authorize the Board of Protective and
Regulatory Services to impose an administrative penalty when
a child-care provider violates the licensing statute or a rule
or order adopted under the licensing statute.
Implementation
of several provisions in the bill would have no significant
fiscal impact. These include provisions that would improve
contract monitoring; establish new conditions for foster care
licensure; require the Board of Protective and Regulatory Services
to establish a flexible response system for child abuse and
neglect cases; and require DPRS, in consultation with the Legislative
Budget Board, to ensure that a record is maintained of the amount
of federal funding for child and adult protective services that
each county receives directly from the federal government.
Implementation
of a provision requiring DPRS to remove identifying information
from its records when the agency determines that the respondent
in a child abuse or neglect case did not commit child abuse
or neglect would have a significant fiscal impact. The effective
date for this provision would be no later than November 1, 1997,
when the bill would require the Board of Protective and Regulatory
Service to adopt new rules.
Implementation of several provisions
relating to permanency planning for children in temporary managing
conservatorship would also have a significant fiscal impact.
These provisions would require the court to dismiss a suit
filed by DPRS, which requests termination of the parent-child
relationship or requests that the department be named conservator
of a child, 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 not apply to suits seeking
termination of the parent-child relationship filed before the
effective date.
Methodolgy
The provision requiring de-identification of records would significantly
increase the workload of the child protective services program.
The department estimates that 57,000 hours of clerical staff
time would be required annually to delete information from data
fields in the Child and Adult Protective System (CAPS). The
estimate assumes that 57,000 cases would require de-identification
each year, and that a clerk could complete the de-identification
process for each case in one hour.
The provisions relating
to permanency planning for children in temporary managing conservatorship
would also significantly increase the workload of the 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 service payments.
DPRS 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.
DPRS 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.
Costs and savings may be overstated if the backlog of children
in temporary managing conservatorship for more than 12 months,
which is embedded in the department's model, includes lawsuits
seeking termination of the parent-child relationship filed before
September 1, 1997.
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 ($5,321,727) $3,156,825 ($3,949,575) $1,641,687 224.0
1998 (3,005,418) 14,503,081 (2,230,502) 7,542,235 139.0
2000 (3,104,293) 16,460,143 (2,303,883) 8,559,992 141.0
2001 (3,304,185) 18,764,019 (2,452,235) 9,758,108 147.0
2002 (3,405,776) 21,203,445 (2,527,632) 11,026,716 149.0
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 ($2,164,902)
1999 11,497,663
2000 13,355,850
2001 15,459,834
2002 17,797,669
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 cost about $4.6 million statewide
during the first two years of the bill's implementation. Some
of the cost could default to the department if local prosecutors
refuse to assume responsibility for legal representation.
Implementation
of a provision requiring the department to develop and implement
an outreach program to inform counties about the availability
of federal funds to pay for child and adult protective services
could increase federal funding for local government. This impact
cannot be estimated due to the lack of historical data on county
participation rates.
Source: Agencies:
116 Sunset Advisory Commission
360 State Office of Administrative Hearings
530 Department of Protective and Regulatory Services
655 Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation
LBB Staff: JK ,BB ,NM