By:  West                                             S.B. No. 1574
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
                                       AN ACT
 1-1     relating to the administration of certain programs for at-risk
 1-2     children and their families.
 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-4           SECTION 1.  Subsection (b), Section 40.002, Human Resources
 1-5     Code, is amended to read as follows:
 1-6           (b)  The department is the state agency with primary
 1-7     responsibility for:
 1-8                 (1)  providing protective services for children and
 1-9     elderly and disabled persons, including investigations of alleged
1-10     abuse, neglect, or exploitation in facilities of the Texas
1-11     Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation;
1-12                 (2)  providing family support and family preservation
1-13     services which respect the fundamental right of parents to control
1-14     the education and upbringing of their children; [and]
1-15                 (3)  regulating child-care facilities and child-care
1-16     administrators; and
1-17                 (4)  implementing and managing programs intended to
1-18     provide early intervention or prevent at-risk behaviors that lead
1-19     to child abuse, delinquency, running away, truancy, and dropping
1-20     out of school.
1-21           SECTION 2.  Subtitle E, Title 5, Family Code, is amended by
1-22     adding Chapter 265 to read as follows:
1-23          CHAPTER 265.  PREVENTION AND EARLY INTERVENTION SERVICES
1-24           Sec. 265.001.  DEFINITIONS.  In this chapter:
 2-1                 (1)  "Department" means the Department of Protective
 2-2     and Regulatory Services.
 2-3                 (2)  "Division" means the prevention and early
 2-4     intervention services division within the department.
 2-5                 (3)  "Prevention and early intervention services" means
 2-6     programs intended to provide early intervention or prevent at-risk
 2-7     behaviors that lead to child abuse, delinquency, running away,
 2-8     truancy, and dropping out of school.
 2-9           Sec. 265.002.  PREVENTION AND EARLY INTERVENTION SERVICES
2-10     DIVISION.  The department shall operate a division to provide
2-11     services for children in at-risk situations and for the families of
2-12     those children and to achieve the consolidation of prevention and
2-13     early intervention services within the jurisdiction of a single
2-14     agency in order to avoid fragmentation and duplication of services
2-15     and to increase the accountability for the delivery and
2-16     administration of these services.  The division shall be called the
2-17     prevention and early intervention services division and shall have
2-18     the following duties:
2-19                 (1)  to plan, develop, and administer a comprehensive
2-20     and unified delivery system of prevention and early intervention
2-21     services to children and their families in at-risk situations;
2-22                 (2)  to improve the responsiveness of services for
2-23     at-risk children and their families by facilitating greater
2-24     coordination and flexibility in the use of funds by state and local
2-25     service providers;
2-26                 (3)  to provide greater accountability for prevention
 3-1     and early intervention services in order to demonstrate the impact
 3-2     or public benefit of a program by adopting outcome measures; and
 3-3                 (4)  to assist local communities in the coordination
 3-4     and development of prevention and early intervention services in
 3-5     order to maximize federal, state, and local resources.
 3-6           Sec. 265.003.  CONSOLIDATION OF PROGRAMS.  (a)  In order to
 3-7     implement the duties provided in Section 265.002, the department
 3-8     shall consolidate into the division programs with the goal of
 3-9     providing early intervention or prevention of at-risk behavior that
3-10     leads to child abuse, delinquency, running away, truancy, and
3-11     dropping out of school.
3-12           (b)  The division may provide additional prevention and early
3-13     intervention services in accordance with Section 265.002.
3-14           SECTION 3.  (a)  On the effective date of this Act, the
3-15     following programs are transferred from the agencies indicated to
3-16     the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services to be
3-17     administered by the prevention and early intervention services
3-18     division of the department as provided by Chapter 265, Family Code,
3-19     as added by this Act:
3-20                 (1)  from the Texas Department of Mental Health and
3-21     Mental Retardation:  the Parents as Teachers program;
3-22                 (2)  from the Texas Education Agency and the Texas
3-23     Workforce Commission:  the Communities In Schools program; and
3-24                 (3)  from the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission:  the
3-25     Buffalo Soldier Heritage program.
3-26           (b)  On September 1, 1999, any powers, duties, obligations,
 4-1     rights, contracts, records, employees, property, funds, and
 4-2     appropriations of an agency program listed under Subsection (a) of
 4-3     this section are transferred to the Department of Protective and
 4-4     Regulatory Services.
 4-5           (c)  The employees of the services for at-risk youth program
 4-6     and the community youth development grant program administered by
 4-7     the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services are
 4-8     transferred to the prevention and early intervention services
 4-9     division of the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services.
4-10           (d)  For the 1999 and 2000 state fiscal years, the number of
4-11     employees transferred to the Department of Protective and
4-12     Regulatory Services under Subsection (b) of this section is not
4-13     included in determining the department's compliance with any
4-14     limitation on the number of full-time equivalent positions (FTEs)
4-15     imposed by the General Appropriations Act.
4-16           (e)  A reference in law or administrative rule to any agency
4-17     listed in Subsection (a) of this section that relates to a program
4-18     transferred under that subsection means the Department of
4-19     Protective and Regulatory Services.  A reference in law or
4-20     administrative rule to an executive officer of an agency listed
4-21     under Subsection (a) of this section that relates to a program
4-22     transferred under that subsection means the executive director of
4-23     the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services.
4-24           (f)  A rule of an agency listed in Subsection (a) of this
4-25     section relating to a program transferred under that subsection
4-26     continues in effect as a rule of the agency until superseded by a
 5-1     rule of the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services.  The
 5-2     secretary of state is authorized to adopt rules as necessary to
 5-3     expedite the implementation of this subsection.
 5-4           (g)  The transfer of the programs listed in Subsection (a) of
 5-5     this section and associated powers, duties, functions, and
 5-6     activities under this Act does not affect or impair any act done,
 5-7     any obligation, right, order, license, permit, rule, criterion,
 5-8     standard, or requirement existing, any investigation begun, or any
 5-9     penalty accrued under former law, and that law remains in effect
5-10     for any action concerning those matters.
5-11           (h)  An action brought or proceeding commenced before the
5-12     effective date of this Act, including a contested case or a remand
5-13     of any action or proceeding by a reviewing court, is governed by
5-14     the law and rules applicable to the action or proceeding
5-15     immediately before the effective date of this Act.
5-16           SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
5-17           SECTION 5.  The importance of this legislation and the
5-18     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-19     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-20     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-21     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.