1-1     By:  West                                             S.B. No. 1574
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed March 12, 1999; March 15, 1999, read
 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on Human Services;
 1-4     April 6, 1999, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
 1-5     Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 4, Nays 0; April 6, 1999,
 1-6     sent to printer.)
 1-7     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1574                 By:  Bernsen
 1-8                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-9                                   AN ACT
1-10     relating to the administration of certain programs for at-risk
1-11     children and their families.
1-12           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-13           SECTION 1.  Subsection (b), Section 40.002, Human Resources
1-14     Code, is amended to read as follows:
1-15           (b)  The department is the state agency with primary
1-16     responsibility for:
1-17                 (1)  providing protective services for children and
1-18     elderly and disabled persons, including investigations of alleged
1-19     abuse, neglect, or exploitation in facilities of the Texas
1-20     Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation;
1-21                 (2)  providing family support and family preservation
1-22     services which respect the fundamental right of parents to control
1-23     the education and upbringing of their children; [and]
1-24                 (3)  regulating child-care facilities and child-care
1-25     administrators; and
1-26                 (4)  implementing and managing programs intended to
1-27     provide early intervention or prevent at-risk behaviors that lead
1-28     to child abuse, delinquency, running away, truancy, and dropping
1-29     out of school.
1-30           SECTION 2.  Subtitle E, Title 5, Family Code, is amended by
1-31     adding Chapter 265 to read as follows:
1-32          CHAPTER 265.  PREVENTION AND EARLY INTERVENTION SERVICES
1-33           Sec. 265.001.  DEFINITIONS.  In this chapter:
1-34                 (1)  "Department" means the Department of Protective
1-35     and Regulatory Services.
1-36                 (2)  "Division" means the prevention and early
1-37     intervention services division within the department.
1-38                 (3)  "Prevention and early intervention services" means
1-39     programs intended to provide early intervention or prevent at-risk
1-40     behaviors that lead to child abuse, delinquency, running away,
1-41     truancy, and dropping out of school.
1-42           Sec. 265.002.  PREVENTION AND EARLY INTERVENTION SERVICES
1-43     DIVISION.  The department shall operate a division to provide
1-44     services for children in at-risk situations and for the families of
1-45     those children and to achieve the consolidation of prevention and
1-46     early intervention services within the jurisdiction of a single
1-47     agency in order to avoid fragmentation and duplication of services
1-48     and to increase the accountability for the delivery and
1-49     administration of these services.  The division shall be called the
1-50     prevention and early intervention services division and shall have
1-51     the following duties:
1-52                 (1)  to plan, develop, and administer a comprehensive
1-53     and unified delivery system of prevention and early intervention
1-54     services to children and their families in at-risk situations;
1-55                 (2)  to improve the responsiveness of services for
1-56     at-risk children and their families by facilitating greater
1-57     coordination and flexibility in the use of funds by state and local
1-58     service providers;
1-59                 (3)  to provide greater accountability for prevention
1-60     and early intervention services in order to demonstrate the impact
1-61     or public benefit of a program by adopting outcome measures; and
1-62                 (4)  to assist local communities in the coordination
1-63     and development of prevention and early intervention services in
1-64     order to maximize federal, state, and local resources.
 2-1           Sec. 265.003.  CONSOLIDATION OF PROGRAMS.  (a)  In order to
 2-2     implement the duties provided in Section 265.002, the department
 2-3     shall consolidate into the division programs with the goal of
 2-4     providing early intervention or prevention of at-risk behavior that
 2-5     leads to child abuse, delinquency, running away, truancy, and
 2-6     dropping out of school.
 2-7           (b)  The division may provide additional prevention and early
 2-8     intervention services in accordance with Section 265.002.
 2-9           SECTION 3.  (a)  On the effective date of this Act, the
2-10     following programs are transferred from the agencies indicated to
2-11     the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services to be
2-12     administered by the prevention and early intervention services
2-13     division of the department as provided by Chapter 265, Family Code,
2-14     as added by this Act:
2-15                 (1)  from the Texas Department of Mental Health and
2-16     Mental Retardation: the Parents as Teachers program;
2-17                 (2)  from the Texas Education Agency and the Texas
2-18     Workforce Commission:  the Communities In Schools program; and
2-19                 (3)  from the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission:  the
2-20     Buffalo Soldier Heritage program.
2-21           (b)  On September 1, 1999, any powers, duties, obligations,
2-22     rights, contracts, records, employees, property, funds, and
2-23     appropriations of an agency program listed under Subsection (a) of
2-24     this section are transferred to the Department of Protective and
2-25     Regulatory Services.
2-26           (c)  The employees of the services for at-risk youth program
2-27     and the community youth development grant program administered by
2-28     the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services are
2-29     transferred to the prevention and early intervention services
2-30     division of the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services.
2-31           (d)  For the 1999 and 2000 state fiscal years, the number of
2-32     employees transferred to the Department of Protective and
2-33     Regulatory Services under Subsection (b) of this section is not
2-34     included in determining the department's compliance with any
2-35     limitation on the  number of full-time equivalent positions (FTEs)
2-36     imposed by the General Appropriations Act.
2-37           (e)  A reference in law or administrative rule to any agency
2-38     listed in Subsection (a) of this section that relates to a program
2-39     transferred under that subsection means the Department of
2-40     Protective and Regulatory Services.  A reference in law or
2-41     administrative rule to an executive officer of an agency listed
2-42     under Subsection (a) of this section that relates to a program
2-43     transferred under that subsection means the executive director of
2-44     the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services.
2-45           (f)  A rule of an agency listed in Subsection (a) of this
2-46     section relating to a program transferred under that subsection
2-47     continues in effect as a rule of the agency until superseded by a
2-48     rule of the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services.  The
2-49     secretary of state is authorized to adopt rules as necessary to
2-50     expedite the implementation of this subsection.
2-51           (g)  The transfer of the programs listed in Subsection (a) of
2-52     this section and associated powers, duties, functions, and
2-53     activities under this Act does not affect or impair any act done,
2-54     any obligation, right, order, license, permit, rule, criterion,
2-55     standard, or requirement existing, any investigation begun, or any
2-56     penalty accrued under former law, and that law remains in effect
2-57     for any action concerning those matters.
2-58           (h)  An action brought or proceeding commenced before the
2-59     effective date of this Act, including a contested case or a remand
2-60     of any action or proceeding by a reviewing court, is governed by
2-61     the law and rules applicable to the action or proceeding
2-62     immediately before the effective date of this Act.
2-63           SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
2-64           SECTION 5.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-65     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-66     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-67     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-68     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
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