By Maxey H.B. No. 1213
77R5673 KKA-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to creation and implementation by the Health and Human
1-3 Services Commission of family-based alternatives to the
1-4 institutionalization of children.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 531, Government Code, is
1-7 amended by adding Section 531.055 to read as follows:
1-8 Sec. 531.055. FAMILY-BASED ALTERNATIVES FOR CHILDREN. (a)
1-9 The purpose of the system of family-based alternatives required by
1-10 this section is to further the state's policy of providing for a
1-11 child's basic needs for safety, security, and stability through
1-12 ensuring that a child becomes a part of a successful permanent
1-13 family as soon as possible.
1-14 (b) In this section:
1-15 (1) "Child" means a person younger than 22 years of
1-16 age with a physical or developmental disability.
1-17 (2) "Family-based alternative" means a permanent
1-18 living arrangement with the primary feature of an enduring and
1-19 nurturing parental relationship.
1-20 (3) "Institution" means any congregate care facility,
1-21 including:
1-22 (A) a nursing home;
1-23 (B) an ICF-MR facility, as defined by Section
1-24 531.002, Health and Safety Code;
2-1 (C) a group home operated by the Texas
2-2 Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation; and
2-3 (D) an institution for the mentally retarded
2-4 licensed by the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services.
2-5 (4) "Waiver services" means services provided under:
2-6 (A) the Medically Dependent Children Program;
2-7 (B) the Community Living Assistance and Support
2-8 Services Program;
2-9 (C) the Home and Community-based Waiver Services
2-10 Program, including the HCS-OBRA Program;
2-11 (D) the Mental Retardation-Local Authority Pilot
2-12 Project (MRLA);
2-13 (E) the Deaf, Blind, and Multiply Disabled
2-14 Program; and
2-15 (F) any other Section 1915(c) waiver program
2-16 that provides long-term care services for children.
2-17 (c) The commission shall contract with community
2-18 organizations, including faith-based community organizations, or
2-19 nonprofit organizations for the development and implementation of a
2-20 system under which a child who cannot reside with the child's birth
2-21 family may receive necessary services in a family-based alternative
2-22 instead of an institution. To be eligible for a contract under
2-23 this subsection, an organization must possess knowledge regarding
2-24 the support needs of children with disabilities and their families.
2-25 For purposes of this subsection, a community organization,
2-26 including a faith-based community organization, or a nonprofit
2-27 organization does not include any governmental entity or
3-1 quasi-governmental entity to which a state agency delegates its
3-2 authority and responsibility for planning, supervising, providing,
3-3 or ensuring the provision of state services.
3-4 (d) The commission shall begin implementation of the system
3-5 in areas of this state with high numbers of children who reside in
3-6 institutions.
3-7 (e) Each affected health and human services agency shall
3-8 cooperate with the contractors and take all action necessary to
3-9 implement the system and comply with the requirements of this
3-10 section. The commission has final authority to make any decisions
3-11 and resolve any disputes regarding the system.
3-12 (f) The system must provide for:
3-13 (1) recruiting and training alternative families to
3-14 provide services for children;
3-15 (2) comprehensively assessing each child in need of
3-16 services and each alternative family available to provide services,
3-17 as necessary to identify the most appropriate alternative family
3-18 for placement of the child;
3-19 (3) providing to a child's parents or guardian
3-20 information regarding the availability of a family-based
3-21 alternative;
3-22 (4) making available transition and ongoing long-term
3-23 care support services for each child served under the system and
3-24 all persons associated with the child, including the alternative
3-25 family with whom the child is placed and the child's birth family;
3-26 (5) identifying each child residing in an institution
3-27 and offering support services, including waiver services, that
4-1 would enable the child to return to the child's birth family or be
4-2 placed in a family-based alternative; and
4-3 (6) determining through a child's permanency plan
4-4 other circumstances in which the child must be offered waiver
4-5 services, including circumstances in which changes in an
4-6 institution's status affect the child's placement or the quality of
4-7 services received by the child.
4-8 (g) In complying with the requirement imposed by Subsection
4-9 (f)(3), the commission shall ensure that the procedures for
4-10 providing information to parents or a guardian permit and encourage
4-11 the participation of an individual who is not affiliated with the
4-12 institution in which the child resides or with an institution in
4-13 which the child could be placed.
4-14 (h) In designing the system, the commission shall consider
4-15 and, when appropriate, incorporate current research and
4-16 recommendations developed by other public and private entities
4-17 involved in analyzing public policy relating to children residing
4-18 in institutions.
4-19 (i) As necessary to implement this section, the commission
4-20 shall:
4-21 (1) ensure that waiver services are available
4-22 immediately to each eligible child;
4-23 (2) ensure that service definitions applicable to
4-24 waiver services are modified as necessary to permit the provision
4-25 of waiver services through family-based alternatives;
4-26 (3) ensure that procedures are implemented for making
4-27 a level of care determination for each child and identifying the
5-1 most appropriate waiver service for the child, including procedures
5-2 under which the director of long-term care for the commission,
5-3 after considering any preference of the child's birth family or
5-4 alternative family, resolves disputes among agencies about the most
5-5 appropriate waiver service; and
5-6 (4) require that the health and human services agency
5-7 responsible for providing a specific waiver service to a child also
5-8 assume responsibility for identifying any necessary transition
5-9 activities or services.
5-10 (j) Not later than January 1 of each year, the commission
5-11 shall report to the legislature on the implementation of the
5-12 system. The report must include a statement of:
5-13 (1) the number of children currently receiving care in
5-14 an institution;
5-15 (2) the number of children placed in a family-based
5-16 alternative under the system during the preceding year;
5-17 (3) the number of children who left an institution
5-18 during the preceding year under an arrangement other than a
5-19 family-based alternative under the system or for another reason
5-20 unrelated to the availability of a family-based alternative under
5-21 the system;
5-22 (4) the number of children waiting for an available
5-23 placement in a family-based alternative under the system; and
5-24 (5) the number of alternative families trained and
5-25 available to accept placement of a child under the system.
5-26 SECTION 2. Effective September 1, 2003, or a later date on
5-27 which the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services assumes
6-1 the functions of the Texas Department on Aging, as provided by
6-2 Chapter 1505, Acts of the 76th Legislature, Regular Session, 1999,
6-3 a reference in Section 531.055, Government Code, as added by this
6-4 Act, to the commission means the Texas Department of Aging and
6-5 Disability Services. This section of this Act has no effect if the
6-6 Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services does not assume
6-7 the functions of the Texas Department on Aging.
6-8 SECTION 3. Notwithstanding Section 531.055(j), Government
6-9 Code, as added by this Act, the Health and Human Services
6-10 Commission shall submit the report required by that section
6-11 beginning with the report due on January 1, 2003.
6-12 SECTION 4. The Health and Human Services Commission shall:
6-13 (1) take all action necessary to ensure that requests
6-14 for proposals necessary to implement Section 531.055, Government
6-15 Code, as added by this Act, are issued as soon as possible after
6-16 the effective date of this Act; and
6-17 (2) include implementation timelines in any contract
6-18 executed by the commission after receiving responses to the
6-19 requests for proposals.
6-20 SECTION 5. If, before implementing any provision of this Act,
6-21 a state agency determines that a waiver or authorization from a
6-22 federal agency is necessary for implementation of that provision,
6-23 the agency affected by the provision shall request the waiver or
6-24 authorization and may delay implementing that provision until the
6-25 waiver or authorization is granted.
6-26 SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.