LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD Austin, Texas FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session March 5, 2001 TO: Honorable Elliott Naishtat, Chair, House Committee on Human Services FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board IN RE: HB1175 by Raymond (Relating to minimum training regarding family violence for certain state employees and other persons administering the financial assistance program and to identification of and services for certain victims of family violence.), As Introduced ************************************************************************** * Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for * * HB1175, As Introduced: negative impact of $(3,138,564) through * * the biennium ending August 31, 2003. * * * * The bill would make no appropriation but could provide the legal * * basis for an appropriation of funds to implement the provisions of * * the bill. * ************************************************************************** General Revenue-Related Funds, Five-Year Impact: **************************************************** * Fiscal Year Probable Net Positive/(Negative) * * Impact to General Revenue Related * * Funds * * 2002 $(1,811,973) * * 2003 (1,326,591) * * 2004 (1,326,591) * * 2005 (1,326,591) * * 2006 (1,326,591) * **************************************************** All Funds, Five-Year Impact: *************************************************************************** *Fiscal Probable Savings/(Cost) from Probable Savings/(Cost) from * * Year General Revenue Fund Federal Funds - Federal * * 0001 0555 * * 2002 $(1,811,973) $(39,276) * * 2003 (1,326,591) (39,630) * * 2004 (1,326,591) (40,026) * * 2005 (1,326,591) (37,704) * * 2006 (1,326,591) (36,612) * *************************************************************************** Given the limited amount of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) federal funds, for the purposes of this fiscal note, General Revenue is assumed as the method of financing for the training and interview costs estimated by TWC. Should additional TANF federal funding be available, the amounts of $1,811,973 in FY 2002 and $1,326,591 in FY 2003 of General Revenue costs assumed above could be financed with TANF federal funding. Fiscal Analysis The bill would amend Section 31.0322 of the Human Resources Code. The Department of Human Services (DHS), the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) which is the Title IV-D agency, the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC), and the local workforce development boards (LWDB) would be required to provide a minimum of four hours of family violence training to each employee or other individual who provides information, recommends sanctions for noncooperation and noncompliance, and assesses job readiness or provides employment planning or employment retention services to an individual receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) financial assistance. The bill would require that personnel with family violence training interview all individuals who fail to comply with child support, work, or participation requirements to determine whether family violence contributed to the failure to comply, and if it does, identify services that would assist the individual to safely enter the workforce. The bill would take effect September 1, 2001. Methodology The fiscal implications of the bill at DHS are estimated to be approximately $39,276 in FY 2002 and $39,630 in FY 2003 of TANF funds based on the agency's projection that approximately one percent of the cases with employment penalties would be the result of domestic violence. Therefore, these individuals would not be subject to the noncompliance penalty of $78, effectively increasing benefits to these individuals. DHS developed its projection of penalties based on an ad hoc run of FY 2000 data, which showed there were 16,835 new penalties imposed for noncompliance with employment services requirements. DHS then projected the number of penalties that would be imposed from 2002 through 2006 using the TANF caseload forecasts as of February 1, 2001. DHS does not estimate a significant cost for interviews of the individuals who would be subject to penalties because TWC or the LWDB contractors' staff would actually conduct all of the interviews for noncompliance. DHS also does not estimate any cost for family violence training because it has already incorporated four hours of family violence training into its Basic Skills training for all newly hired field staff beginning in the 2000-01 biennium, and it completed family violence training for all existing field staff as of July 31, 2000. TWC estimates the fiscal impact of the bill to be $1,811,973 in FY 2002 and $1,326,591 in FY 2003 of General Revenue for the cost of providing family violence training to TWC and LWDB contractor personnel and having these personnel conduct interviews for all individuals who do not comply with the requirements for assistance. In FY 2002, the agency also includes $200,000 to develop a computer-based training program to supplement the four hours of classroom training. Family violence training would have to be provided to a small number of TWC staff in the field offices, mainly Employment Services Representatives, and to the LWDB contractor staff who actually provide services on behalf of the local boards. In FY 2002, TWC estimates that there would be 378 agency field staff and 2,817 LWDB contractor staff who would have to receive family violence training. With an estimated annual turnover of 15 percent, a total of 480 agency field staff and LWDB contractor staff would have to receive family violence training in FY 2003. TWC received a cost estimate from a practicing, qualified family violence trainer for one four-hour training session of $750, and it estimated that 30 people could be trained in each session. In order to interview all individuals who do not comply with the work or participation requirements or do not cooperate with the Office of the Attorney General, TWC estimates that it would require an average of two hours of staff time per noncompliance case to outreach noncompliant individuals at their homes and assess whether their noncompliance is due to family violence. The agency projects an average monthly number of sanction requests of 3,912 in FY 2002 and 3,770 in FY 2003, and it assumes that one percent of the interviews would be conducted by agency field staff and the other 99 percent of the home interviews would be conducted by board contractor staff. Local Government Impact No fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated. Source Agencies: 320 Texas Workforce Commission, 324 Texas Department of Human Services, 302 Office of the Attorney General LBB Staff: JK, HD, KE, HL, RT