Amend CSSB 1952 by addding the following appropriately
numbered ARTICLE and renumbering subsequent ARTICLES accordingly:
ARTICLE ____. TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH
AND MENTAL RETARDATION; VOLUNTARY
ADMISSION TO STATE SCHOOL
SECTION ____.01. Subchapter B, Chapter 593, Health and
Safety Code, is amended by adding Section 593.0225 to read as
follows:
Sec. 593.0225. CRITERIA FOR VOLUNTARY ADMISSION; WAITING
LIST. (a) The board by rule shall provide that a state school
shall admit any adult person with mental retardation for whom an
application for voluntary admission is filed if:
(1) the state school has funded bed space for the
person to be admitted for care; and
(2) the state school would provide the least
restrictive environment appropriate to the person's care.
(b) Each state school shall maintain a waiting list of
persons who desire voluntary admission to a state school and who
were denied admission because of lack of bed space.
(c) The department shall ensure that persons seeking state
services for a person with mental retardation are informed of the
criteria established in rules adopted under Subsection (a), of the
waiting list required by Subsection (b), and of the addresses and
telephone numbers of each state school.
(d) The board may adopt rules to facilitate the application
process for voluntary admission to a state school, the maintenance
of the waiting list required by Subsection (b), and the provision of
information as required by Subsection (c).
SECTION ____.02. The Texas Department of Mental Health and
Mental Retardation shall ensure that persons on a waiting list
maintained by a mental retardation authority for admission to a
state school are informed of:
(1) criteria established in rules adopted under
Section 593.0225, Health and Safety Code, as added by this article;
(2) the waiting lists required by that section; and
(3) the address and telephone number of each state
school.
SECTION ____.03. This article applies to an application for
voluntary admission filed on or after September 1, 2003. An
application for voluntary admission filed before that date is
governed by the law in effect on the date the application was filed,
and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.