S.B. 1182 78(R) BILL ANALYSIS S.B. 1182 By: Deuell Public Health Committee Report (Amended) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Texas Community Mental Health and Mental Retardation Centers have become integral parts of their local communities. By serving their communities, centers have developed a local view of service needs and service priorities. State law should acknowledge this fact, and reinforce the ability of the centers as local mental health and mental retardation authorities to deploy federal, state and local resources to build service models in the most cost effective and locally responsive means possible. The role of the State should be one of establishing broad outcome requirements while leaving process and resource allocation to be decided by local communities. Systems of accountability for outcomes should be developed and negotiated with centers as local authorities in a manner that minimizes administrative cost while assuring the reporting of essential data to track outcomes in service delivery. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS Senate Bill 1182 amends, the Health and Safety Code to require local mental health or mental retardation authorities to develop a local service plan to maximize services by using the most costeffective means to meet the needs of the local communities according to the relative priority of those needs. The bill would require the plans to be consistent with Health and Safety Codes that relate to administration and coordination of mental health and mental retardation services at the state and local levels and that relate to the long-range plan of the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation (TDMHMR). In developing the plans, local MHMR authorities would be required to solicit input from certain local community representatives, MHMR consumers and their families, and others. The local plan would become the basis for the performance contract between the agency and local MHMR authority. The bill would apply only to contracts executed between the agency and the local authorities on or after January 1, 2004. EFFECTIVE DATE Upon passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act takes effect September 1, 2003. EXPLANATION OF AMENDMENTS Amends SB 1182 by adding subsections (e) and (f). The new additions would require the performance agreement to specify verifiable standard outcomes for the programs administered by a local authority. It would also require measures relating to outputs and units of service delivered to be included in the performance agreement and recorded in the local authority's automated data systems. Copies of these reports should be forwarded to the Department at least on an annual basis.