79R6882 MCK-D
By: Van de Putte S.B. No. 750
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the operation of the child protective services and
foster care systems.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. It is the intent of the legislature that the
Department of Family and Protective Services privatize the
provision of substitute care services and case management services
statewide in order to improve the safety, permanency, and
well-being of children placed in substitute care and focus on the
department's primary mission of ensuring child safety. While
recognizing that some local governments are presently funding
portions of certain substitute care services programs and may
choose to expand that funding in the future, by privatizing
substitute care services, the legislature does not intend to
require any county, municipality, or special district to assist in
funding programs that previously have been funded by the state. It
is the intent of the legislature to engage community ownership and
participation in protecting and serving the children and families
in their community and to increase accountability at all levels in
the Department of Family and Protective Services and in contracted
agencies for performance standards and achievement of targeted
client outcomes.
SECTION 2. Subtitle D, Title 2, Human Resources Code, is
amended by adding Chapter 45 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 45. PRIVATIZATION OF SUBSTITUTE CARE AND
CASE MANAGEMENT SERVICES
SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 45.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Case management services" means the provision of
case management services to a child for whom the department has been
appointed temporary or permanent managing conservator, including
caseworker-child visits, family visits, the convening of family
group conferences, the development and revision of the case plan,
the coordination and monitoring of services needed by the child and
family, and the assumption of court-related duties, including
preparing court reports, attending judicial hearings and
permanency hearings, and ensuring that the child is progressing
toward permanency within state and federal mandates.
(2) "Commission" means the Health and Human Services
Commission.
(3) "Department" means the Department of Family and
Protective Services.
(4) "Executive commissioner" means the executive
commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission.
(5) "Independent administrator" means an independent
nonprofit agency selected through a competitive procurement
process to:
(A) secure, coordinate, and manage substitute
care services and case management services in a geographically
designated area of the state; and
(B) ensure continuity of care for a child
referred to the administrator by the department and the child's
family from the day a child enters the child protective services
system until the child leaves the system.
(6) "Privatize" means to contract with a private
entity to provide certain governmental services.
(7) "Substitute care provider" means a child-care
institution or a child-placing agency, as defined by Section
42.002.
(8) "Substitute care services" means services
provided to or for children in substitute care and their families,
including the recruitment, training, and management of foster
parents, the recruitment of adoptive families, and the facilitation
of the adoption process, family preservation, independent living,
emergency shelter, residential group care, foster care,
therapeutic foster care, and post-placement supervision, including
relative placement. The term does not include the regulation of
facilities under Subchapter C, Chapter 42.
Sec. 45.002. PRIVATIZING SUBSTITUTE CARE AND CASE
MANAGEMENT SERVICES; DEPARTMENT DUTIES. (a) Not later than
September 1, 2008, the department shall complete the statewide
privatization of the provision of substitute care and case
management services in this state.
(b) On and after September 1, 2008:
(1) all substitute care and case management services
for children for whom the department has been appointed temporary
or permanent managing conservator must be provided by child-care
institutions and child-placing agencies and managed by independent
administrators; and
(2) notwithstanding any other law, the department may
not directly provide those services.
(c) On and after September 1, 2008, the department shall:
(1) monitor the quality of services for which the
department and each independent administrator contract under this
chapter; and
(2) ensure that the services are provided in
accordance with federal law and the laws of this state, including
department rules and rules of the Department of State Health
Services and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
Sec. 45.003. HIRING PREFERENCE. A substitute care or case
management services provider that contracts with the department to
provide substitute care services or case management services shall
give a preference in hiring to qualified department employees in
good standing with the department who provide substitute care or
case management services and whose positions with the department
may be eliminated as a result of the privatization of substitute
care and case management services.
[Sections 45.004-45.050 reserved for expansion]
SUBCHAPTER B. DEPARTMENT DUTIES
Sec. 45.051. REORGANIZING STAFF RESPONSIBILITIES. Not
later than March 1, 2006, the department shall develop a plan for
reorganizing the department's operation to support future
procurement of, contracting with, and monitoring of private
contractors and enforcement of the licensing of facilities. The
plan must include provisions for reducing duplication of the
department's program monitoring activities.
Sec. 45.052. FINANCING. The department shall create
financing and payment arrangements that provide incentives for an
independent administrator and its subcontract providers to achieve
safety, permanency, and well-being outcomes and improved system
performance. In developing this financing arrangement, the
department shall examine:
(1) the use of case rates or performance-based
fee-for-service contracts that include incentive payments or
payment schedules that link reimbursement to results; and
(2) ways to reduce a contractor's financial risk that
could jeopardize the solvency of the contractor, including the use
of a risk-reward corridor that limits risk of loss and potential
profits or the establishment of a statewide risk pool.
Sec. 45.053. ADOPTION OF TRANSITION PLAN. (a) Not later
than September 30, 2005, the commission and the department shall
submit to the legislature a plan for the development of the
transition plan, including the planning structure and process,
engagement of stakeholders, and access to experienced consultation
and technical assistance.
(b) Not later than March 1, 2006, the commission and the
department shall, in consultation with private entities under
contract to provide substitute care services for the department,
including members of the boards of directors of the private
entities and other community stakeholders, develop and adopt a
substitute care and case management services transition plan
consistent with the requirements of Subchapter C.
(c) The executive commissioner shall adopt rules to
implement the privatization of substitute care and case management
services in this state.
Sec. 45.054. REGIONAL IMPLEMENTATION. (a) The department
shall implement the privatization of substitute care and case
management services on a regional basis. The transition plan must
include a schedule with deadlines for implementation of the plan in
each region of the state. The plan must ensure that the transition
is completed in the first region not later than September 1, 2006,
and that the transition is completed statewide not later than
September 1, 2008.
(b) The department may not implement the privatization of
substitute care and case management services in a region of the
state before the department certifies in writing to the governor
and the presiding officer of each house of the legislature that the
independent administrator and the private substitute care
providers with whom the independent administrator has contracted
are ready to provide services and assume all responsibilities
transferred under the contract. In making this certification, the
department must conduct a readiness assessment before implementing
contracts with an independent administrator or a substitute care or
case management provider in a region.
[Sections 45.055-45.100 reserved for expansion]
SUBCHAPTER C. TRANSITION PLAN
Sec. 45.101. GOALS FOR PRIVATIZATION. The transition plan
adopted under Section 45.053 must provide for a new structural
model for the community-centered delivery of substitute care and
case management services that is based on a goal of improving
protective services, achieving timely permanency for children in
substitute care, including family reunification, placement with a
relative, or adoption, and improving the overall well-being of
children in substitute care consistent with federal and state
mandates.
Sec. 45.102. TRANSITION PLAN REQUIREMENTS. The transition
plan developed by the department and the commission must:
(1) identify barriers to privatization, including
regional disparities in resources, provider capacity, and
population, and propose solutions to stimulate capacity and adjust
program delivery;
(2) provide details regarding the target population
and services by region that will be part of the system redesign,
including the number of children and families, historic caseload
trends and service utilization information, and projected
caseloads;
(3) provide details regarding the roles,
responsibilities, and authority assigned to the public and private
entities, including the department, independent administrators,
and substitute care and case management providers, in making key
decisions throughout the child and family case;
(4) include an implementation plan to transfer all
foster homes certified by the department to private child-placing
agencies, ensuring minimum disruption to the children in foster
care and to current foster parents;
(5) include a process for assessing each child who is
transferred to a private nonprofit substitute care provider to
verify the child's service needs;
(6) include an implementation plan to transfer all
adoption services to private agencies, including details of how and
when cases will be transferred and how adoption provider contracts
and reimbursements methods will be structured;
(7) describe the process to transfer the duties of
case management and family services from department staff to
private agency staff, including the integration of family group
conferencing into private agency case management;
(8) describe the manner in which the department will
procure and contract for kinship services that are funded by the
state;
(9) provide details regarding financial arrangements
and performance expectations for independent administrators and
substitute care and case management providers that:
(A) provide incentives for desired results and
explicit contract performance and outcome indicators;
(B) describe how various risk-based arrangements
will be weighed and realistically assessed using sound actuarial
data and risk modeling and how mechanisms will be selected to limit
uncontrollable risks that could threaten provider stability and
quality;
(C) describe how financing options will increase
flexibility to promote innovation and efficiency in service
delivery; and
(D) provide balance between control over key
decisions and the level of risk the contractor assumes;
(10) require the department to enter into contracts
for the provision of substitute care and case management services
as required by Section 264.106, Family Code, and describe the
procurement and contracting process, including:
(A) stating how the department will shift from an
open-enrollment system to a competitive procurement system;
(B) identifying the services that will be
procured and contracted for directly with the department and the
services that will be procured by an independent administrator; and
(C) developing a procurement and contracting
schedule to ensure full implementation not later than September 1,
2008;
(11) provide for the implementation of Sections
264.1062 and 264.107, Family Code, by describing each party's
responsibility and ensuring that the department retains the legal
authority to effectively provide oversight;
(12) describe formal training required for department
staff, independent administrators, and substitute care and case
management providers;
(13) define roles and expectations related to
reporting and managing data required to ensure quality services and
meet state and federal requirements, including data collection
responsibilities for an independent administrator and service
provider;
(14) describe how the transition will impact the
state's ability to obtain federal funding and examine options to
further maximize federal funding opportunities and increased
flexibility; and
(15) describe the costs of the transition, the initial
start-up costs, and mechanisms to periodically assess the overall
adequacy of funds and the fiscal impact of the change.
[Sections 45.103-45.150 reserved for expansion]
SUBCHAPTER D. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
Sec. 45.151. EXPIRATION. This chapter expires September 1,
2010.
SECTION 3. Section 264.106, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 264.106. REQUIRED CONTRACTS FOR SUBSTITUTE CARE AND
CASE MANAGEMENT SERVICES. (a) In this section:
(1) "Case management services" has the meaning
assigned by Section 45.001, Human Resources Code.
(2) "Independent administrator" has the meaning
assigned by Section 45.001, Human Resources Code.
(3) "Substitute care provider" has the meaning
assigned by Section 45.001, Human Resources Code.
(4) "Substitute care services" has the meaning
assigned by Section 45.001, Human Resources Code.
(b) The department shall:
(1) assess the need for substitute care and case
management services throughout the state; [and]
(2) contract with private agencies as part of regional
community-centered networks managed by independent administrators
[substitute care providers only to the extent necessary to meet the
need] for the provision of all necessary substitute care and case
management [those] services; and
(3) contract with an independent administrator to
coordinate and manage all services needed for children in the
temporary or permanent managing conservatorship of the department
in a designated geographic area.
(c) Administrative services to be provided by an
independent administrator include:
(1) recruiting and subcontracting with
community-based substitute care providers to ensure a full array of
services in defined geographic areas;
(2) managing placements and making referrals for
placement based on department-approved protocols;
(3) monitoring services delivered by subcontractors;
(4) providing training and technical assistance to
contract providers;
(5) maintaining data systems that support tracking and
reporting key performance and outcome data; and
(6) ensuring accountability for achieving defined
client and system outcomes.
(d) [(b) Before contracting with a substitute care
provider, the department shall determine whether:
[(1) community resources are available to support
children placed under the provider's care; and
[(2) the appropriate public school district has
sufficient resources to support children placed under the
provider's care if the children will attend public school.
[(c)] In addition to the requirements of Section 40.058(b),
Human Resources Code, a contract with an independent administrator
[a substitute care provider] must include provisions that:
(1) enable the department to monitor the effectiveness
of the [provider's] services; [and]
(2) specify performance outcomes; and
(3) authorize the department to terminate the contract
or impose sanctions for a violation of a provision of the contract
that specifies performance criteria.
(e) A contract with an independent administrator for
substitute care and case management services must include
department-approved provisions that:
(1) enable the independent administrator and the
department to:
(A) monitor the effectiveness of substitute care
and case management services; and
(B) specify performance standards and authorize
termination of the contract for cause;
(2) describe how performance is linked to
reimbursement amounts or schedules to provide incentives for
desired results; and
(3) ensure the ability of small agencies to
participate in the provision of services.
(f) [(d)] In determining whether to contract with a
substitute care provider or an independent administrator, the
department shall consider the provider's or administrator's
performance under any previous contract [for substitute care
services] between the department and the provider or administrator.
(g) In consultation with the department, the executive
commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission, by rule,
shall establish contracting guidelines for the department under
this section designed to prevent potential conflicts of interest
between the department and an independent administrator that
contracts with the department and between an independent
administrator and a provider of substitute care or case management
services with whom the independent administrator contracts for
services.
(h) A contract under this section does not affect the rights
and duties of the department in the department's capacity as the
temporary or permanent managing conservator of a child.
(i) Notwithstanding any other law, on and after September 1,
2008, the department may not directly provide substitute care
services for children for whom the department has been appointed
temporary or permanent managing conservator.
[(e) In this section, "substitute care provider" means a
person who provides residential care for children for 24 hours a
day, including:
[(1) a child-care institution, as defined by Section
42.002, Human Resources Code;
[(2) a child-placing agency, as defined by Section
42.002, Human Resources Code;
[(3) a foster group home or foster family home, as
defined by Section 42.002, Human Resources Code; and
[(4) an agency group home or agency home, as defined by
Section 42.002, Human Resources Code, other than an agency group
home, agency home, or a foster home verified or certified by the
department.]
SECTION 4. Subchapter B, Chapter 264, Family Code, is
amended by adding Section 264.1062 to read as follows:
Sec. 264.1062. MONITORING PERFORMANCE OF SUBSTITUTE CARE
AND CASE MANAGEMENT PROVIDERS. (a) The department, in
consultation with private entities under contract with an
independent administrator to provide substitute care or case
management services, shall establish a quality assurance program
that uses comprehensive, multitiered assurance and improvement
systems based on real-time data to evaluate performance.
(b) The contract performance outcomes specified in a
contract under Section 264.106 must be consistent with the fiscal
goals of privatizing substitute care and case management services
and must be within the contractor's authority to deliver. The
contract must clearly define the manner in which the substitute
care or case management provider's performance will be measured and
identify the information sources the department and independent
administrator will use to evaluate the performance.
SECTION 5. Section 264.107, Family Code, is amended by
adding Subsections (c)-(f) to read as follows:
(c) The contract between the department and an independent
administrator must require the use of real-time technology in the
independent administrator's placement system to screen possible
placement options for a child and match the child's needs with the
most qualified providers with vacancies.
(d) The department shall institute a quality assurance
system in monitoring the independent administrators to ensure that
placement decisions are reliable and are made in a consistent
manner.
(e) In making placement decisions, an independent
administrator shall use clinical protocols to match a child to the
most appropriate placement resource.
(f) The department shall create a regional advisory council
in each region to assist the department and independent
administrator in:
(1) assessing the need for resources in the region;
and
(2) locating substitute care services in the region
for hard-to-place children.
SECTION 6. Section 264.109(c), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) The department and the Title IV-D agency shall execute a
memorandum of understanding for the implementation of the
provisions of this section and for the allocation to [between] the
department [and the agency], consistent with federal laws and
regulations, of any child support funds recovered by the Title IV-D
agency in substitute care cases. All child support funds recovered
under this section and retained by the department [or the Title IV-D
agency] and any federal matching or incentive funds resulting from
child support collection efforts in substitute care cases shall be
in excess of amounts otherwise appropriated to [either] the
department [or the Title IV-D agency] by the legislature.
SECTION 7. Subchapter B, Chapter 264, Family Code, is
amended by adding Section 264.1095 to read as follows:
Sec. 264.1095. CHILD SUPPORT. Unless the department has
been assigned support rights under Section 264.109, the department
shall file suit for child support under Section 154.001(b) for a
child for whom the department has been named temporary managing
conservator.
SECTION 8. Section 264.113(b), Family Code, as added by
Chapter 957, Acts of the 78th Legislature, Regular Session, 2003,
is amended to read as follows:
(b) An independent administrator [The department] shall
encourage private substitute care providers [develop a program] to
recruit and retain foster parents from faith-based organizations.
As part of the program, the independent administrator or
subcontract provider [department] shall:
(1) collaborate with faith-based organizations to
inform prospective foster parents about the [department's] need for
foster parents, the requirements for becoming a foster parent, and
any other aspect of the foster care program that is necessary to
recruit foster parents;
(2) provide training for prospective foster parents
recruited under this section; and
(3) identify and recommend ways in which faith-based
organizations may support persons as they are recruited, are
trained, and serve as foster parents.
SECTION 9. Subchapter B, Chapter 264, Family Code, is
amended by adding Section 264.117 to read as follows:
Sec. 264.117. MEDICAL PASSPORT. (a) The department shall
develop a medical passport for each foster child. The passport must
include the child's complete medication, medical, and therapy
history, including:
(1) immunization history;
(2) known medical conditions and allergies or other
special health needs;
(3) dates of well-baby checks and child physicals;
(4) medications prescribed; and
(5) the name of the child's primary care physician.
(b) The child or the child's caretaker shall present the
passport during each physician or therapist visit to ensure that
the physician or therapist has a complete record of the child's
medical treatment.
(c) The passport shall be part of the department's record
for the child as long as the child remains in foster care. The
passport shall remain with the child as the child changes
placements, physicians, or therapists.
(d) The department shall develop a procedure for
maintaining and updating medical passports.
(e) The department shall work with stakeholder groups to
create the medical passport.
SECTION 10. Section 264.207(b), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) To accomplish the goals stated in Subsection (a), the
department shall:
(1) establish time frames for the initial screening of
families seeking to adopt children;
(2) provide for the evaluation of the effectiveness of
the department's management-level employees in expeditiously
making permanent placements for children;
(3) establish, as feasible, comprehensive assessment
services in various locations in the state to determine the needs of
children and families served by the department;
(4) emphasize and centralize the monitoring and
promoting of the permanent placement of children receiving
department services;
(5) establish goals and performance measures in the
permanent placement of children;
(6) immediately seek private licensed child-placing
agencies to place a child in the department's managing
conservatorship if the goal of the child's permanency plan is for
the child to be adopted [who has been available for permanent
placement for more than 90 days];
(7) provide information to private licensed
child-placing agencies concerning children under Subdivision (6);
(8) provide incentives for a private licensed
child-placing agency that places a child, as defined by Section
162.301, under Subdivision (6);
(9) encourage foster parents to be approved by the
department as both foster parents and adoptive parents; and
(10) [address failures by the department's service
regions in making permanent placements for children in a reasonable
time; and
[(11)] require the department's service regions to
participate in the Texas Adoption Resources Exchange.
SECTION 11. Section 42.002, Human Resources Code, is
amended by adding Subdivision (18) to read as follows:
(18) "Residential child-care facility" means a
facility licensed or certified by the department to provide
assessment, care, training, education, custody, treatment, or
supervision for a child who is not related by blood, marriage, or
adoption to the owner or operator of the facility, for all of the
24-hour day, whether or not the facility is operated for profit or
charges for the services it offers. The term includes child-care
institutions, foster group homes, foster homes, agency foster group
homes, and agency foster homes.
SECTION 12. Section 42.023(b), Human Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) The annual report shall include:
(1) a report by regions of applications for licensure
or certification, of provisional licenses issued, denied, or
revoked, of licenses issued, denied, suspended, or revoked, of
emergency closures and injunctions, and of the compliance of
state-operated agencies, if such agencies exist, with
certification requirements;
(2) a summary of the training programs required under
Section 42.04412 and their effectiveness [amount and kind of
in-service training and other professional development
opportunities provided for department staff];
(3) a summary of training and other professional
development opportunities offered to facilities' staffs; [and]
(4) a report of new administrative procedures, of the
number of staff and staff changes, and of plans for the coming year;
and
(5) a report of trends in licensing violations on a
statewide and regional basis and any department plans to address
those trends through the provision of technical assistance.
SECTION 13. Subchapter B, Chapter 42, Human Resources Code,
is amended by adding Section 42.025 to read as follows:
Sec. 42.025. STATE ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON LICENSING. (a)
The executive commissioner shall establish a State Advisory
Committee on Licensing.
(b) The advisory committee shall be composed of members from
the public and private sectors, including:
(1) representatives of each type of licensed
residential child-care facility;
(2) a department employee who performs functions
relating to licensing; and
(3) a representative of the community.
(c) The department shall provide staff necessary for the
advisory committee.
(d) The advisory committee shall meet at least annually.
(e) The advisory committee shall receive and review the
annual report required under Section 42.023 and make
recommendations to the department with respect to:
(1) improving consistency in the enforcement of
licensing requirements;
(2) the provision of advanced training;
(3) the revision of licensing standards; and
(4) technical assistance necessary to improve the
quality of care based on the information reported regarding
violations of licensing standards.
(f) Chapter 2110, Government Code, does not apply to the
committee.
SECTION 14. (a) Section 42.042, Human Resources Code, is
amended by adding Subsections (d-1), (h-1), (h-2), and (q) to read
as follows:
(d-1) The department shall provide a standard inspection
checklist and other forms for use in conducting inspections of
residential child-care facilities and issuing inspection reports.
(h-1) The department shall evaluate minimum standards for
residential child-care facilities and child-placing agencies
promulgated under this section and shall:
(1) classify each minimum standard as:
(A) an immediate health and safety issue;
(B) a procedural issue; or
(C) an administrative function; and
(2) assign a priority designation to each standard
within a classification that identifies the degree of risk that the
issue that is the subject of the standard presents to a child's
health and safety.
(h-2) In developing a methodology to classify and assign
risk designations to minimum standards under Subsection (h-1), the
department shall:
(1) consult with a committee appointed by the
executive commissioner and composed of representatives of public
and private entities; and
(2) test any potential methodology for accuracy when
applied to the state's licensing standards.
(q) The executive commissioner shall require residential
child-care facilities and child-placing agencies to immediately
report to the department when the facility or agency determines
that a child is missing or if there is a serious incident involving
a child, including death or serious injury, abuse or neglect, or
arrest or truancy.
(b) Not later than September 1, 2006, the Department of
Family and Protective Services shall:
(1) develop the methodology for a classification and
risk-analysis system in accordance with Sections 42.042(h-1) and
(h-2), Human Resources Code, as added by this section; and
(2) classify and assign priority designations to each
minimum standard described by Section 42.042(h-1), Human Resources
Code, as added by this section.
SECTION 15. The heading to Section 42.0441, Human Resources
Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 42.0441. INSPECTION RESULTS FOR CERTAIN
NONRESIDENTIAL CHILD-CARE FACILITIES.
SECTION 16. Subchapter C, Chapter 42, Human Resources Code,
is amended by adding Section 42.04411 to read as follows:
Sec. 42.04411. INSPECTION RESULTS AND EXIT CONFERENCE FOR
RESIDENTIAL CHILD-CARE FACILITIES. (a) On completion of an
inspection of a residential child-care facility under Section
42.044, the inspector shall hold an exit conference with a
representative of the inspected facility. The inspector shall
provide to the representative:
(1) a copy of the inspection checklist used by the
inspector; and
(2) a list of violations discovered during the
inspection that includes specific references to the minimum
standards related to the violations and the level of risk assigned
to those standards in accordance with Section 42.042(h-1).
(b) The inspector shall provide the representative an
opportunity to respond to the violations discovered during the
inspection.
(c) If, after holding an exit conference, the inspector
finds additional violations in a subsequent inspection, the
inspector shall conduct another exit conference to provide the
information required by Subsection (a) with respect to the
additional violations.
SECTION 17. (a) Subchapter C, Chapter 42, Human Resources
Code, is amended by adding Section 42.04412 to read as follows:
Sec. 42.04412. QUALIFICATIONS AND TRAINING FOR CERTAIN
INSPECTORS AND INVESTIGATORS; EXAMINATION. (a) The department
shall use qualified individuals to inspect residential child-care
facilities and conduct investigations of those facilities under
this chapter. An individual is qualified to serve as an inspector
or investigator if the individual:
(1) holds at least a master's degree or has at least
three years of relevant work experience; and
(2) passes the examination required by Subsection (b)
to be administered after completion of training.
(b) The department shall develop and administer
competency-based examinations for department employees who inspect
residential child-care facilities or conduct investigations of
those facilities under this chapter. The department shall
administer one examination to each employee before the employee
begins a training program under Subsection (c) and another
examination after the employee completes the training program.
(c) The department shall develop and administer training
programs to provide appropriate competency-based training to
department employees who inspect residential child-care facilities
or conduct investigations of those facilities under this chapter.
(d) Annually, the department shall evaluate and determine
the effectiveness of the training programs required under
Subsection (c) in providing consistent training on the
interpretation and enforcement of licensing standards for
residential child-care facilities. In conducting the evaluation,
the department shall determine the number of residential child-care
facility licensing violations identified throughout the state and,
based on that information, identify any regional discrepancies in
licensing enforcement.
(b) Not later than January 1, 2006, the Department of Family
and Protective Services shall develop and begin administering the
examinations and training programs for inspectors and
investigators required by Section 42.04412, Human Resources Code,
as added by this section.
(c) The qualifications listed under Section 42.04412(a),
Human Resources Code, as added by this section, apply to an employee
of the Department of Family and Protective Services who conducts an
inspection or investigation of a residential child-care facility on
or after March 1, 2006.
SECTION 18. Section 42.046(c), Human Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(c) After receiving an application, the department shall
investigate the applicant and the plan of care for children, if
applicable. As part of the investigation, the department shall
require the applicant to provide information about the applicant's
compliance history with the regulatory requirements in any other
state in which the applicant provides or provided similar services.
The department shall verify the compliance history of each
applicant.
SECTION 19. Subchapter C, Chapter 42, Human Resources Code,
is amended by adding Section 42.062 to read as follows:
Sec. 42.062. CERTAIN EMPLOYMENT PROHIBITED. A residential
child-care facility may not employ in any capacity a person who is
not eligible to receive a license or certification for the
operation of a residential child-care facility under Section
42.072(c-1).
SECTION 20. Section 42.072, Human Resources Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (c-1) to read as follows:
(c-1) Notwithstanding Subsection (c), the department may
not, before the fifth anniversary of the date the revocation took
effect, issue a license or certification for the operation of a
residential child-care facility to a person who previously operated
or served as an officer, director, or board officer of a residential
child-care facility at the time of the occurrence of conduct that
resulted in the license or certification of the facility being
revoked by the department or by court order.
SECTION 21. (a) Not later than December 1, 2005, the
Department of Family and Protective Services shall develop a plan
to improve:
(1) the training provided to personnel who conduct
investigations of child abuse and neglect;
(2) the protocols for conducting investigations; and
(3) the coordination of investigations between the
department and law enforcement agencies.
(b) The plan must be finalized by a work group consisting
of:
(1) employees of the Department of Family and
Protective Services and law enforcement professionals who have
responsibility for investigating reports of child abuse and
neglect; and
(2) employees of the courts that handle child
protective cases.
SECTION 22. The change in law made by Section 264.106,
Family Code, as amended by this Act, applies only to a contract for
substitute care services or case management services that is
entered into or renewed on or after the effective date of this Act.
A contract that is entered into or renewed before the effective date
of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the contract
was entered into or renewed, and the former law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 23. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.