81R11580 UM-D

By: Olivo H.B. No. 4696

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the investigation and prevention of abuse, neglect, or exploitation at certain facilities and homes in which individuals with mental retardation reside and the collection and use of information related to those investigations in an electronic database.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 161, Human Resources Code, is amended by adding Sections 161.076, 161.077, and 161.078 to read as follows:

Sec. 161.076. ON-SITE SURVEYS OF CERTAIN PROVIDERS. At least every 12 months, the department shall conduct an unannounced on-site survey in each group or foster home at which a Home and Community-based Services (HCS) provider provides services. The department shall ensure that the home and provider comply with the requirements of the Home and Community-based Services waiver program as determined by the department.

Sec. 161.077. INTENSIVE OVERSIGHT OF CERTAIN FACILITIES. (a) At least two times every 12 months, the department shall conduct an unannounced investigation or on-site survey in a facility licensed under Chapter 252, Health and Safety Code, or a group or foster home at which a Home and Community-based Services (HCS) provider provides services if the facility or home meets the intensive oversight criteria listed in Subsection (b). The department may use the abuse, neglect, and exploitation prevention database established under Section 161.078 to determine whether a facility or home meets the intensive oversight criteria.

(b) A facility licensed under Chapter 252, Health and Safety Code, or group or foster home at which a Home and Community-based Services (HCS) provider provides services requires intensive oversight if the facility or home:

(1) has failed to comply with regulatory requirements related to the prevention of abuse, neglect, or exploitation of individuals with mental retardation;

(2) has had multiple allegations of abuse, neglect, and exploitation reported regarding the facility or home within the previous 12 months;

(3) is the residence of an individual with mental retardation who was transferred to the facility or home within the previous 12 months; or

(4) in accordance with department rules, is the residence of one or more individuals with mental retardation who have an extraordinarily high level of need and care that necessitates additional monitoring or attention.

Sec. 161.078. ABUSE, NEGLECT, AND EXPLOITATION PREVENTION DATABASE. (a) The department and the Department of Family and Protective Services jointly shall develop and maintain an electronic database to collect and analyze information regarding the investigation and prevention of abuse, neglect, and exploitation of individuals with mental retardation who reside in a facility licensed under Chapter 252, Health and Safety Code, or in a group or foster home at which a Home and Community-based Services (HCS) provider provides services.

(b) The information collected in the database regarding investigations must be detailed, easily retrievable, and include information relating to abuse, neglect, and exploitation investigations performed by either department and regulatory investigations performed by the department that may be sorted by home, provider, and facility. The database must allow the department, in performing the department's regulatory functions, to identify a home, provider, or facility that needs intensive oversight as provided by Section 161.077.

(c) The database must facilitate the entry of required information and the sharing of information between the department and the Department of Family and Protective Services. At a minimum, the database must include the following information regarding investigations of abuse, neglect, or exploitation:

(1) the number of allegations of abuse, neglect, or exploitation received relating to a facility or home; and

(2) the number of allegations relating to a facility or home substantiated through an investigation.

(d) Each allegation involving a unique individual in a facility or home is considered a separate allegation for purposes of Subsection (c).

(e) The department shall ensure that information related to findings concerning failure to comply with regulatory standards directly related to the prevention of abuse, neglect, or exploitation in a facility or home is collected and stored in the database and may be disaggregated by home, provider, and facility.

(f) The department shall maintain information in the database regarding the placement of individuals in a facility or home who were transferred from a state school during the previous 12 months. At a minimum, this information must include the individual's:

(1) severity of mental retardation;

(2) medical diagnosis and needs; and

(3) need for monitoring or attention to ensure the individual receives sufficient care.

(g) The department and the Department of Family and Protective Services may not release or distribute information in the database in a form that contains personally identifiable information related to an individual in a facility or home or to a victim of abuse, neglect, or exploitation.

SECTION 2. As soon as practicable after the effective date of this Act, the Department of Aging and Disability Services and the Department of Family and Protective Services shall develop the database required by Section 161.078, Human Resources Code, as added by this Act.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2009.