By: Van de Putte, Zaffirini S.B. No. 1646

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the creation of the Council on Children and Families and the Children's Behavioral Health Council.

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

SECTION 1. Subchapter L, Chapter 531, Government Code, is amended by adding Section 531.425 to read as follows:

Sec. 531.425. CHILDREN'S BEHAVIORAL HEALTH COUNCIL. (a) The Children's Behavioral Health Council is established to provide a coordinated, comprehensive, interagency approach to the development and delivery of behavioral health services to children.

(b) The council is composed of:

(1) one representative with decision-making authority from each of the following state agencies, appointed by the chief administrative officer of the respective agency:

(A) the Health and Human Services Commission;

(B) the Department of State Health Services;

(C) the Department of Family and Protective Services;

(D) the Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services;

(E) the Department of Aging and Disability Services;

(F) the Texas Education Agency;

(G) the Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments;

(H) the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission; and

(I) the Texas Youth Commission; and

(2) an equal number of representatives of the public appointed by the executive commissioner, including:

(A) representatives of:

(i) children's mental health advocacy groups;

(ii) organizations with expertise in behavioral health issues involving children;

(iii) health benefit plan issuers in this state; and

(iv) providers of community-based children's mental health services, including local mental health authorities; and

(B) at least five representatives who are family members of a child with a mental health disorder.

(c) The members of the council annually shall elect one agency representative and one public representative to serve as co-chairs.

(d) The council shall:

(1) develop and implement coordinated state policies to improve the behavioral health of children;

(2) develop a coordinated system for planning and budgeting that establishes priorities and strategies for the coordinated delivery of behavioral health services to children;

(3) develop a coordinated system to track and report spending on behavioral health services for children by agencies represented by a member of the council;

(4) oversee the administration of state grants for development of local systems of care services by the consortium established under Subchapter G-1;

(5) develop a plan to support the statewide expansion of local systems of care services;

(6) ensure a central role for the local mental health authority in the expansion and operation of the local systems of care;

(7) provide technical assistance and training to local providers of systems of care services;

(8) design an integrated funding structure for the provision of behavioral health services for children;

(9) assess the provision of behavioral health services to children to eliminate duplication of efforts and identify opportunities to consolidate those efforts;

(10) oversee the work of community resource coordination groups under this subchapter, including through the consideration of reports created by those groups under this subchapter;

(11) assist the Texas Mental Health Transformation Workgroup in fulfilling the workgroup's responsibilities regarding children's mental health services and coordinate the council's activities with the workgroup; and

(12) assist the Council on Children and Families in fulfilling that council's duties and coordinate activities with that council.

(e) The council shall meet at least every other month to fulfill the council's duties under this subchapter and other law.

(f) The council is administratively attached to the commission. The commission, through the commission's Office of Program Coordination for Children and Youth, shall provide administrative support and resources to the council as necessary to enable the council to perform its duties.

(g) The council is not subject to Chapter 2110.

SECTION 2. Chapter 531, Government Code, is amended by adding Subchapter T to read as follows:

SUBCHAPTER T. COUNCIL ON CHILDREN AND FAMILIES

Sec. 531.801. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "council" means the Council on Children and Families.

Sec. 531.802. COUNCIL ON CHILDREN AND FAMILIES. (a) The Council on Children and Families is established to:

(1) coordinate the state's health, education, and human services systems to ensure that all children and families have access to needed services;

(2) improve coordination and efficiency in state agencies, advisory councils on issues affecting children, and local levels of service;

(3) prioritize and mobilize resources for children; and

(4) facilitate an integrated approach to providing services for children and youth.

(b) The council shall:

(1) promote a common vision of desired outcomes for children and youth and of family and community supports;

(2) promote shared accountability for outcomes for children and youth; and

(3) align allocations of resources with policies for children and youth.

(c) Subject to Subsection (d), the council is composed of the following:

(1) the executive commissioner;

(2) the commissioner of state health services;

(3) the commissioner of the Department of Family and Protective Services;

(4) the commissioner of aging and disability services;

(5) the commissioner of assistive and rehabilitative services;

(6) the commissioner of education;

(7) the executive director of the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission;

(8) the executive commissioner of the Texas Youth Commission;

(9) the executive director of the Texas Workforce Commission;

(10) the director of the Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments;

(11) two public representatives who are parents of children who have received services from an agency represented on the council, appointed by the executive commissioner; and

(12) two representatives who are young adults or adolescents who have received services from an agency represented on the council, appointed by the executive commissioner.

(d) An individual listed in Subsections (c)(1)-(10) may designate another individual as having authority to act on behalf of the individual at council meetings and with respect to council functions.

(e) The members of the council annually shall elect one member to serve as the presiding officer.

(f) Council meetings are held at the call of the presiding officer.

(g) The council is administratively attached to the commission but is independent of direction by the commission or the executive commissioner. The commission, through the commission's Office of Program Coordination for Children and Youth, shall provide administrative support and resources to the council as necessary to enable the council to perform its duties.

(h) The agencies represented on the council shall provide periodic staff support of specialists as needed to the council.

(i) The council is not subject to Chapter 2110.

Sec. 531.803. DUTIES. (a) The council shall:

(1) analyze the biennial legislative appropriations requests of members of the council for services provided to children and their families and identify appropriations that, through the coordination of members of the council, could be modified in the next legislative appropriation request to eliminate waste or increase available services and, not later than May 1 of each even-numbered year, prepare a report recommending those modifications for consideration during the development of the next biennial legislative appropriations request;

(2) investigate opportunities to increase flexible funding for health, education, and human services provided to children and their families;

(3) identify methods to remove barriers to local coordination of health, education, and human services provided to children and their families;

(4) identify methods to ensure that all children and youth receive appropriate assessment, diagnoses, and intervention services;

(5) develop methods to prevent unnecessary parental relinquishment of custody of children;

(6) prioritize assisting children in family settings rather than institutional settings; and

(7) make recommendations about family involvement in the provision and planning of health, education, and human services for a child, including family partner and liaison models.

(b) The state agency members of the council may, as appropriate, enter into memoranda of understanding with other agencies to implement any method, process, policy, or recommendation identified or developed under Subsection (a). Before a method, process, policy, or recommendation is implemented, the council shall:

(1) identify:

(A) the timeline and proposed outcome of implementing the method, process, policy, or recommendation; and

(B) benchmarks that may be used to measure the success of the implementation of the method, process, policy, or recommendation; and

(2) assign to the appropriate members of the council responsibility for implementing the method, process, policy, or recommendation.

(c) The council may collect data necessary to conduct the council's duties or implement the council's recommendations and shall use any reports or information produced by other entities related to children, youth, and families to inform the council.

Sec. 531.804. REPORT BY COUNCIL REGARDING CHILD WELFARE. Not later than December 1 of each even-numbered year, the council shall submit a report to the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the house of representatives, and members of the legislature that contains:

(1) the requests, plans, and recommendations of the council, including recommendations of any legislation that is needed to further develop and maintain a statewide system of quality health, education, and human services for children and families; and

(2) information regarding the implementation by the members of the council of any method, process, policy, or recommendation, including information regarding whether the implementation has proceeded in accordance with the timeline, outcome, and benchmarks identified by the council.

Sec. 531.805. SUNSET PROVISION. The Council on Children and Families is subject to Chapter 325 (Texas Sunset Act). Unless continued in existence as provided by that chapter, the council is abolished and this subchapter expires September 1, 2019.

SECTION 3. (a) Not later than October 1, 2009, the chief administrative officer of each agency listed in Subsection (b), Section 531.425, Government Code, as added by this Act, shall appoint the agency's representative to the Children's Behavioral Health Council established by that section.

(b) Not later than October 1, 2009, the executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission shall appoint the public members of the Children's Behavioral Health Council established by Section 531.425, Government Code, as added by this Act.

(c) The Council on Children and Families established by Section 531.802, Government Code, as added by this Act, shall convene its initial meeting not later than October 1, 2009.

SECTION 4. This Act does not make an appropriation. A provision in this Act that creates a new governmental program, creates a new entitlement, or imposes a new duty on a governmental entity is not mandatory during a fiscal period for which the legislature has not made a specific appropriation to implement the provision.

SECTION 5. 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.