82R9789 EES-F

By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 1817

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the Children's Policy Council, including the transfer of the duties and activities of the consortium that oversees the Texas Integrated Funding Initiative to the Children's Policy Council.

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

SECTION 1. Sections 22.035(a) through (g) and (i) through (l), Human Resources Code, are amended to read as follows:

(a) A work group to be known as the Children's Policy Council shall assist the Department of Aging and Disability Services [department], the Health and Human Services Commission [commissioner of health and human services], the [Texas] Department of State Health Services, the [Texas] Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services [Mental Health and Mental Retardation], and the Department of Family and Protective [and Regulatory] Services in developing, implementing, and administering family support policies for children with disabilities relating to:

(1) [and related] long-term services and supports;

(2) health services; and

(3) mental [care and] health services [programs for children].

(b) The executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission [health and human services] shall appoint the members of the work group, which must include the following:

(1) an individual [a person] who is younger than 25 [22] years of age and who receives [is a consumer of] long-term services and supports or [care and] health services [programs] for children with disabilities;

(2) an individual who is younger than 25 years of age and who receives or has received mental health services;

(3) relatives of children with disabilities who:

(A) receive [consumers of] long-term services and supports;

(B) receive health services for children with disabilities; or

(C) receive or have received mental health services [care and health programs for children];

(4) [(3)] a representative from an organization that is an advocate for children who receive [consumers of] long-term services and supports or [care and] health services [programs] for children with disabilities;

[(4) a representative from a state agency that provides long-term care and health programs for children;]

(5) a representative from an organization that is an advocate for children who need mental health services;

(6) an individual [a person] from a private entity that provides long-term services and supports or [care and] health services [programs] for children with disabilities;

(7) an individual from a private entity that provides mental health services for children;

(8) an individual [(6) a person] from a public entity that provides long-term services and supports or [care and] health services [programs] for children with disabilities;

(9) an individual from a public entity that provides mental health services for children;

(10) an individual [(7) a person] with expertise in the availability of funding and the application of funding formulas for children's long-term services and support, [care and] health services for children with disabilities, or mental health services;

(11) an individual representing an organization that assists families with transitioning children with disabilities from institutions to families;

(12) [(8)] a representative from a faith-based organization;

(13) [(9)] a representative from a nonspecialized community services organization; and

(14) [(10)] a representative from a business that is not related to providing services to persons with disabilities.

(c) A majority of the members of the work group must be composed of the individuals described by Subsections (b)(1) and (2) and the relatives of children with disabilities described by Subsection (b)(3) [consumers of long-term care and health programs for children].

(d) An individual [A person] may not be appointed as a relative of a child with disabilities under Subsection (b)(3) [consumer of long-term care and health programs for children] if the individual [person]:

(1) is an employee of a state agency that provides long-term services and supports, [care or] health services for children with disabilities, or mental health services for children; or

(2) contracts with a state agency described by Subdivision (1) to provide long-term services and supports, [care or] health services for children with disabilities, or mental health services.

(e) The Health and Human Services Commission [department and the Texas Department of Health] shall [equally] provide administrative support, including staff, to the work group.

(f) A member of the work group serves at the will of the executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission [health and human services].

(g) The executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission [health and human services] shall appoint a member of the work group to serve as a presiding officer. The presiding officer must be an individual appointed as a relative of a child with disabilities under Subsection (b)(3).

(i) A member of the work group receives no additional compensation for serving on the work group. Individuals described by Subsections (b)(1) and (2) [Consumers] and relatives of children with disabilities described by Subsection (b)(3) [consumers] serving on the work group shall be reimbursed for travel and other expenses necessary for participation as provided in the General Appropriations Act. Other members of the work group may not be reimbursed for travel or other expenses incurred while conducting the business of the work group. Reimbursement under this subsection shall be paid equally out of funds appropriated to the Department of Aging and Disability Services [department] and funds appropriated to the [Texas] Department of State Health Services.

(j) The work group shall study and make recommendations in the following areas:

(1) [access of a child or a child's family to effective case management services, including case management services with a single case manager, parent case managers, or independent case managers;

[(2)] the transition needs of children who reach an age at which they are no longer eligible for services at the [Texas Department of Health, the] Texas Education Agency[,] and other applicable state agencies;

(2) [(3)] the blending of funds[, including case management funding,] for children needing long-term services and supports, [care and] health services, and mental health services;

(3) [(4)] collaboration and coordination of children's services between the Department of Aging and Disability Services [department], the [Texas] Department of State Health Services, the [Texas] Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services, the Department of Family and Protective Services [Mental Health and Mental Retardation], and any other agency determined to be applicable by the work group;

(4) [(5)] budgeting and the use of funds appropriated for children's long-term [care] services and supports, [and children's] health services, and mental health services;

(5) [(6)] services and supports for families providing care for children with disabilities;

(6) [(7)] effective permanency planning for children who reside in institutions or who are at risk of placement in an institution;

(7) barriers to accessing community services that lead to the institutionalization of children with disabilities;

(8) barriers to enforcement of regulations regarding institutions that serve children with disabilities; and

(9) the provision of services under the medical assistance program to children younger than 22 [23] years of age with disabilities or special health care needs under a waiver granted under Section 1915(c) of the federal Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Section 1396n(c)).

(k) Not later than September 1 of each even-numbered year, the work group shall report on its findings and recommendations to the legislature and the executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission [health and human services].

(l) After evaluating and considering recommendations reported under Subsection (k), the executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission shall adopt rules to implement guidelines for providing long-term services and supports, [care and] health services, and mental health services to children with disabilities.

SECTION 2. Section 531.159(f), Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

(f) The commission by rule shall develop procedures by which to conduct the reviews required by Subsections (c), (d), and (e). In developing the procedures, the commission shall seek input from the work group on children's long-term services and supports, [care and] health services, and mental health services [programs] established under Section 22.035, Human Resources Code.

SECTION 3. Subchapter G-1, Chapter 531, Government Code, is amended by adding Section 531.2505 to read as follows:

Sec. 531.2505. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "council" means the Children's Policy Council established under Section 22.035, Human Resources Code.

SECTION਄. Section 531.251, Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 531.251. [PILOT PROJECT CONSORTIUM;] EXPANSION PLAN. (a) The council shall establish a subcommittee on the system of care [commission shall form a consortium] to develop criteria for and implement the expansion of the Texas Integrated Funding Initiative [pilot project] and to develop local mental health care systems in communities for minors who are receiving residential mental health services or who are at risk of residential placement to receive mental health services. [The consortium must include representatives of the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, Department of Protective and Regulatory Services, Texas Education Agency, Texas Youth Commission, Texas Juvenile Probation Commission, and Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse and an equal number of family advocates.]

(b) The commission and the subcommittee on the system of care [consortium] shall:

(1) develop a model and guidelines for the delivery of mental health services and support to a minor, initiated before the person's 18th birthday, including best practices in the financing, administration, governance, and delivery of those services;

(2) establish a plan to expand the Texas Integrated Funding Initiative [so that the initiative may operate in up to six communities]; and

(3) identify appropriate sources of state and federal funding to finance mental health services under the initiative from a central fund for expansion communities.

(c) The subcommittee on the system of care must present to the council each model, guideline, plan, program, or recommendation the subcommittee develops. A model, guideline, plan, program, or recommendation may not be disseminated unless it is approved by the council.

SECTION 5. Sections 531.252(a) and (b), Government Code, are amended to read as follows:

(a) The commission [by rule] shall establish a request-for-proposal process to select expansion communities to participate in the initiative. The commission may work with the Department of State Health Services to establish this process.

(b) The commission and the council [consortium] shall develop criteria to evaluate proposals for selecting expansion communities to participate in the expanded initiative. The criteria must:

(1) reflect the underlying principles of the Texas Integrated Funding Initiative;

(2) emphasize services that are culturally competent, family-centered, and seamless;

(3) identify populations to be served under the proposals;

(4) establish for the expansion communities service outcome goals related to minors who are receiving residential mental health services or who are at risk of residential placement to receive mental health services, including:

(A) decreasing incidents of abuse or neglect of the minors;

(B) reducing recidivism rates of juvenile offenders;

(C) increasing school attendance and progress of the minors;

(D) reducing the rate of placement of the minors in residential treatment;

(E) increasing the rate of reunification of the minors with their families;

(F) improving the emotional, behavioral, and social adjustment of the minors; and

(G) improving the stability of placements of the minors;

(5) provide for locations of participating communities in urban, suburban, and rural settings; and

(6) specify information that must be provided in a proposal for a community, including:

(A) information on the costs of the activities proposed; and

(B) the characteristics of minors in the community who are in residential care for mental health services or who are at risk of being placed in residential care to receive mental health services.

SECTION 6. Sections 531.253 and 531.254, Government Code, are amended to read as follows:

Sec. 531.253. SELECTION OF EXPANSION COMMUNITIES. The commission and the council [consortium] shall develop a process to review proposals for expansion communities and approve participation of additional [not more than six] communities to participate in the initiative. The selected communities must be those that best meet the criteria developed under Section 531.252.

Sec. 531.254. SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT COLLABORATION. The commission, the subcommittee on the system of care established by the council [consortium], and the expansion communities shall collaborate to develop and shall share technical assistance and training resources to aid communities in developing local systems for delivering mental health services to minors.

SECTION 7. Sections 531.255(a), (b), and (c), Government Code, are amended to read as follows:

(a) The commission and the [Texas] Department of State [Mental] Health Services [and Mental Retardation] jointly shall monitor the progress of the expansion communities.

(b) The commission, the subcommittee on the system of care established by the council [consortium], and the expansion communities shall collaborate to develop a system to evaluate the success of the expansion communities in achieving outcome goals for the minors the communities serve, including outcome goals developed under Section 531.252. An evaluation under the system must include information on cost avoidance and net savings that result from participation in the initiative.

(c) Each expansion community shall identify the baseline information to compare with the information on outcomes in evaluating the achievements of the community. A community is responsible for collecting and reporting outcome information to the Department of State Health Services [commission] in accordance with the requirements of the evaluation system developed under Subsection (b).

SECTION 8. Section 531.421(3), Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

(3) "Subcommittee on the system of care" ["Consortium"] means the subcommittee on the system of care established by the Children's Policy Council [consortium] that oversees the Texas Integrated Funding Initiative under Subchapter G-1 [G, Chapter 531, as added by Chapter 446, Acts of the 76th Legislature, Regular Session, 1999].

SECTION 9. Section 531.422(c), Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

(c) Each community resource coordination group shall submit the report described by Subsection (b) to the subcommittee on the system of care [consortium]. The subcommittee [consortium] shall provide a deadline to each group for submitting the reports. The time frame for completing the reports must be coordinated with any regional reviews by the commission of the delivery of related services.

SECTION 10. Section 531.423, Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 531.423. SUMMARY REPORT BY SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE SYSTEM OF CARE [TEXAS INTEGRATED FUNDING INITIATIVE CONSORTIUM]. (a) The subcommittee on the system of care [consortium] shall create a summary report based on the evaluations in the reports submitted to the subcommittee [consortium] by community resource coordination groups under Section 531.422. The subcommittee's [consortium's] report must include recommendations for policy and statutory changes at each agency that is involved in the provision of systems of care services and the outcome expected from implementing each recommendation.

(b) The subcommittee on the system of care [consortium] shall coordinate, where appropriate, the recommendations in the report created under this section with recommendations in the assessment developed under S.B. No. 491, Acts of the 78th Legislature, Regular Session, 2003, and with the continuum of care developed under S.B. No. 490, Acts of the 78th Legislature, Regular Session, 2003.

(c) The subcommittee on the system of care [consortium] may include in the report created under this section recommendations for the statewide expansion of sites participating in the Texas Integrated Funding Initiative under Subchapter G-1 [G, Chapter 531, as added by Chapter 446, Acts of the 76th Legislature, Regular Session, 1999,] and the integration of services provided at those sites with services provided by community resource coordination groups.

(d) The subcommittee on the system of care [consortium] shall provide a copy of a [the] report created under this section and approved by the Children's Policy Council to each agency for which the report makes a recommendation and to other agencies as appropriate.

SECTION 11. Sections 531.256 and 531.257, Government Code, are repealed.

SECTION 12. (a) Not later than January 1, 2012, the following are transferred from the consortium that oversees the Texas Integrated Funding Initiative under Subchapter G-1, Chapter 531, Government Code, to the Children's Policy Council described by Section 22.035, Human Resources Code:

(1) the powers, duties, functions, programs, and activities of the consortium;

(2) all obligations and contracts of the consortium that are related to a power, duty, function, program, or activity transferred under this subsection;

(3) all property and records in the custody of the consortium that are related to a power, duty, function, program, or activity transferred under this subsection and all funds appropriated by the legislature for that power, duty, function, program, or activity; and

(4) all personnel of the consortium whose functions predominantly involve powers, duties, functions, programs, and activities transferred under this subsection.

(b) A form adopted by the consortium that relates to a power, duty, function, program, or activity transferred under Subsection (a) of this section is a form of the Children's Policy Council and remains in effect until altered by the Children's Policy Council.

(c) A reference in law to the consortium that relates to a power, duty, function, program, or activity transferred under Subsection (a) of this section means the Children's Policy Council.

SECTION 13. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.