| TO: | Honorable Chris Harris, Chair, Senate Committee on Jurisprudence |
| FROM: | John S O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | SB218 by Nelson (Relating to procedures in certain suits affecting the parent-child relationship and the operation of the child protective services and foster care systems.), As Introduced |
| Fiscal Year | Probable Net Positive/(Negative) Impact to General Revenue Related Funds |
|---|---|
| 2012 | ($430,407) |
| 2013 | ($165,665) |
| 2014 | ($165,665) |
| 2015 | ($165,665) |
| 2016 | ($165,665) |
| Fiscal Year | Probable (Cost) from General Revenue Fund 1 |
Probable (Cost) from Federal Funds 555 |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | ($430,407) | ($44,842) |
| 2013 | ($165,665) | ($8,675) |
| 2014 | ($165,665) | ($8,675) |
| 2015 | ($165,665) | ($8,675) |
| 2016 | ($165,665) | ($8,675) |
| Fiscal Year | Change in Number of State Employees from FY 2011 |
|---|---|
| 2012 | 1.3 |
| 2013 | 2.0 |
| 2014 | 2.0 |
| 2015 | 2.0 |
| 2016 | 2.0 |
SECTION 3 would require the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) under certain circumstances to seek an emergency order for possession of a child younger than 11 who tests positive for a sexually transmitted disease during the course of an investigation. It would also require the court to order parents, each adult living in the child’s home, and any other caregiver who is an alleged perpetrator to undergo medically appropriate diagnostic testing for sexually transmitted diseases. SECTION 5 would require the agency to publish performance data for every substitute care provider on its Internet website. SECTION 8 would waive driver’s license fees for persons under 18 in DFPS managing conservatorship, and for persons between 18 and 21 residing in paid foster care placements.
SECTION 9 would require DFPS to redesign the foster care system in accordance with the recommendations contained in a report submitted to the Legislature. These recommendations include delinking provider reimbursement rates and children’s individual service levels; competitively procuring contractors to provide a full continuum of services in catchment areas; establishing a single daily blended rate or single daily blended case rate for each catchment area; using performance-based contracting with financial incentives and remedies; allocating other existing funds so contractors can coordinate the delivery of services to parents; and phasing in the redesigned system across the state with staged implementation in catchment areas. The report also indicates that administrative functions, placement resources, and foster-adoptive home development responsibilities would be transferred to contractors, and agency foster homes would be absorbed into the continuum of services.
SECTION 9 would also authorize the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) to use foster care payment rates that differ from the rates used on the effective date of the Act; allow the alternative foster care rates to include incentives and funding for family services not historically included in foster care payment rates; and prohibit the alternative rates from exceeding amounts appropriated for foster care and other purchased services for any fiscal year, unless the increase is the direct result of caseload growth. It would authorize DFPS to reimburse some foster care providers using rates in effect on the effective date of the Act, and to reimburse other foster providers using the alternative rates. And it would require the agency to submit a status report on implementation of foster care redesign by December 1, 2012.
SECTION 3. DFPS indicates that the requirement for court-ordered testing would likely result in additional testing for sexually transmitted diseases and may involve additional expense to resolve questions of paternity. However, the agency does not expect the fiscal impact to be significant.
SECTION 5. DFPS estimates that two program specialists (average salary $46,731) would be needed to validate data and handle appeals from providers negatively affected by performance measures. This estimate assumes that 15 percent of all providers would request reviews and appeals. The agency also estimates that it would cost $0.3 million to develop the Internet website and reporting capabilities. The total cost would be $0.5 million All Funds (including $0.4 million in General Revenue Funds) in fiscal year 2012, and $0.2 million All Funds (including $0.2 million in General Revenue Funds) each following year. This estimate assumes the specialists would be hired in January 2012 following the promulgation of rules.
SECTION 8. The provision that would provide a free driver's license to certain children in foster care would result in an indeterminate loss of revenue to the Texas Mobility Fund, but this is not anticipated to be significant. Additionally, Article 3, Section 49-k, of the Texas Constitution, specifies that while money in the Texas Mobility Fund is pledged for the payment of any outstanding debt obligations, the Legislature may not reduce, rescind, or repeal the dedication of a specific source or portion of revenue dedicated to the Texas Mobility Fund unless the Legislature by law dedicates a substitute or different source of revenue that is projected by the Comptroller to be of a value equal to or greater than the source or amount being reduced, rescinded, or repealed.
SECTION 9. The fiscal implications of implementing the recommendations contained in the report submitted to the Legislature (Improving Child and Youth Placement Outcomes: A System Redesign) and other provisions of the bill cannot be determined at this time. Some potential cost drivers include developing technology interfaces to allow providers to enter service data in the agency’s automated case management system; modifying the payment system to accommodate more than one set of foster care rates; transitioning agency foster care homes to private child-placing agencies (estimated to be a $2.42 increase in the average daily foster care rate for all service levels included in the initial redesign); making other purchased services an entitlement; and providing oversight of the new system. Some potential cost savings include fewer contracts for the agency to manage and, over time, shorter lengths of stay in paid foster care for children. The agency indicates that foster care redesign would be accomplished within existing resources with some need for flexibility to redirect funds.
| Source Agencies: | 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts, 405 Department of Public Safety, 529 Health and Human Services Commission, 530 Family and Protective Services, Department of
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| LBB Staff: | JOB, JT, MB, NM, VJC
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