| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the administration and monitoring of certain |
|
|
medications provided to foster children. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Section 264.121, Family Code, is amended by |
|
|
adding Subsection (g) to read as follows: |
|
|
(g) For a youth taking prescription medication, the |
|
|
department shall ensure that the youth's transition plan includes |
|
|
provisions to assist the youth in managing the use of the medication |
|
|
after leaving foster care, including information that educates the |
|
|
youth in the use of the medication and provides the youth with |
|
|
information about the resources that are available to assist the |
|
|
youth in managing the use of the medication. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Section 266.001, Family Code, is amended by |
|
|
adding Subdivision (6) to read as follows: |
|
|
(6) "Psychotropic drug" has the meaning assigned by |
|
|
Section 261.111. |
|
|
SECTION 3. Section 266.004, Family Code, is amended by |
|
|
adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows: |
|
|
(a-1) Consent to the administration of a psychotropic drug |
|
|
is valid only if it is provided in the manner provided by Section |
|
|
576.025(b), Health and Safety Code. The evidence of the consent may |
|
|
be included in the foster child's health passport. |
|
|
SECTION 4. Section 266.005, Family Code, is amended by |
|
|
adding Subsection (b-1) and amending Subsection (c) to read as |
|
|
follows: |
|
|
(b-1) The department shall notify the child's parents of the |
|
|
initial prescription of a psychotropic drug to a foster child and of |
|
|
any change in dosage of the psychotropic drug at the first scheduled |
|
|
meeting between the parents and the child's caseworker after the |
|
|
date the psychotropic drug is prescribed or the dosage is changed. |
|
|
(c) The department is not required to provide notice under |
|
|
Subsection (b) or (b-1) to a parent who: |
|
|
(1) has failed to give the department current contact |
|
|
information and cannot be located; |
|
|
(2) has executed an affidavit of relinquishment of |
|
|
parental rights; |
|
|
(3) has had the parent's parental rights terminated; |
|
|
or |
|
|
(4) has had access to medical information otherwise |
|
|
restricted by the court. |
|
|
SECTION 5. Section 266.007, Family Code, is amended by |
|
|
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (d) to read as |
|
|
follows: |
|
|
(a) At each hearing under Chapter 263, or more frequently if |
|
|
ordered by the court, the court shall review a summary of the |
|
|
medical care provided to the foster child since the last hearing. |
|
|
The summary must include information regarding: |
|
|
(1) the nature of any emergency medical care provided |
|
|
to the child and the circumstances necessitating emergency medical |
|
|
care, including any injury or acute illness suffered by the child; |
|
|
(2) all medical and mental health treatment that the |
|
|
child is receiving and the child's progress with the treatment; |
|
|
(3) any medication prescribed for the child, [and] the |
|
|
condition, diagnosis, and symptoms for which the medication was |
|
|
prescribed, and the child's progress with the medication; |
|
|
(4) any non-pharmacological interventions tried |
|
|
before the prescription of a psychotropic drug, plans for |
|
|
discontinuing the psychotropic drug, and the child's prognosis with |
|
|
and without the psychotropic drug; |
|
|
(5) the degree to which the child or foster care |
|
|
provider has complied or failed to comply with any plan of medical |
|
|
treatment for the child; |
|
|
(6) [(5)] any adverse reaction to or side effects of |
|
|
any medical treatment provided to the child; |
|
|
(7) [(6)] any specific medical condition of the child |
|
|
that has been diagnosed or for which tests are being conducted to |
|
|
make a diagnosis; |
|
|
(8) [(7)] any activity that the child should avoid or |
|
|
should engage in that might affect the effectiveness of the |
|
|
treatment, including physical activities, other medications, and |
|
|
diet; and |
|
|
(9) [(8)] other information required by department |
|
|
rule or by the court. |
|
|
(d) At a hearing under Chapter 263 in which the court |
|
|
reviews a summary of medical care provided to a foster child who is |
|
|
prescribed a psychotropic drug, the court shall make a finding as to |
|
|
whether the department has required, in nonemergency situations, |
|
|
the child's physician to consider and eliminate the option of |
|
|
non-pharmacological interventions, including psychosocial |
|
|
interventions, before prescribing a psychotropic drug for the |
|
|
child. |
|
|
SECTION 6. Chapter 266, Family Code, is amended by adding |
|
|
Section 266.011 to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 266.011. MONITORING USE OF PSYCHOTROPIC DRUG. The |
|
|
person authorized to consent to medical treatment for a foster |
|
|
child prescribed a psychotropic drug shall ensure that the child |
|
|
has an office visit with the prescribing physician at least once |
|
|
every 90 days to allow the physician to: |
|
|
(1) appropriately monitor the side effects of the |
|
|
drug; and |
|
|
(2) determine whether: |
|
|
(A) the drug is helping the child achieve the |
|
|
physician's treatment goals; and |
|
|
(B) continued use of the drug is appropriate. |
|
|
SECTION 7. Section 533.0161(b), Government Code, is amended |
|
|
to read as follows: |
|
|
(b) The commission shall implement a system under which the |
|
|
commission will use Medicaid prescription drug data to monitor the |
|
|
prescribing of psychotropic drugs for children who are: |
|
|
(1) in the conservatorship of the Department of Family |
|
|
and Protective Services[;] and |
|
|
[(2)] enrolled in the STAR Health Medicaid managed care |
|
|
program or eligible for both Medicaid and Medicare; and |
|
|
(2) under the supervision of the Department of Family |
|
|
and Protective Services through an agreement under the Interstate |
|
|
Compact on the Placement of Children under Subchapter B, Chapter |
|
|
162, Family Code. |
|
|
SECTION 8. The heading to Subchapter A, Chapter 266, Family |
|
|
Code, is repealed. |
|
|
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013. |