Honorable Jane Nelson, Chair, Senate Committee On Health & Human Services
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
SB430 by Nelson (Relating to verification of the unavailability of community day care before the Department of Family and Protective Services provides day-care assistance or services.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would implement a recommendation in the report, “Implement Additional Cost Containment Strategies for Foster, Relative and Protective Daycare Services to Maximize the Number of Children Served,” in the Legislative Budget Board's Government Effectiveness and Efficiency Report, submitted to the Eighty-third Texas Legislature, 2013.
The bill would amend Chapter 264 of the Family Code to require the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) through the Health and Human Services Commission to implement rules to establish a process to verify that each foster parent and kinship caregiver (relative or other designated caregiver) seeking monetary assistance to pay for daycare has attempted to find daycare services through community services such as community day care, Head Start or Pre-K. DFPS must adopt rules that specify the documentation requirements in order for the foster parent and kinship caregiver to comply with this requirement. The bill prohibits DFPS from offering monetary assistance for daycare unless it receives the documentation required. The department may waive this requirement if the department determines the verification would prevent an emergency placement that is in the child’s best interest.
DFPS has indicated that the case-management application system, Information Management Protecting Adults and Children in Texas (IMPACT), would need to be updated to document the required verification. Based on the LBB’s analysis of DFPS duties and responsibilities associated with implementing the provisions of the bill, the bill could be accomplished by utilizing existing agency resources.
Local Government Impact
No fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.