BILL ANALYSIS

S.B. 497

By: Uresti

Human Services

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Interested parties note that the child protective services division within the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) continues to have high rates of employee turnover even after certain reform efforts and contend that more should be done to ensure that DFPS is able to retain valued employees. S.B. 497 seeks to ensure that DFPS has the ability to maintain a high-quality and stable workforce by providing for the establishment of the office of data analytics within DFPS.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

S.B. 497 amends the Human Resources Code to require the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) to create an office of data analytics that reports to the deputy commissioner of DFPS. The bill authorizes the office to perform any of the following functions, as determined by DFPS: monitor management trends; analyze employee exit surveys and interviews; evaluate the effectiveness of employee retention efforts, including merit pay; create and manage a system for handling employee complaints submitted by the employee outside of an employee's direct chain of command; monitor and provide reports to DFPS management personnel on employee complaint data and trends in employee complaints, compliance with annual DFPS performance evaluation requirements, and DFPS use of positive performance levels for employees; track employee tenure and internal employee transfers within both the child protective services division of DFPS and DFPS as a whole; use data analytics to predict workforce shortages and identify areas of DFPS with high rates of employee turnover and develop a process to inform the deputy commissioner and other appropriate staff regarding the office's findings; create and monitor reports on key metrics of agency performance; analyze available data for historical and predictive DFPS trends; and conduct any other data analysis DFPS determines to be appropriate for improving performance, meeting the DFPS's current business needs, or fulfilling the powers and duties of DFPS. The bill requires the DFPS commissioner and the executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission to transfer appropriate staff as necessary to conduct the duties of the office.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2017.