85R6775 GCB-D

By: Hinojosa, et al. S.B. No. 602

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the establishment of a restructuring commission to evaluate each state supported living center.

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

SECTION 1. Chapter 555, Health and Safety Code, is amended by adding Subchapter F to read as follows:

SUBCHAPTER F. STATE SUPPORTED LIVING CENTER RESTRUCTURING AND

CLOSURES

Sec. 555.201. STATE SUPPORTED LIVING CENTER RESTRUCTURING COMMISSION. (a) In this subchapter, "restructuring commission" means the state supported living center restructuring commission.

(b) The restructuring commission consists of five members appointed by the governor and the following three nonvoting ex officio members:

(1) the executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission, or the executive commissioner's designee;

(2) the executive director of the Texas Facilities Commission or the executive director's designee; and

(3) the commissioner of the General Land Office or the commissioner's designee.

(c) The restructuring commission is established to ensure that the state maintains only the number of state supported living centers necessary to meet the level of need for those centers in this state. The restructuring commission shall evaluate each state supported living center to determine whether to recommend the center be consolidated with another center, downsized, repurposed, or closed. The restructuring commission may not recommend the closure of more than five centers.

(d) The restructuring commission must visit each state supported living center in the course of making the restructuring commission's evaluations and determinations. In evaluating a state supported living center, the restructuring commission shall consider:

(1) the quality of services provided by the center, including the center's most recent certification inspections and the center's ability to meet the minimum ICF-IID standards;

(2) the costs of operating the center;

(3) the center's compliance with the 2009 settlement agreement between the Department of Aging and Disability Services and the United States Department of Justice regarding services provided to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in state-operated facilities;

(4) the availability of community service providers in the area served by the center;

(5) the specialty services provided at the center, including the ability of the center to serve alleged offenders or high-risk residents;

(6) the availability of employment opportunities for center employees if the center is closed, repurposed, downsized, or consolidated;

(7) any infrastructure deficiency costs relating to the center;

(8) the property value of, the market demand for, and any deed restrictions applicable to property and facilities of the center;

(9) whether closing, repurposing, downsizing, or consolidating the center would adversely affect the geographic distribution of centers in the state;

(10) the availability and capacity of service providers and resources in the community capable of delivering the quality and level of care each resident of the center would require following the closing, repurposing, downsizing, or consolidating of the center;

(11) input from parents and guardians of current residents of the center; and

(12) any other criteria the restructuring commission considers appropriate.

(e) Not later than December 1, 2018, the restructuring commission shall submit to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the presiding officers of the standing committees of the senate and house of representatives having primary jurisdiction over intellectual and developmental disability issues a report detailing the restructuring commission's evaluation of each state supported living center and, as applicable, the restructuring commission's recommendation for the center to be consolidated with another center, downsized, repurposed, or closed.

(f) The restructuring commission is abolished and this section expires January 1, 2019.

Sec. 555.202. CLOSURE OF STATE SUPPORTED LIVING CENTER. The Health and Human Services Commission shall ensure that a state supported living center recommended for closure is closed not later than August 31, 2027, in accordance with the closure plan established for the center under Section 555.203.

Sec. 555.203. CLOSURE PLAN FOR STATE SUPPORTED LIVING CENTER. (a) The Health and Human Services Commission shall establish a closure plan for each state supported living center for which closure is recommended under Section 555.202.

(b) The closure plan must provide for closure of the facility and its operations not later than August 31, 2027. The plan must provide procedures to transition to the community each resident for whom transition to the community is practicable while maintaining respect for resident choice.

Sec. 555.204. PROCEEDS FROM CLOSURE OF STATE SUPPORTED LIVING CENTER. The proceeds from the closure of a state supported living center, including from the sale or lease of a center's facilities or other property, may be appropriated only for services for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including persons with a dual diagnosis of intellectual and developmental disabilities and mental illness.

Sec. 555.205. EXPIRATION. This subchapter expires September 1, 2027.

SECTION 2. Not later than September 1, 2017, the governor shall appoint five members of the state supported living center restructuring commission to serve under Section 555.201, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2017.