Honorable Garnet Coleman, Chair, House Committee on County Affairs
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB4142 by Coleman (Relating to counties and other governmental entities operations regarding behavioral health.), As Introduced
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would amend the Health and Safety Code to require the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC), in coordination with the Texas Education Agency (TEA), to provide and update a list of recommended programs in certain areas related to mental health and substance abuse for implementation in public elementary, junior high, middle, and high schools, that include components that provide for training counselors, teachers, nurses, administrators, other staff, law enforcement officers, and social workers who regularly interact with students, to recognize signs of physical or emotional trauma and to provide notice and referral to a parent or guardian. The bill would also require that TEA collect information on the number of teachers, principals, and counselors who have completed training and make the information available on the agency website. The bill would take effect September 1, 2017.
HHSC indicates that any costs associated with bill could be absorbed within the agency's existing resources. Based on the LBB's analysis of TEA, duties and responsibilities associated with implementing the provisions of the bill could be accomplished utilizing existing resources.
Local Government Impact
According to the Texas Association of Counties, the fiscal impact to counties to implement the provisions of the bill is not anticipated to be significant.
According to the Texas Education Agency, the administrative costs to school districts associated with the requirement to report additional training information is likely to be nominal.
Source Agencies:
212 Office of Court Administration, Texas Judicial Council, 407 Commission on Law Enforcement, 529 Health and Human Services Commission, 701 Texas Education Agency