87R19707 MCK-F
 
  By: Frank, Minjarez H.B. No. 3691
 
  Substitute the following for H.B. No. 3691:
 
  By:  Noble C.S.H.B. No. 3691
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the statewide implementation of community-based foster
  care by the Department of Family and Protective Services.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 264.151, Family Code, is amended to read
  as follows:
         Sec. 264.151.  LEGISLATIVE INTENT. (a)  It is the intent of
  the legislature that the department contract with community-based
  nonprofit and local governmental entities that have the ability to
  provide child welfare services.  The services provided by the
  entities must include direct case management to prevent entry into
  substitute care, reunify and preserve families, and ensure child
  safety, permanency, and well-being, in accordance with state and
  federal child welfare goals.
         (b)  It is the intent of the legislature that the provision
  of community-based care for children be implemented with measurable
  goals relating to:
               (1)  the safety of children in placements;
               (2)  the placement of children in each child's home
  community;
               (3)  the provision of services to children in the least
  restrictive environment possible and with [, if possible, in a
  family home environment;
               [(4)] minimal placement changes [for children];
               (4)  the reduction of the time a child is in the
  conservatorship of the department and placed in substitute care;
               (5)  the maintenance of contact between children and
  their families and other important persons;
               (6)  the placement of children with siblings, when
  possible;
               (7)  the provision of services that respect each
  child's culture;
               (8)  the preparation of children and youth in foster
  care for adulthood;
               (9)  the provision of opportunities, experiences, and
  activities for children and youth in foster care that are available
  to children and youth who are not in foster care;
               (10)  the participation by children and youth in making
  decisions relating to their own lives;
               (11)  the reunification of children with the biological
  parents of the children when possible; [and]
               (12)  the promotion of the placement of children with
  relative or kinship caregivers if reunification is not possible;
  and
               (13)  the preservation of families to avoid placing
  children in foster care.
         SECTION 2.  Section 264.152, Family Code, is amended by
  amending Subdivisions (2) and (4) and adding Subdivisions (5), (6),
  (7), and (8) to read as follows:
               (2)  "Case management" means the provision of case
  management services to a child for whom the department has been
  appointed temporary or permanent managing conservator or to the
  child's family, a young adult in extended foster care, a relative or
  kinship caregiver, or a child who has been placed in the catchment
  area through the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children,
  and includes:
                     (A)  caseworker visits with the child;
                     (B)  family and caregiver visits;
                     (C)  convening and conducting permanency planning
  meetings;
                     (D)  the development and revision of child and
  family plans of service, including a permanency plan and goals for a
  child or young adult in care;
                     (E)  the coordination and monitoring of services
  required by the child and the child's family;
                     (F)  the assumption of court-related duties
  regarding the child, including:
                           (i)  providing any required notifications or
  consultations;
                           (ii)  preparing court reports;
                           (iii)  attending judicial and permanency
  hearings, trials, and mediations;
                           (iv)  complying with applicable court
  orders; and
                           (v)  ensuring the child is progressing
  toward the goal of permanency within state and federally mandated
  guidelines; [and]
                     (G)  the placement of children in the
  conservatorship of the department with relative or kinship
  caregivers as described by Section 264.107 and the monitoring of
  those placements; and
                     (H)  any other function or service that the
  department determines or a single source continuum contractor
  proposes is necessary to allow the [a single source continuum]
  contractor to assume responsibility for case management under the
  terms of a contract executed by the department and the contractor.
               (4)  "Community-based care" means the provision of
  child welfare services in accordance with state and federal child
  welfare goals by a community-based nonprofit or a local
  governmental entity under a contract that includes direct case
  management to:
                     (A)  prevent entry into foster care;
                     (B)  reunify and preserve families;
                     (C)  ensure child safety, permanency, and
  well-being; and
                     (D)  reduce future referrals of children or
  parents to the department [foster care redesign required by Chapter
  598 (S.B. 218), Acts of the 82nd Legislature, Regular Session,
  2011, as designed and implemented in accordance with the plan
  required by Section 264.153].
               (5)  "Child who is a candidate for foster care" means a
  child who is at imminent risk of being removed from the child's home
  and placed into the conservatorship of the department because of a
  continuing danger to the child's physical health or safety caused
  by an act or failure to act of a person entitled to possession of the
  child but for whom a court of competent jurisdiction has issued an
  order allowing the child to remain safely in the child's home or in
  a kinship placement with the provision of family preservation
  services.
               (6)  "Family preservation service" means a
  time-limited, family-focused service, including a service subject
  to the Family First Prevention Services Act (Title VII, Div. E, Pub.
  L. No. 115-123), provided to the family of a child who is:
                     (A)  a candidate for foster care to prevent or
  eliminate the need to remove the child and to allow the child to
  remain safely with the child's family; or
                     (B)  a pregnant or parenting foster youth.
               (7)  "Family preservation services plan" means a
  written plan, based on a professional assessment, listing the
  family preservation services, including services subject to the
  Family First Prevention Services Act (Title VII, Div. E, Pub. L. No.
  115-123), to be provided to the family of a child who is:
                     (A)  a candidate for foster care; or
                     (B)  a pregnant or parenting foster youth.
               (8)  "Foster care services" means substitute care as
  defined by Section 263.001 and includes the assessment and referral
  of children into a residential placement outside the child's home
  and the assessment and referral of a child for adoption.
         SECTION 3.  Section 264.153, Family Code, is amended to read
  as follows:
         Sec. 264.153.  COMMUNITY-BASED CARE IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.
  (a)  The department shall develop and maintain a plan for
  implementing community-based care.  The plan must:
               (1)  define [describe] the department's expectations,
  goals, and statewide strategic plan for [approach to] implementing
  community-based care and the method the department uses to
  determine the cost of implementing community-based care, including
  the department resources used to provide community-based care;
               (2)  include a timeline for implementing
  community-based care throughout this state, the specific order and
  rationale for implementing community-based care in the catchment
  areas of this state where community-based care will expand, any
  limitations related to the implementation, and a progressive
  intervention plan and a contingency plan to provide continuity of
  the delivery of foster care services and services for relative and
  kinship caregivers if a contract with a single source continuum
  contractor ends prematurely;
               (3)  delineate and define the case management roles and
  responsibilities of the department and the department's
  contractors, [and] the duties, employees, and related funding that
  will be transferred to the contractor by the department, and the
  method for determining the state-level and catchment-level
  resources to be transferred;
               (4)  identify any training needs and include long-range
  and continuous plans for training and cross-training staff,
  including plans to train caseworkers using the standardized
  curriculum created by the human trafficking prevention task force
  under Section 402.035(d)(6), Government Code, as that section
  existed on August 31, 2017;
               (5)  include a plan for evaluating the costs of and
  tasks associated with each contract procurement, including the
  initial and ongoing contract costs for the department and
  contractor;
               (6)  include [the department's contract monitoring
  approach and] a detailed plan that describes the department's
  method of monitoring contracts and includes an evaluation of each
  contractor conducted by an entity based in this state independent
  of the department that:
                     (A)  assesses the effectiveness of the transfer of
  responsibilities to each contractor;
                     (B)  measures [for evaluating] the performance
  and contract outcomes of each contractor; and
                     (C)  compares the outcomes in the contractor's
  catchment area to the outcomes in:
                           (i)  that same catchment area before
  community-based care was implemented;
                           (ii)  other catchment areas in which
  community-based care has been implemented; and
                           (iii)  other department regions in which the
  department is providing services [system as a whole that includes
  an independent evaluation of each contractor's processes and fiscal
  and qualitative outcomes]; [and]
               (7)  include a report on [transition] issues that
  impede transition to community-based care;
               (8)  include an evaluation of each contractor's
  processes and fiscal and qualitative outcomes concerning the
  children and families in its care conducted by an entity based in
  this state that is independent of the department and has
  demonstrated expertise in statistical, financial, actuarial,
  logistical, and operational analysis;
               (9)  require the department to transmit immediately on
  receipt all reports and evaluations required under this subsection
  immediately to the relevant standing committees of the legislature
  and the office of the governor; and
               (10)  include a specific implementation plan for each
  catchment area identified for expansion of community-based care
  that includes a timeline for the transfer of services as described
  by Section 264.155 developed after consulting with local
  stakeholders, as appropriate, including stakeholders listed in
  Section 264.155(a)(8) and other stakeholders identified as
  significant in a particular catchment area [resulting from
  implementation of community-based care].
         (b)  Not later than August 31 each year, the [The] department
  shall [annually]:
               (1)  update the implementation plan developed under
  this section and post the updated plan on the department's Internet
  website; and
               (2)  provide a copy of the plan to the governor,
  lieutenant governor, speaker of the house of representatives, and
  presiding officer of each standing committee of the legislature
  with jurisdiction over matters involving the department [post on
  the department's Internet website the progress the department has
  made toward its goals for implementing community-based care].
         SECTION 4.  Section 264.154, Family Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
  follows:
         (a)  To enter into a contract with the commission or
  department to serve as a single source continuum contractor to
  provide services under this subchapter [foster care service
  delivery], an entity must be:
               (1)  a nonprofit entity that has:
                     (A)  an organizational mission focused on child
  welfare; and
                     (B)  a majority of the entity's board members
  residing in this state; or
               (2)  a governmental entity.
         (c)  The department shall request local stakeholders in a
  catchment area, including those listed in Section 264.155(a)(8), to
  provide any necessary information about the catchment area that
  will assist the department in:
               (1)  preparing the department's request for bids,
  proposals, or other applicable expressions of interest to provide
  community-based care in the catchment area; and
               (2)  selecting a single source continuum contractor to
  provide community-based care in the catchment area.
         SECTION 5.  Section 264.155, Family Code, is amended to read
  as follows:
         Sec. 264.155.  REQUIRED CONTRACT PROVISIONS. (a)  A
  contract with a single source continuum contractor to provide
  [community-based care] services under this subchapter in a
  catchment area must include provisions that:
               (1)  establish a timeline for the implementation of
  community-based care in the catchment area, including a timeline
  for implementing:
                     (A)  case management services for children,
  families, and relative and kinship caregivers receiving services in
  the catchment area; [and]
                     (B)  family reunification support services to be
  provided after a child receiving services from the contractor is
  returned to the child's family; and
                     (C)  family preservation services;
               (2)  establish conditions for the single source
  continuum contractor's access to [relevant] department data and
  require the participation of the contractor in the data access and
  standards governance council created under Section 264.159;
               (3)  require the single source continuum contractor to
  create a single process for the training and use of alternative
  caregivers for all child-placing agencies in the catchment area to
  facilitate reciprocity of licenses for alternative caregivers
  between agencies, including respite and overnight care providers,
  as those terms are defined by department rule;
               (4)  require the single source continuum contractor to
  maintain a diverse network of service providers that offer a range
  of foster capacity options and that can accommodate children from
  diverse cultural backgrounds;
               (5)  allow the department to conduct a performance
  review of the contractor beginning 18 months after the contractor
  has begun providing case management and family reunification
  support services to all children and families in the catchment area
  and determine if the contractor has achieved any performance
  outcomes specified in the contract;
               (6)  following the review under Subdivision (5), allow
  the department to:
                     (A)  impose financial penalties on the contractor
  for failing to meet any specified performance outcomes; or
                     (B)  award financial incentives to the contractor
  for exceeding any specified performance outcomes;
               (7)  require the contractor to give preference for
  employment to employees of the department:
                     (A)  whose position at the department is impacted
  by the implementation of community-based care; and
                     (B)  who are considered by the department to be
  employees in good standing;
               (8)  require the contractor to provide preliminary and
  ongoing community engagement plans to ensure communication and
  collaboration with local stakeholders in the catchment area,
  including any of the following:
                     (A)  community faith-based entities;
                     (B)  the judiciary;
                     (C)  court-appointed special advocates;
                     (D)  child advocacy centers;
                     (E)  service providers;
                     (F)  foster families;
                     (G)  biological parents;
                     (H)  foster youth and former foster youth;
                     (I)  relative or kinship caregivers;
                     (J)  child welfare boards, if applicable;
                     (K)  attorneys ad litem;
                     (L)  attorneys that represent parents involved in
  suits filed by the department; and
                     (M)  any other stakeholders, as determined by the
  contractor; [and]
               (9)  require that the contractor comply with any
  applicable court order issued by a court of competent jurisdiction
  in the case of a child for whom the contractor has assumed case
  management responsibilities or an order imposing a requirement on
  the department that relates to functions assumed by the contractor;
               (10)  identify the employees and other resources to be
  transferred to the contractor for the purpose of providing
  necessary implementation, case management, operational, and
  administrative functions and outline the methodology for
  determining the resources to be transferred;
               (11)  create a risk-sharing funding model that
  strategically and explicitly balances financial risk between the
  state and the contractor and mitigates the financial effects of
  significant unforeseen changes in the contractor's duties and
  responsibilities or its contract population; and
               (12)  require the annual review and adjustment of the
  funding based on updated cost and finance methodologies, including
  changes in policy, foster care rates, and regional service usage.
         (b)  A contract with a single source continuum contractor
  under this subchapter must be consistent with the requirements of
  applicable law and may only include terms authorized by the laws or
  rules of this state.
         (c)  In regions identified for implementing community-based
  care and in regions where community-based care has been
  implemented, a contractor may apply to the department for a waiver
  from any statutory and regulatory requirement to increase
  innovation and flexibility for achieving contractual performance
  outcomes.
         SECTION 6.  Sections 264.156(a), (b), and (d), Family Code,
  are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  The department shall develop and apply standard
  criteria [a formal review process] to assess the ability of a single
  source continuum contractor to satisfy the responsibilities and
  administrative requirements of delivering services under this
  subchapter [foster care services and services for relative and
  kinship caregivers], including the contractor's ability to
  provide:
               (1)  case management services for children and
  families;
               (2)  evidence-based, promising practice, or
  evidence-informed services [supports] for children and families;
  and
               (3)  sufficient available capacity for inpatient and
  outpatient services and supports for children at all service levels
  who have previously been placed in the catchment area.
         (b)  As part of the readiness review process, the single
  source continuum contractor must prepare a report that defines:
               (1)  the practice model and process the contractor will
  use to meet contractual performance outcomes and requirements; and
               (2)  the methods the contractor will use to eliminate
  conflicts of interest, including financial incentives for a single
  source continuum contractor that refers a child for foster care
  services to itself or to a subcontractor in which that contractor
  has a majority financial stake [plan detailing the methods by which
  the contractor will avoid or eliminate conflicts of interest.  The
  department may not transfer services to the contractor until the
  department has determined the plan is adequate].
         (d)  If after conducting the review process developed under
  Subsection (a) the department determines that a single source
  continuum contractor is able to adequately deliver services
  described by this subchapter [foster care services and services for
  relative and kinship caregivers] in advance of the projected dates
  stated in the timeline included in the contract with the
  contractor, the department may adjust the timeline to allow for an
  earlier transition of service delivery to the contractor.
         SECTION 7.  Sections 264.157(a), (b), and (c), Family Code,
  are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  Not later than the last day of the state fiscal biennium
  [December 31, 2019], the department shall:
               (1)  identify the [not more than eight] catchment areas
  in the state where the department will implement [that are best
  suited to implement] community-based care; and
               (2)  following the implementation of community-based
  care services in those catchment areas, retain an entity based in
  this state that is independent of the department to conduct an
  evaluation of [evaluate] the implementation process and the single
  source continuum contractor performance in each catchment area.
         (b)  Notwithstanding the process for the expansion of
  community-based care described in Subsection (a), [and in
  accordance with the community-based care implementation plan
  developed under Section 264.153, beginning September 1, 2017,] the
  department shall accept and evaluate unsolicited proposals [begin
  accepting applications] from entities based in this state to
  provide community-based care services in a geographic service
  [designated catchment] area where the department has not
  implemented community-based care. An entity that submits a proposal
  to provide community-based care services must ensure that it meets
  all criteria outlined by this subchapter and must demonstrate
  established connections to the area the entity proposes to
  serve. The Health and Human Services Commission in conjunction with
  the department shall adopt rules to ensure that proposals submitted
  under this subsection comply with state procurement laws and rules.
         (c)  In expanding community-based care, the department may
  change the geographic boundaries of catchment areas as necessary to
  align with specific communities or to enable satisfactory
  unsolicited proposals for community-based care services to be
  accepted and implemented.
         SECTION 8.  The heading to Section 264.158, Family Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 264.158.  TRANSFER OF [CASE MANAGEMENT] SERVICES TO
  SINGLE SOURCE CONTINUUM CONTRACTOR.
         SECTION 9.  Section 264.158, Family Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (d) to read as
  follows:
         (a)  In each [initial] catchment area where community-based
  care has been implemented or a contract with a single source
  continuum contractor has been executed [before September 1, 2017],
  the department shall transfer to the single source continuum
  contractor [providing foster care services in that area]:
               (1)  the case management of children, relative and
  kinship caregivers, and families receiving services from that
  contractor; [and]
               (2)  foster care services; and
               (3)  family preservation services [family
  reunification support services to be provided after a child
  receiving services from the contractor is returned to the child's
  family for the period of time ordered by the court].
         (d)  A single source continuum contractor may implement its
  own procedures to execute the department's statutory duties the
  contractor assumes and is not required to follow the department's
  procedures to execute the department duties the contractor assumes.
         SECTION 10.  Section 264.159, Family Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 264.159.  DATA ACCESS AND STANDARDS GOVERNANCE COUNCIL.
  (a)  The department shall create a data access and standards
  governance council to develop protocols for the interoperable
  electronic transfer of data from single source continuum
  contractors to the department to allow the contractors to perform
  case management functions and additional contracted services by the
  department.
         (b)  The council shall develop protocols for the access,
  management, and security of case data that is electronically shared
  between [by] a single source continuum contractor and [with] the
  department.
         (c)  The council shall develop protocols for the access,
  management, and security of data shared with an independent entity
  retained to conduct the independent evaluations required under this
  subchapter. The protocols shall ensure the entity has full,
  unrestricted access to all relevant data necessary to perform an
  evaluation.
         (d)  The council consists of single source continuum
  contractors with active contracts and department employees who
  provide data, legal, information technology, and child protective
  services. The council shall meet at least quarterly during each
  calendar year.
         SECTION 11.  Section 264.161, Family Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 264.161.  STATUTORY DUTIES ASSUMED BY CONTRACTOR.  
  Except as provided by Section 264.163, a single source continuum
  contractor providing the services described by this subchapter
  [foster care services and services for relative and kinship
  caregivers] in a catchment area must, either directly or through
  subcontractors, assume the statutory duties of the department in
  connection with the delivery of [foster care] services [and
  services for relative and kinship caregivers] in that catchment
  area. The department shall enumerate in its contract with a single
  source continuum contractor all duties the single source continuum
  contractor will assume.
         SECTION 12.  Section 264.162, Family Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 264.162.  REVIEW AND MONITORING OF CONTRACTOR
  PERFORMANCE. (a)  The department shall implement [develop] a
  [formal review] process to monitor and evaluate a single source
  continuum contractor's performance in achieving contract outcomes
  [implementation of placement services and case management
  services] in a catchment area.
         (b)  The contract performance outcomes specified in a
  contract under this subchapter must be consistent with the purposes
  described by Section 264.151. The contract must allow the
  contractor operational discretion in meeting performance outcomes.
         (c)  The department shall regularly report on the
  department's and each single source continuum contractor's
  performance in providing services based on the performance outcomes
  described by Subsection (b). The report must:
               (1)  be readily accessible to and understandable by a
  member of the public and include the following information:
                     (A)  a comparison of the single source continuum
  contractor's performance in a catchment area with the department's
  performance in that same area during the 10 years preceding the date
  the contractor began providing services in the area; and
                     (B)  a comparison of the performances of service
  providers for each region of this state for the time covered by the
  report;
               (2)  include information provided by single source
  continuum contractors;
               (3)  to the greatest extent feasible, be prepared using
  existing data sources and department resources; and
               (4)  be published on the schedule determined
  appropriate by the department but not less than annually.
         (d)  The contract must clearly define the manner in which the
  contractor's performance will be measured and identify the
  information sources the department and, if applicable, the
  independent evaluator will use to evaluate the performance.
         SECTION 13.  Section 264.156(c), Family Code, is repealed.
         SECTION 14.  Not later than October 1, 2022, the Department
  of Family and Protective Services shall publish the initial report
  required by Section 264.162(c), Family Code, as added by this Act.
         SECTION 15.  The changes in law made by this Act apply only
  to a contract for foster care services entered into or renewed on or
  after the effective date of this Act.
         SECTION 16.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.