By: Noble H.B. No. 2375
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the transfer of authority regarding the review and
  resolution of complaints against the Department of Family and
  Protective Services to the Health and Human Services Commission's
  office of inspector general.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 40.0041, Human Resources Code, is
  amended by amending Subsections (a), (c), (d), (e), and (f) and
  adding Subsections (a-1) and (g-1) to read as follows:
         (a)  The Health and Human Services Commission's office of
  inspector general shall receive complaints against the department
  from members of the public, consumers, department employees, and
  recipients of department services regarding any investigation
  conducted or action taken by the department. The office of
  inspector general shall review and resolve each complaint against
  the department filed with the office not later than the 45th day
  after the date the office receives the complaint. The executive
  commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission, in
  consultation with the commissioner and the inspector general, by
  rule shall develop and implement a uniform process for receiving
  and resolving complaints against the department throughout the
  state. The process shall include:
               (1)  statewide procedures through which the public,
  consumers, department employees, and service recipients are
  informed:
                     (A)  of the right to make a complaint against the
  department, including the mailing addresses and telephone numbers
  of appropriate [department] personnel in the office of inspector
  general who are responsible for receiving complaints and providing
  related assistance; and
                     (B)  of the office of inspector general's
  [department's] procedures for resolving a complaint, including the
  right to appeal a decision made at the local level;
               (2)  development and statewide distribution of a form
  or telephone system that may be used to make a complaint;
               (3)  a requirement that the office of inspector general
  [department] provide information by mail or telephone regarding the
  office of inspector general's [department's] procedures for
  reviewing [investigating] and resolving a complaint to each person
  who makes a complaint; and
               (4)  a requirement that the office of inspector general
  periodically [department] provide status information, orally or in
  writing, [at least quarterly] to a person with a pending complaint
  against the department, unless the information would jeopardize an
  undercover investigation.
         (a-1)  In performing the functions described by Subsection
  (a), the office of inspector general may:
               (1)  recommend corrective and remedial actions the
  department shall take regarding a complaint and ensure the
  department's compliance with the recommendations;
               (2)  obtain any department data necessary for reviewing
  and resolving a complaint; and
               (3) open any investigation the office determines
  necessary to ensure the department's compliance with state and
  federal law or department procedures and policies.
         (c)  The office of inspector general [department] shall keep
  an information file about each complaint made against the
  department that the office of inspector general [department] has
  authority to resolve.
         (d)  The executive commissioner of the Health and Human
  Services Commission, in consultation with the commissioner and the
  inspector general, shall develop a consistent, statewide process
  for addressing an appeal by a person dissatisfied with the
  resolution of a complaint at the regional level. [The process shall
  include an opportunity for appeal of a complaint without the
  participation of the department's ombudsman office.]
         (e)  The office of inspector general [department] shall
  develop and maintain a centralized tracking system to gather
  information concerning all complaints made against the department
  throughout the state. The office of inspector general [department]
  shall require its personnel to provide information regarding each
  complaint for inclusion in records maintained under the tracking
  system at the Health and Human Services Commission's [department's]
  state headquarters, regardless of the location or level at which
  the complaint is initiated or resolved. The office of inspector
  general [department] shall maintain [require at least] the
  following information, at a minimum, [to be maintained] for each
  complaint:
               (1)  the date the complaint is received;
               (2)  the name of the person making the complaint;
               (3)  the subject matter of the complaint;
               (4)  a record of all persons contacted by the office of
  inspector general [department] in relation to the complaint;
               (5)  a summary of the results of the review [or
  investigation] of the complaint; and
               (6)  for each complaint determined by the office of
  inspector general [department] to require no corrective action, an
  explanation of the reason that the complaint was closed without
  action.
         (f)  The office of inspector general [department] shall
  periodically prepare and deliver reports to the executive
  commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission, [and] the
  commissioner, the governor, and the chairs of the standing
  legislative committees with primary jurisdiction over the
  department regarding the number, type, and resolution of complaints
  made in the state against the department.
         (g-1)  The department shall cooperate with the office of
  inspector general regarding any review or corrective action to
  resolve a complaint filed against the department. The department
  shall provide any data or other information requested by the office
  of inspector general in connection with a review not later than the
  14th day after the date the department receives the request.
         SECTION 2.  Section 531.102, Government Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-9) to read as
  follows:
         (a)  The commission's office of inspector general is
  responsible for:
               (1)  the prevention, detection, audit, inspection,
  review, and investigation of fraud, waste, and abuse in the
  provision and delivery of all health and human services in the
  state, including:
                     (A)  services through any state-administered
  health or human services program that is wholly or partly federally
  funded; or
                     (B)  services provided by the Department of Family
  and Protective Services;
               (2)  [, and] the enforcement of state law relating to
  the provision of [those] services described by Subdivision (1); and
               (3)  receiving, reviewing, and resolving complaints
  against the Department of Family and Protective Services as
  authorized by Section 40.0041, Human Resources Code. [The
  commission may obtain any information or technology necessary to
  enable the office to meet its responsibilities under this
  subchapter or other law.]
         (a-9)  The commission may obtain any information or
  technology necessary to enable the office to meet its
  responsibilities under this subchapter or other law.
         SECTION 3.  (a) As soon as practicable after the effective
  date of this Act, but not later than December 1, 2023, the
  commissioner of the Department of Family and Protective Services
  shall transfer any department funds, resources, including
  information technology, documents, and personnel allocated for the
  investigation of complaints to the Health and Human Services
  Commission's office of inspector general to allow the office to
  perform the functions described under Section 40.0041, Human
  Resources Code, as amended by this Act.
         (b)  Notwithstanding the effective date of this Act, the
  Health and Human Services Commission's office of inspector general
  is not required to comply with changes to Section 40.0041, Human
  Resources Code, and Section 531.102(a), Government Code, made by
  this Act until the transfer required by Subsection (a) of this
  section is completed.
         SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.