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BILL ANALYSIS

 

 

 

C.S.H.B. 3941

By: Hunter

Human Services

Committee Report (Substituted)

 

 

 

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

 

The bill author has informed the committee that youth who age out of Texas' foster care system often face steep challenges when transitioning to independent adulthood, including housing insecurity, gaps in healthcare, and limited access to workforce or educational support. While some services exist—such as transitional housing, Medicaid extensions, and the Preparation for Adult Living (PAL) Program—eligibility for these services currently ends by age 21 or 23. The bill author has also informed the committee that this creates a gap in support for young adults who still need guidance and structure as they build independent lives. C.S.H.B. 3941 seeks to strengthen the support network for current and former foster youth by extending eligibility for transitional services through age 23 and Medicaid coverage through age 26.

 

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 rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission in SECTION 4 of this bill.

 

ANALYSIS

 

C.S.H.B. 3941 amends the Human Resources Code to require the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) to provide Medicaid to a former foster care youth regardless of the youth's income, assets, or resources if the youth meets the following eligibility requirements:

·       is younger than 26 years of age;

·       was in the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) conservatorship; and

·       meets eligibility criteria established under federal and state law.

The bill requires the executive commissioner of HHSC to adopt rules necessary to implement that requirement. If before implementing the requirement a state agency determines that a waiver or authorization from a federal agency is necessary for implementation of that provision, the agency affected by the provision must request the waiver or authorization and may delay implementing that provision until the waiver or authorization is granted.

 

C.S.H.B. 3941 amends the Family Code to revise the requirement for DFPS to coordinate with HHSC to obtain authority, to the extent allowed by federal law, the state Medicaid plan, the Title IV-E state plan, and any waiver or amendment to either plan, necessary to take certain action as follows:

·       with respect to obtaining authority necessary to extend foster care eligibility and transition services for youth up to age 21 and develop policy to permit eligible youth to return to foster care as necessary to achieve the goals of the Transitional Living Services Program:

o   removes transition services for youth from the requirement; and

o   raises the maximum age from 21 to 23 for which foster care eligibility may be extended;

·       requires the applicable entities to obtain authority necessary to extend transition services for youth up to age 23 and develop policy to permit eligible youth who have exited foster care to continue to participate in the Transitional Living Services Program as necessary to achieve the goals of the program; and

·       with respect to obtaining authority to extend Medicaid coverage for foster care youth and former foster care youth up to age 21 with a single application at the time the youth leaves foster care, raises the maximum age from 21 to 26 as authorized by the bill's provisions relating to Medicaid for certain former foster care youth.

 

C.S.H.B. 3941 requires DFPS to require a person with whom DFPS contracts for transitional living services for foster youth to provide or assist youth in obtaining the following:

·       for youth who are regularly attending an institution of higher education or a postsecondary vocational or technical program, financial support for on-campus or off-campus housing and utilities; and

·       for youth who are employed full-time and gaining life skills, financial support for housing and utilities.

 

EFFECTIVE DATE

 

September 1, 2025.

 

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

 

While C.S.H.B. 3941 may differ from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

 

Whereas the introduced raised the maximum age of extended Medicaid coverage for former and current foster care youth from 21 to 23, the substitute instead raises that maximum age from 21 to 26. The substitute includes a provision absent from the introduced requiring DFPS to require a person with whom DFPS contracts for transitional living services for foster youth to provide or assist youth who are employed full-time and gaining life skills in obtaining financial support for housing and utilities.