81R10992 GCB-D
By: Olivo H.B. No. 4695
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the collection and use of information relating to the
investigation and prevention of abuse, neglect, and exploitation in
certain facilities serving individuals with mental retardation in
an electronic database.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 531, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 531.02446 to read as follows:
Sec. 531.02446. ABUSE, NEGLECT, AND EXPLOITATION
PREVENTION DATABASE. (a) The Department of Aging and Disability
Services and the Department of Family and Protective Services
jointly shall develop and maintain an electronic database to
collect and analyze information regarding the investigation and
prevention of abuse, neglect, and exploitation of individuals with
mental retardation who reside in a facility licensed under Chapter
252, Health and Safety Code, or in a group home or foster home at
which a Home and Community-based Services (HCS) provider provides
services.
(b) The information collected in the database regarding
investigations must be detailed, easily retrievable, and include
information relating to abuse, neglect, and exploitation
investigations and regulatory investigations performed by the
Department of Aging and Disability Services that may be sorted by
home, provider, and facility. The information collected must allow
the Department of Aging and Disability Services, in performing the
department's regulatory function, to identify a home, provider, or
facility that needs additional, intensive monitoring and
inspection.
(c) The electronic database must facilitate the entry of the
required information and the sharing of information between the
departments. At a minimum, the database must include the following
categories of information:
(1) the number of abuse, neglect, or exploitation
allegations received; and
(2) the number of allegations relating to a facility
or home substantiated through an investigation.
(d) Each allegation involving a unique individual in a
facility or home is considered a separate violation for purposes of
Subsection (c).
(e) The Department of Aging and Disability Services shall
ensure that information related to findings concerning failure to
comply with regulatory standards directly related to the prevention
of abuse, neglect, and exploitation in a facility licensed under
Chapter 252, Health and Safety Code, or a group or foster home at
which a Home and Community-based Services (HCS) provider provides
services is collected and stored in the database in a manner that
can be sorted by home, provider, and facility.
(f) The Department of Aging and Disability Services shall
maintain information in the database regarding the placement of
individuals transferred from a state school during the previous 12
months. At a minimum, this information must include the
individual's:
(1) severity of mental retardation;
(2) medical diagnosis and needs; and
(3) need for monitoring or attention to ensure the
individual receives sufficient care.
(g) The Department of Aging and Disability Services and the
Department of Family and Protective Services may not release or
distribute information in the database in a form that contains
personally identifiable information related to an individual in a
facility or home or to a victim of abuse, neglect, or exploitation.
SECTION 2. As soon as practicable after the effective date
of this Act, the Department of Aging and Disability Services and the
Department of Family and Protective Services shall develop the
database required by Section 531.02446, Government 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, 2009.