81R3928 UM-D
By: Davis of Harris H.B. No. 620
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to behavioral health services for children and
establishment of the Children's Behavioral Health Council.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 531.251, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 531.251. TEXAS INTEGRATED FUNDING INITIATIVE PILOT
PROJECT [CONSORTIUM]; DEFINITION; EXPANSION PLAN. (a) In this
subchapter, "council" means the Children's Behavioral Health
Council established under Section 531.425.
(a-1) The council [commission] shall [form a consortium to]
develop criteria for and implement the expansion of the Texas
Integrated Funding Initiative pilot project and [to] develop local
mental health care systems in communities for minors who are
receiving residential mental health services or who are at risk of
residential placement to receive mental health services. [The
consortium must include representatives of the Texas Department of
Mental Health and Mental Retardation, Department of Protective and
Regulatory Services, Texas Education Agency, Texas Youth
Commission, Texas Juvenile Probation Commission, and Texas
Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse and an equal number of family
advocates.]
(b) The commission and the council [consortium] shall:
(1) develop a model and guidelines for the delivery of
mental health services and support to a minor, initiated before the
person's 18th birthday, including best practices in the financing,
administration, governance, and delivery of those services;
(2) establish a plan to expand the Texas Integrated
Funding Initiative so that the initiative may operate in up to six
communities; and
(3) identify appropriate sources of state and federal
funding to finance mental health services under the initiative from
a central fund for expansion communities.
SECTION 2. Section 531.252(b), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) The commission and the council [consortium] shall
develop criteria to evaluate proposals for selecting expansion
communities to participate in the expanded initiative. The
criteria must:
(1) reflect the underlying principles of the Texas
Integrated Funding Initiative;
(2) emphasize services that are culturally competent,
family-centered, and seamless;
(3) identify populations to be served under the
proposals;
(4) establish for the expansion communities service
outcome goals related to minors who are receiving residential
mental health services or who are at risk of residential placement
to receive mental health services, including:
(A) decreasing incidents of abuse or neglect of
the minors;
(B) reducing recidivism rates of juvenile
offenders;
(C) increasing school attendance and progress of
the minors;
(D) reducing the rate of placement of the minors
in residential treatment;
(E) increasing the rate of reunification of the
minors with their families;
(F) improving the emotional, behavioral, and
social adjustment of the minors; and
(G) improving the stability of placements of the
minors;
(5) provide for locations of participating
communities in urban, suburban, and rural settings; and
(6) specify information that must be provided in a
proposal for a community, including:
(A) information on the costs of the activities
proposed; and
(B) the characteristics of minors in the
community who are in residential care for mental health services or
who are at risk of being placed in residential care to receive
mental health services.
SECTION 3. Section 531.253, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 531.253. SELECTION OF EXPANSION COMMUNITIES. The
commission and the council [consortium] shall review proposals for
expansion communities and approve participation of not more than
six communities to participate in the initiative. The selected
communities must be those that best meet the criteria developed
under Section 531.252.
SECTION 4. Section 531.254, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 531.254. SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT COLLABORATION. The
commission, the council [consortium], and the expansion
communities shall collaborate to develop and shall share technical
assistance and training resources to aid communities in developing
local systems for delivering mental health services to minors.
SECTION 5. Sections 531.255(a), (b), and (c), Government
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The commission and the council [Texas Department of
Mental Health and Mental Retardation] jointly shall monitor the
progress of the expansion communities.
(b) The commission, the council [consortium], and the
expansion communities shall collaborate to develop a system to
evaluate the success of the expansion communities in achieving
outcome goals for the minors the communities serve, including
outcome goals developed under Section 531.252. An evaluation under
the system must include information on cost avoidance and net
savings that result from participation in the initiative.
(c) Each expansion community shall identify the baseline
information to compare with the information on outcomes in
evaluating the achievements of the community. A community is
responsible for collecting and reporting outcome information to the
commission and the council in accordance with the requirements of
the evaluation system developed under Subsection (b).
SECTION 6. Section 531.421, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subdivision (3-a) to read as follows:
(3-a) "Council" means the Children's Behavioral Health
Council established under Section 531.425.
SECTION 7. Section 531.422(c), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(c) Each community resource coordination group shall submit
the report described by Subsection (b) to the council [consortium].
The council [consortium] shall provide a deadline to each group for
submitting the reports. The time frame for completing the reports
must be coordinated with any regional reviews by the commission of
the delivery of related services.
SECTION 8. Section 531.423, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 531.423. SUMMARY REPORT BY COUNCIL [TEXAS INTEGRATED
FUNDING INITIATIVE CONSORTIUM]. (a) The council [consortium]
shall create a summary report based on the evaluations in the
reports submitted to the council [consortium] by community resource
coordination groups under Section 531.422. The council's
[consortium's] report must include recommendations for policy and
statutory changes at each agency that is involved in the provision
of systems of care services and the outcome expected from
implementing each recommendation.
(b) The council [consortium] shall coordinate, where
appropriate, the recommendations in the report created under this
section with recommendations in the assessment developed under
Chapter 23, S.B. No. 491, Acts of the 78th Legislature, Regular
Session, 2003, and with the continuum of care developed under
Section 533.040(d), Health and Safety Code [S.B. No. 490, Acts of
the 78th Legislature, Regular Session, 2003].
(c) The council [consortium] may include in the report
created under this section recommendations for the statewide
expansion of sites participating in the Texas Integrated Funding
Initiative under Subchapter G-1 [G, Chapter 531, as added by
Chapter 446, Acts of the 76th Legislature, Regular Session, 1999,]
and the integration of services provided at those sites with
services provided by community resource coordination groups.
(d) The council [consortium] shall provide a copy of the
report created under this section to each agency for which the
report makes a recommendation and to other agencies as appropriate.
SECTION 9. Subchapter L, Chapter 531, Government Code, is
amended by adding Sections 531.425, 531.426, 531.427, and 531.428
to read as follows:
Sec. 531.425. CHILDREN'S BEHAVIORAL HEALTH COUNCIL. (a)
The Children's Behavioral Health Council is established to provide
a coordinated, comprehensive, interagency approach to the
development and delivery of behavioral health services to children.
(b) The council is composed of one representative from each
of the following state agencies, appointed by the chief
administrative officer of the respective agency:
(1) the Health and Human Services Commission;
(2) the Department of State Health Services;
(3) the Department of Family and Protective Services;
(4) the Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative
Services;
(5) the Department of Aging and Disability Services;
(6) the Texas Education Agency;
(7) the Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with
Medical or Mental Impairments;
(8) the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission; and
(9) the Texas Youth Commission.
(c) The members of the council shall annually elect one
member to serve as chairperson.
(d) The council, with the advice of the advisory committee
established under Section 531.426, shall:
(1) develop and implement coordinated state policies
to improve the behavioral health of children;
(2) develop a coordinated system for planning and
budgeting that establishes priorities and strategies for the
coordinated delivery of behavioral health services to children;
(3) develop a coordinated system to track and report
spending on behavioral health services for children by agencies
represented by a member of the council;
(4) administer state grants for development of local
systems of care services;
(5) develop a plan to support the statewide expansion
of local systems of care services;
(6) provide technical assistance and training to local
providers of systems of care services;
(7) design an integrated funding structure for the
provision of behavioral health services for children in accordance
with Section 531.427; and
(8) assess the provision of behavioral health services
to children to eliminate duplication of efforts and identify
opportunities to consolidate those efforts.
(e) The council is administratively attached to the
commission. The commission shall provide administrative support
and resources to the council as necessary to enable the council to
perform its duties.
(f) The council is not subject to Chapter 2110.
Sec. 531.426. CHILDREN'S BEHAVIORAL HEALTH ADVISORY
COMMITTEE. (a) The commission shall establish the Children's
Behavioral Health Advisory Committee to assist the council in the
performance of its duties.
(b) The governor shall appoint to the advisory committee
representatives from advocacy groups and organizations with
expertise in behavioral health issues involving children and from
other family advocates. The governor shall appoint as many members
to the advisory committee as the council considers necessary to
assist the council in performing its duties, but not less than the
number of agency representatives on the council.
(c) The advisory committee shall elect one member to serve
as chairperson, and shall meet in accordance with commission rules.
(d) A member of the advisory committee may not receive
compensation for serving on the committee, but is entitled to
reimbursement for travel expenses incurred while conducting the
business of the committee, as provided by the General
Appropriations Act.
(e) The commission shall provide administrative support and
resources to the advisory committee as necessary to enable the
committee to perform its duties.
(f) The committee is not subject to Chapter 2110.
Sec. 531.427. INTEGRATED FUNDING STRUCTURE FOR CERTAIN
BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SERVICES. (a) The council shall design an
integrated cross-agency funding structure for the provision of
behavioral health services to children.
(b) In creating the funding structure, the council shall
consider:
(1) the use of existing categorical or noncategorical
federal, state, and local funds;
(2) the use of blended or braided funding
arrangements;
(3) which funds should be included in the funding
structure and how the funds should be structured; and
(4) the persons that should control and manage the
funds, including managed care financing structures.
(c) The council may hire a consultant to assist with
designing the funding structure.
(d) Not later than June 1, 2010, the council shall submit a
report to the governor and the Legislative Budget Board that:
(1) describes the funding structure designed by the
council; and
(2) identifies the steps necessary to implement the
structure, including identification of necessary statutory changes
or federal approvals.
(e) Subsection (d) and this subsection expire September 1,
2010.
Sec. 531.428. HOME AND COMMUNITY SERVICES FOR CHILDREN WITH
SEVERE EMOTIONAL DISTURBANCES. (a) The commission shall maximize
funding for home and community-based services for children with
severe emotional disturbances by providing those services, to the
greatest extent possible, through a Section 1915(c) waiver program
or other Medicaid program. Not later than September 1, 2010, the
commission shall identify each service the commission anticipates
could be delivered cost-effectively in that manner using existing
resources and seek federal approval as necessary to permit the
delivery of services in that manner.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section,
the commission may implement maximization financing strategies at a
location providing systems of care services.
SECTION 10. Section 531.421(3), Government Code, is
repealed.
SECTION 11. Not later than October 1, 2009, the chief
administrative officer of each agency listed in Section 531.425(b),
Government Code, as added by this Act, shall appoint the agency's
representative to the Children's Behavioral Health Council
established by that section.
SECTION 12. (a) Not later than November 1, 2009, the
governor shall appoint the initial members of the Children's
Behavioral Health Advisory Committee created by Section 531.426,
Government Code, as added by this Act.
(b) In making initial appointments, the governor must
include the public members serving immediately before the effective
date of this Act on the Texas Integrated Funding Initiative
Consortium, as formed under Section 531.251, Government Code, as
that section existed before amendment by this Act, provided that
those members wish to continue to serve.
SECTION 13. The changes in law made by this Act to
Subchapter G-1, Chapter 531, Government Code, do not affect the
funding for or provision of services by a community participating
in the Texas Integrated Funding Initiative under that subchapter
before the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 14. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.