82R1327 MCK/SJM-D
By: Nelson S.B. No. 219
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to health and mental health services for children in
foster care and kinship care.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 264.015, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 264.015. TRAINING. (a) The department shall include
training in trauma-informed programs and services in any training
the department provides to foster parents, adoptive parents,
kinship caregivers, [and] department caseworkers, and department
caseworker supervisors. The department shall pay for the training
provided under this subsection [section] with gifts, donations, and
grants and any federal money available through the Fostering
Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (Pub.
L. No. 110-351). The department shall annually evaluate the
effectiveness of the training provided under this subsection to
ensure progress toward a trauma-informed system of care.
(b) The department shall require department caseworkers and
department caseworker supervisors to complete an annual refresher
training course in trauma-informed programs and services.
(c) In addition to the recipients of training under
Subsection (a), the department shall offer training in
trauma-informed programs and services to:
(1) court-appointed special advocates;
(2) children's advocacy center staff;
(3) therapists at Department of Aging and Disability
Services mental health centers; and
(4) domestic violence shelter staff.
(d) The department shall include trauma-informed programs
and services training in parenting classes the department provides
to parents receiving services from the department.
SECTION 2. Section 531.0216, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (c-1) to read as follows:
(c-1) The commission shall:
(1) explore opportunities to increase STAR Health
program providers' use of telemedicine medical services in
medically underserved areas of this state; and
(2) encourage STAR Health program providers to use
telemedicine medical services as appropriate.
SECTION 3. Subchapter A, Chapter 533, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 533.0052 to read as follows:
Sec. 533.0052. STAR HEALTH PROGRAM: CONTRACT PROVISIONS.
(a) A contract between a managed care organization and the
commission for the organization to provide health care services to
recipients under the STAR Health program must include a requirement
that each physician or provider under a managed care plan receive
training in trauma-informed care.
(b) The commission shall encourage each managed care
organization providing health care services to recipients under the
STAR Health program to include in a written agreement between the
organization and a physician or provider under a managed care plan a
requirement that the physician or provider receive training in
post-traumatic stress disorder and
attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder within a reasonable time
after the date the physician or provider begins providing services
under the managed care plan.
SECTION 4. Subchapter B, Chapter 32, Human Resources Code,
is amended by adding Section 32.0561 to read as follows:
Sec. 32.0561. PRELIMINARY BEHAVIORAL HEALTH ASSESSMENT. In
addition to complying with the regimen of care prescribed by the
Texas Health Steps program under Section 32.056, a provider of
health care to recipients under the STAR Health program shall
conduct a preliminary behavioral health assessment of each
recipient who is a child during the child's initial visit to the
provider.
SECTION 5. (a) Section 533.0052(a), Government Code, as
added by this Act, applies only to a contract between the Health and
Human Services Commission and a managed care organization that is
entered into or renewed on or after the effective date of this Act.
(b) To the extent permitted by law or the terms of the
contract, the Health and Human Services Commission shall amend a
contract entered into before the effective date of this Act with a
managed care organization to require compliance with Section
533.0052(a), Government Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 6. If before implementing any provision of this Act
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 shall request the waiver or
authorization and may delay implementing that provision until the
waiver or authorization is granted.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.