By: Nelson, Van de Putte S.B. No. 219
(Gonzalez)
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
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 supervisors to complete an annual refresher training
course in trauma-informed programs and services.
(c) To the extent that resources are available, the
department shall assist the following entities in developing
training in trauma-informed programs and services and in locating
money and other resources to assist the entities in providing
trauma-informed programs and services:
(1) court-appointed special advocate programs;
(2) children's advocacy centers;
(3) local community mental health centers created
under Section 534.001, Health and Safety Code; and
(4) domestic violence shelters.
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 Sections 533.0052 and 533.0053 to read as
follows:
Sec. 533.0052. STAR HEALTH PROGRAM: TRAUMA-INFORMED CARE
TRAINING. (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 trauma-informed care training be offered to each
contracted physician or provider.
(b) The commission shall encourage each managed care
organization providing health care services to recipients under the
STAR Health program to make training in post-traumatic stress
disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder available to
a contracted physician or provider within a reasonable time after
the date the physician or provider begins providing services under
the managed care plan.
Sec. 533.0053. COMPLIANCE WITH TEXAS HEALTH STEPS. The
commission shall encourage each managed care organization
providing health care services to a recipient under the STAR Health
program to ensure that the organization's network providers comply
with the regimen of care prescribed by the Texas Health Steps
program under Section 32.056, Human Resources Code, if applicable,
including the requirement to provide a mental health screening
during each of the recipient's Texas Health Steps medical exams
conducted by a network provider.
SECTION 4. (a) Subsection (a), Section 533.0052,
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 Subsection
(a), Section 533.0052, Government Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 5. 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 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.