83R12347 MCK-D
By: Uresti S.B. No. 1788
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the duties of the Council on Children and Families and
creating a committee to advise the council on child abuse
prevention issues.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 531.802(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The Council on Children and Families is established to:
(1) coordinate the state's health, education, and
human services systems to ensure that children and families have
access to needed services;
(2) improve coordination and efficiency in state
agencies, advisory councils on issues affecting children, and local
levels of service;
(3) prioritize and mobilize resources for children;
(4) facilitate an integrated approach to providing
services for children and youth; [and]
(5) promote the sharing of information regarding
children and their families among state agencies; and
(6) coordinate and enhance child abuse prevention
services.
SECTION 2. Section 531.803(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The council shall:
(1) analyze the biennial legislative appropriations
requests of members of the council for services provided to
children and their families and identify appropriations that,
through the coordination of members of the council, could be
modified in the next legislative appropriation request to eliminate
waste or increase available services and, not later than May 1 of
each even-numbered year, prepare a report recommending those
modifications for consideration during the development of the next
biennial legislative appropriations request;
(2) investigate opportunities to increase flexible
funding for health, education, and human services provided to
children and their families;
(3) identify methods to remove barriers to local
coordination of health, education, and human services provided to
children and their families;
(4) identify methods to ensure that children and youth
receive appropriate assessment, diagnoses, and intervention
services;
(5) develop methods to prevent unnecessary parental
relinquishment of custody of children;
(6) prioritize assisting children in family settings
rather than institutional settings;
(7) make recommendations about family involvement in
the provision and planning of health, education, and human services
for a child, including family partner and liaison models; [and]
(8) identify technological methods to ensure the
efficient and timely transfer of information among state agencies
providing health, education, and human services to children and
their families; and
(9) identify and develop methods and strategies to
coordinate and enhance child abuse prevention services for families
with children.
SECTION 3. Subchapter T, Chapter 531, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 531.8031 to read as follows:
Sec. 531.8031. ADVISORY COMMITTEE. (a) The council shall
establish the prevention committee to advise the council regarding
the coordination and enhancement of child abuse prevention
services.
(b) The prevention committee is composed of five public
members appointed by the executive commissioner who are actively
involved in the fields of child welfare and child abuse and neglect
prevention.
(c) The prevention committee shall select one of its members
to serve as presiding officer of the committee for a term of one
year.
(d) The prevention committee shall hold meetings at the call
of the presiding officer.
(e) The prevention committee shall:
(1) advise the council on the use of social impact
bonds to finance child abuse prevention programs;
(2) use maps and other data compiled by the commission
and counties to compare the reports of child abuse in the state with
the child abuse prevention programs provided in the state; and
(3) assist the council in:
(A) ensuring that money appropriated by the
legislature for child abuse prevention programs is used for that
purpose;
(B) facilitating the engagement of the private
and philanthropic sectors in child abuse prevention across the
state; and
(C) maximizing the funding leverage of federal,
state, local, and private money for child abuse prevention
programs.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.