By: Raymond, Burkett, Price H.B. No. 2463
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the continuation and functions of the Department of
Assistive and Rehabilitative Services.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 117.001, Human Resources Code, is
amended by amending Subdivision (1) and adding Subdivisions (1-a),
(1-b), (4-a), and (4-b) to read as follows:
(1) "Caseworker" means a department employee who
manages a client's case under a direct services program and
provides direct services to the client under the program.
(1-a) "Center for independent living" has the meaning
assigned by Section 702 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973
(29 U.S.C. Section 796a).
(1-b) "Commission" means the Health and Human Services
Commission.
(4-a) "Direct services" means services provided to a
client by a department employee, including counseling,
facilitating the purchase of services from a source other than the
department, and purchasing equipment and other items and providing
other services necessary for the client to successfully complete a
department program.
(4-b) "Direct services program" means a program
operated by the department through which direct services are
provided.
SECTION 2. (a) Section 117.003, Human Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 117.003. SUNSET PROVISION. The Department of
Assistive and Rehabilitative Services is subject to Chapter 325,
Government Code (Texas Sunset Act). Unless continued in existence
as provided by that chapter, the department is abolished and this
chapter expires September 1, 2027 [2015].
(b) This section takes effect only if H.B. 2304, S.B. 200,
or similar legislation of the 84th Legislature, Regular Session,
2015, providing for the transfer of the functions of the Department
of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services to the Health and Human
Services Commission is not enacted or does not become law. If H.B.
2304, S.B. 200, or similar legislation of the 84th Legislature,
Regular Session, 2015, is enacted, becomes law, and provides for
the transfer of the department's functions to the commission, this
section has no effect.
SECTION 3. Subchapter D, Chapter 117, Human Resources Code,
is amended by adding Sections 117.079, 117.080, 117.081, and
117.082 to read as follows:
Sec. 117.079. INTEGRATION OF INDEPENDENT LIVING SERVICES
PROGRAMS. (a) Not later than September 1, 2016, the department
shall integrate into a single independent living services program
the following programs that the department operates under Title VII
of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. Section 796 et
seq.):
(1) the Independent Living Program for individuals who
are blind or have visual impairments; and
(2) the Independent Living Services Program for
individuals with significant disabilities.
(b) The executive commissioner shall adopt any rules
necessary to facilitate the integration of the programs identified
in Subsection (a), including rules that direct the department, as
the single designated state entity responsible for administering
the state's independent living services program, to comply with the
requirements of 29 U.S.C. Section 796c for the integrated program.
(c) This section expires September 1, 2017.
Sec. 117.080. PROVISION OF INDEPENDENT LIVING SERVICES.
(a) The department shall ensure that all services provided under
the independent living services program that the department
operates under Title VII of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973
(29 U.S.C. Section 796 et seq.) are directly provided by centers for
independent living, except as provided by Subsection (b), and are
not directly provided by the department.
(b) If an area of the state does not have a center for
independent living, or no center for independent living in that
area is able to provide certain necessary services under the
independent living services program, the department shall seek to
identify a center for independent living that is willing and able to
contract with a nonprofit organization or other person to provide
the independent living services in the area under the program. If
no center for independent living is willing and able to contract
with another organization or other person, the department may
directly contract with an organization or other person who is not a
center for independent living to provide the independent living
services in the area under the program.
(c) The department shall evaluate the independent living
services provided by a center for independent living and shall
provide necessary training or technical assistance to help the
center for independent living expand its capacity to provide a full
range of independent living services.
(d) The department shall monitor the performance of each
center for independent living in providing independent living
services, including how the center for independent living monitors
the performance of the organizations and other persons with whom it
contracts to provide independent living services.
(e) The executive commissioner shall adopt rules to
implement this section that include:
(1) an equitable and transparent methodology for
allocating funds to centers for independent living under the
independent living services program;
(2) requirements applicable to the department in
contracting with centers for independent living to provide
independent living services under the program;
(3) requirements applicable to centers for
independent living in contracting with organizations and other
persons to provide independent living services under the program;
(4) requirements applicable to the department in
contracting with organizations or other persons who are not centers
for independent living to provide independent living services under
the program;
(5) a process for the department to monitor
independent living services contracts;
(6) guidelines on the department's role in providing
technical assistance and training to centers for independent living
as necessary; and
(7) expectations for department employees to refer
persons who contact the department seeking independent living
services to centers for independent living.
(f) Notwithstanding the requirements of this section, the
department shall ensure that services provided under the
independent living services program are provided as required by
this section not later than August 31, 2016. This subsection
expires September 1, 2017.
Sec. 117.081. COMPREHENSIVE REHABILITATION SERVICES
PROGRAM. The department shall operate a comprehensive
rehabilitation services program to provide comprehensive
rehabilitation services to persons with traumatic brain or spinal
cord injuries. The executive commissioner shall adopt rules for
the program that include:
(1) a system of organization for the delivery of the
comprehensive rehabilitation services;
(2) eligibility requirements for the comprehensive
rehabilitation services;
(3) the types of services that may be provided to a
client under the program; and
(4) requirements for client participation in the costs
of the comprehensive rehabilitation services.
Sec. 117.082. CHILDREN'S AUTISM PROGRAM. The department
shall operate a children's autism program to provide services to
children with autism spectrum disorders. The executive
commissioner shall adopt rules for the program that include:
(1) a system of organization for the delivery of the
autism services;
(2) eligibility requirements for the autism services;
(3) the types of services that may be provided to a
client under the program; and
(4) requirements for participation by the client's
family in the costs of the autism services.
SECTION 4. Chapter 117, Human Resources Code, is amended by
adding Subchapter D-1 to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER D-1. ADMINISTRATION OF DIRECT SERVICES PROGRAMS IN
GENERAL
Sec. 117.091. DIRECT SERVICES PROGRAM CASEWORKER
GUIDELINES. (a) The department shall use program data and best
practices to establish and maintain guidelines that provide
direction for caseworkers' decisions in all of the department's
direct services programs. The guidelines:
(1) must categorize direct services program cases
based on the types of services provided and, for each category,
include provisions addressing:
(A) the recommended length of time a case in that
category should last; and
(B) the recommended total expenditures for a case
in that category;
(2) must include provisions for creating intermediate
goals for a client receiving services through a direct services
program that will allow:
(A) the caseworker to monitor the client's
progress; and
(B) the caseworker's supervisor to evaluate how
the client's case is advancing;
(3) must include criteria for caseworkers to use in
evaluating progress on the intermediate goals described in
Subdivision (2); and
(4) may include other provisions designed to assist
caseworkers and their supervisors to achieve successful outcomes
for clients.
(b) A caseworker may exceed the recommended guidelines
described in Subsection (a)(1) in a direct services program case
but must obtain the approval of the caseworker's supervisor after
documenting the need to exceed the guidelines.
(c) The guidelines established under this section are not
intended to limit the provision of appropriate or necessary
services to a client.
(d) The department shall provide the guidelines established
under this section to caseworkers in a format that allows
caseworkers to easily access the information.
Sec. 117.092. DIRECT SERVICES PROGRAM CASE REVIEW SYSTEM.
(a) The department shall establish and maintain a single, uniform
case review system for all direct services programs.
(b) The case review system must:
(1) include risk assessment tools that account for the
different risks involved in each direct services program;
(2) require that case reviews:
(A) be used to consistently evaluate each direct
services program across all regions, with the goal of evaluating at
least 10 percent of all cases in each program and region annually;
(B) focus on areas of highest risk and prioritize
the review of the following cases:
(i) except as provided by Subparagraph
(ii), cases in which direct services have been provided for more
than two years;
(ii) cases in the Blind Children's
Vocational Discovery and Development Program in which direct
services have been provided for more than five years; and
(iii) cases that are significantly outside
the expenditure guidelines for that type of case;
(C) be used to evaluate a caseworker's
eligibility determinations and decisions to close a case before a
service plan is developed or without the client reaching the
client's goal; and
(D) focus on the quality of a caseworker's
decision-making and compliance with program requirements; and
(3) require a caseworker's supervisor to use the
reviews of a caseworker's cases in conducting the caseworker's
performance evaluation and in providing informal guidance to the
caseworker to improve the caseworker's performance.
Sec. 117.093. DIRECT SERVICES PROGRAM MONITORING. (a)
Department personnel not employed to perform functions directly
under a direct services program must be designated to monitor those
programs from a statewide perspective. The designated personnel
shall collect, monitor, and analyze data relating to direct
services programs and report outcomes and trends to program
managers and, as necessary, the commissioner or other appropriate
executive management.
(b) The monitoring function under Subsection (a) must
include monitoring of:
(1) performance data from all regions and all direct
services programs to identify trends; and
(2) case review data to ensure compliance with the
case review system under Section 117.092.
(c) Personnel designated to perform the monitoring function
required by this section shall work with direct services program
staff to develop objective and detailed outcome measures for the
programs.
(d) The department may conduct internal peer reviews of the
department's field offices at regular intervals to assess the field
offices' compliance with federal regulations and department
policies and to compare each field office's compliance with the
compliance of the other field offices. The department may use
personnel designated to perform the monitoring function required by
this section to facilitate the internal peer reviews.
SECTION 5. The following provisions of the Human Resources
Code are repealed:
(1) Section 91.022, as amended by S.B. No. 219, Acts
of the 84th Legislature, Regular Session, 2015; and
(2) Section 117.153, as redesignated and amended by
S.B. No. 219, Acts of the 84th Legislature, Regular Session, 2015.
SECTION 6. The executive commissioner of the Health and
Human Services Commission shall adopt the rules required by Section
117.080(e), Human Resources Code, as added by this Act, as soon as
practicable after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 7. 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 8. Except as otherwise provided by this Act, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2015.