| 1 | 1 | | 84R4521 EES-F |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Walle H.B. No. 993 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to employee caseload standards for child and adult |
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| 8 | 8 | | protective services and child-care licensing services and call |
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| 9 | 9 | | processing standards for certain of those services. |
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| 10 | 10 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 11 | 11 | | SECTION 1. Section 531.048, Government Code, is amended by |
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| 12 | 12 | | adding Subsection (d-1) to read as follows: |
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| 13 | 13 | | (d-1) Notwithstanding Subsection (d) and to the extent |
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| 14 | 14 | | appropriated money is available for the purpose, the Department of |
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| 15 | 15 | | Family and Protective Services shall work toward ensuring that the |
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| 16 | 16 | | average caseload for the following categories of department |
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| 17 | 17 | | caseworkers does not exceed the number specified by this |
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| 18 | 18 | | subsection: |
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| 19 | 19 | | (1) for investigative caseworkers in the child |
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| 20 | 20 | | protective services division, an average of 15 cases at any time; |
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| 21 | 21 | | (2) for caseworkers in the child protective services |
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| 22 | 22 | | division providing family-based safety services, an average of 10 |
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| 23 | 23 | | cases at any time; |
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| 24 | 24 | | (3) for caseworkers in the child protective services |
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| 25 | 25 | | division providing services through conservatorship programs, an |
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| 26 | 26 | | average of 20 cases at any time; |
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| 27 | 27 | | (4) for caseworkers in the child protective services |
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| 28 | 28 | | division providing services through foster and adoption programs, |
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| 29 | 29 | | an average of 20 cases at any time; |
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| 30 | 30 | | (5) for child-care licensing inspectors in the |
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| 31 | 31 | | child-care licensing division, an average caseload of 64 |
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| 32 | 32 | | nonresidential child-care facilities or registered family homes at |
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| 33 | 33 | | any time; |
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| 34 | 34 | | (6) for child-care licensing day-care investigators |
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| 35 | 35 | | in the child-care licensing division, an average caseload of 17 |
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| 36 | 36 | | investigations at any time; and |
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| 37 | 37 | | (7) for adult protective services specialists in the |
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| 38 | 38 | | adult protective services division providing services through |
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| 39 | 39 | | in-home programs, an average of 22 cases at any time, |
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| 40 | 40 | | notwithstanding Subsection (g). |
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| 41 | 41 | | SECTION 2. Section 40.0528(a), Human Resources Code, is |
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| 42 | 42 | | amended to read as follows: |
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| 43 | 43 | | (a) Subject to Section 531.048, Government Code, the [The] |
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| 44 | 44 | | department shall develop and implement a staffing and workload |
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| 45 | 45 | | distribution plan for the child protective services program to: |
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| 46 | 46 | | (1) reduce caseloads; |
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| 47 | 47 | | (2) enhance accountability; |
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| 48 | 48 | | (3) improve the quality of investigations; |
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| 49 | 49 | | (4) eliminate delays; and |
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| 50 | 50 | | (5) ensure the most efficient and effective use of |
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| 51 | 51 | | child protective services staff and resources. |
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| 52 | 52 | | SECTION 3. Subchapter C, Chapter 40, Human Resources Code, |
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| 53 | 53 | | is amended by adding Section 40.075 to read as follows: |
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| 54 | 54 | | Sec. 40.075. ABUSE, NEGLECT, AND EXPLOITATION HOTLINE: |
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| 55 | 55 | | CALL PROCESSING STANDARDS. (a) With respect to the hotline |
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| 56 | 56 | | maintained by the department for purposes of receiving reports |
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| 57 | 57 | | under Section 261.103, Family Code, and Section 48.051, to the |
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| 58 | 58 | | extent appropriated money is available for the purpose, the |
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| 59 | 59 | | department shall work toward ensuring that: |
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| 60 | 60 | | (1) the average hold time for calls to the hotline does |
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| 61 | 61 | | not exceed five minutes; and |
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| 62 | 62 | | (2) the call abandonment rate for each state fiscal |
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| 63 | 63 | | year does not exceed 25 percent. |
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| 64 | 64 | | (b) The executive commissioner by rule shall adopt the |
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| 65 | 65 | | methodology to be used to calculate the call abandonment rate |
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| 66 | 66 | | referred to in Subsection (a)(2). |
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| 67 | 67 | | SECTION 4. Not later than December 1, 2016, the Department |
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| 68 | 68 | | of Family and Protective Services shall submit a report to the |
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| 69 | 69 | | standing committees of the senate and house of representatives |
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| 70 | 70 | | having primary jurisdiction over the Department of Family and |
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| 71 | 71 | | Protective Services regarding the department's progress in |
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| 72 | 72 | | achieving the caseload standards described in Section |
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| 73 | 73 | | 531.048(d-1), Government Code, as added by this Act, and the call |
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| 74 | 74 | | processing standards described in Section 40.075, Human Resources |
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| 75 | 75 | | Code, as added by this Act. |
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| 76 | 76 | | SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015. |
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