85R4892 MK-D
By: Schwertner, Nelson, Uresti S.B. No. 11
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the administration of services provided by the
Department of Family and Protective Services, including foster
care, child protective, and prevention and early intervention
services.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 261, Family Code, is
amended by adding Section 261.004 to read as follows:
Sec. 261.004. TRACKING OF RECURRENCE OF CHILD ABUSE OR
NEGLECT REPORTS. The department shall collect, compile, and
monitor data regarding repeated reports of abuse or neglect
involving the same child or by the same alleged perpetrator. In
compiling reports under this section, the department shall group
together separate reports involving different children residing in
the same household.
SECTION 2. Section 264.1075, Family Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(c) The department shall collaborate with a managed care
organization that contracts to provide STAR Health program benefits
to develop and implement an assessment tool for a caseworker to use
in triaging a child's medical and behavioral health care needs not
later than the fifth day after the date the child is removed from
the child's home. The results of the assessment must be used to
identify whether a child has high medical or behavioral health care
needs and to expedite delivery of appropriate services for the
child.
SECTION 3. (a) Subchapter B, Chapter 264, Family Code, is
amended by adding Sections 264.1261, 264.128, and 264.129 to read
as follows:
Sec. 264.1261. FOSTER CARE CAPACITY NEEDS PLAN. (a) In
this section, "catchment area" has the meaning assigned by Section
264.151.
(b) Appropriate department management from a child
protective services region that includes a catchment area, in
collaboration with foster care providers, faith-based entities,
and child advocates in that catchment area, shall use data
collected by the department on foster care capacity needs and
availability of each type of foster care placement in the catchment
area to create a plan to address the foster care capacity needs in
the catchment area. The plan must identify both short-term and
long-term goals and strategies for addressing those capacity needs.
(c) A foster care capacity needs plan developed under
Subsection (b) must be:
(1) submitted to, and approved by, the department; and
(2) updated annually.
(d) The department shall publish each initial foster care
capacity needs plan and each annual update to a plan on the
department's Internet website.
Sec. 264.128. PILOT PROGRAM FOR INTEGRATED CASE MANAGEMENT
FOR CERTAIN CHILDREN. (a) The department shall develop and
implement in one child protective services region of the state a
pilot program under which the commission contracts with a nonprofit
entity that has an organizational mission focused on child welfare
to serve as a single service provider to provide integrated case
management services for children in foster care in that region who
have the most severe medical and behavioral health care needs. The
contract must require the single service provider to coordinate the
activities of all other providers of medical, placement, and
behavioral health case management services for a child described by
this subsection to ensure that all services are used effectively
without duplication for the purpose of achieving a quality outcome.
(b) The executive commissioner shall set a payment rate for
the contracted single service provider that is separate from
standard foster care payment amounts provided under this chapter.
(c) The contract with the single service provider must
include performance-based provisions that require the provider to
achieve the following outcomes:
(1) an increase in child safety, placement stability,
and permanency;
(2) a decrease in placements at residential treatment
centers and in length of stay for a child placed at a residential
treatment center; and
(3) a decrease in inpatient psychiatric placements and
in length of stay for a child receiving inpatient psychiatric
treatment.
(d) Not later than December 31, 2018, the department shall
report to the appropriate standing committees of the legislature
having jurisdiction over child protective services and foster care
matters on the progress of the pilot program. The report must
include:
(1) an evaluation of the single service provider's
success in achieving the outcomes described by Subsection (c); and
(2) a recommendation as to whether the pilot program
should be continued, expanded, or terminated.
(e) This section expires December 31, 2019.
Sec. 264.129. SINGLE CHILD PLAN OF SERVICE INITIATIVE. (a)
In this section, "foster care redesign" has the meaning assigned by
Section 264.151.
(b) In regions of the state where foster care redesign has
not been implemented, the department shall:
(1) collaborate with child-placing agencies to
implement the single child plan of service model developed under
the single child plan of service initiative; and
(2) ensure that a single child plan of service is
developed for each child in foster care in those regions.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 264.129(b), Family Code, as
added by this section, the Department of Family and Protective
Services shall develop and implement a single child plan of service
for each child in foster care in a region of the state described by
that section not later than December 1, 2017.
SECTION 4. (a) Chapter 264, Family Code, is amended by
adding Subchapter B-1 to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER B-1. FOSTER CARE REDESIGN
Sec. 264.151. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Catchment area" means a geographic service area
for providing child protective services that is identified as part
of foster care redesign.
(2) "Foster care redesign" means the foster care
redesign required by Chapter 598 (S.B. 218), Acts of the 82nd
Legislature, Regular Session, 2011.
Sec. 264.153. READINESS REVIEW PROCESS FOR FOSTER CARE
REDESIGN CONTRACTOR. (a) The department shall develop a formal
review process to assess the ability of a single source continuum
contractor to satisfy the responsibilities and administrative
requirements of delivering foster care services, including the
contractor's ability to provide:
(1) high-quality case management services;
(2) evidence-based or promising practice services and
supports for children and families; and
(3) sufficient available capacity for inpatient and
outpatient services and supports for children.
(b) The department must develop the review process under
Subsection (a) before the department may expand foster care
redesign outside of the initial catchment areas where foster care
redesign has been implemented.
(c) If after conducting the review process developed under
Subsection (a) the department determines that a single source
continuum contractor is able to adequately deliver foster care
services in advance of the projected readiness date stated in the
foster care redesign timeline developed under Section
264.152(a)(2), the department may adjust the timeline to allow for
an earlier transition of service delivery to the contractor.
Sec. 264.154. QUALIFICATIONS OF SINGLE SOURCE CONTINUUM
CONTRACTOR. To be eligible to enter into a contract with the
commission to serve as a single source continuum contractor to
provide foster care service delivery, an entity must be a nonprofit
entity that has an organizational mission focused on child welfare.
Sec. 264.155. TRANSFER OF CASE MANAGEMENT SERVICES TO
SINGLE SOURCE CONTINUUM CONTRACTOR. (a) In each initial catchment
area where foster care redesign has been implemented, the
department shall transfer to the single source continuum contractor
providing foster care services in that area:
(1) the case management of children and families
receiving services from that contractor; and
(2) family reunification support services to be
provided for six months after a child receiving services from the
contractor is returned to the child's family.
(b) The commission shall include a provision in a contract
with a single source continuum contractor to provide foster care
services in a catchment area to which foster care redesign is
expanded after September 1, 2017, that requires the transfer to the
contractor of the provision of:
(1) high-quality case management services for
children and families receiving services from the contractor in the
catchment area where the contractor will be operating; and
(2) family reunification support services to be
provided for six months after a child receiving services from the
contractor is returned to the child's family.
Sec. 264.156. PILOT PROGRAM FOR FAMILY-BASED SAFETY
SERVICES AND CASE MANAGEMENT. (a) The department shall develop and
implement in two child protective services regions of the state a
pilot program under which the commission contracts with a single
nonprofit entity that has an organizational mission focused on
child welfare in each region to provide family-based safety
services and case management for children and families receiving
family-based safety services. The contract must include a
transition plan for the provision of services that ensures the
continuity of services for children and families in the selected
regions.
(b) The contract with an entity must include
performance-based provisions that require the entity to achieve the
following outcomes for families receiving services from the entity:
(1) a decrease in recidivism; and
(2) an increase in home safety factors.
(c) The commission may only contract for implementation of
the pilot program with entities that the department considers to
have the capacity to provide, either directly or through
subcontractors, an array of evidence-based services and support
programs to children and families in the selected child protective
services regions.
(d) Not later than December 31, 2018, the department shall
report to the appropriate standing committees of the legislature
having jurisdiction over child protective services and foster care
matters on the progress of the pilot program. The report must
include:
(1) an evaluation of each contracted entity's success
in achieving the outcomes described by Subsection (b); and
(2) a recommendation as to whether the pilot program
should be continued, expanded, or terminated.
(e) This section expires December 31, 2019.
(b) Section 264.126, Family Code, is transferred to
Subchapter B-1, Chapter 264, Family Code, as added by this section,
redesignated as Section 264.152, Family Code, and amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 264.152 [264.126]. REDESIGN IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.
(a) The department shall develop and maintain a plan for
implementing [the] foster care redesign [required by Chapter 598
(S.B. 218), Acts of the 82nd Legislature, Regular Session, 2011].
The plan must:
(1) describe the department's expectations, goals, and
approach to implementing foster care redesign;
(2) include a timeline for implementing the foster
care redesign throughout this state, any limitations related to the
implementation, and a progressive intervention plan and a
contingency plan to provide continuity of foster care service
delivery if a contract with a single source continuum contractor
ends prematurely;
(3) delineate and define the case management roles and
responsibilities of the department and the department's
contractors and the duties, employees, and related funding that
will be transferred to the contractor by the department;
(4) identify any training needs and include long-range
and continuous plans for training and cross-training staff;
(5) include a plan for evaluating the costs and tasks
associated with each contract procurement, including the initial
and ongoing contract costs for the department and contractor;
(6) include the department's contract monitoring
approach and a plan for evaluating the performance of each
contractor and the foster care redesign system as a whole that
includes an independent evaluation of processes and outcomes; and
(7) include a report on transition issues resulting
from implementation of the foster care redesign.
(b) The department shall annually:
(1) update the implementation plan developed under
this section and post the updated plan on the department's Internet
website; and
(2) post on the department's Internet website the
progress the department has made toward its goals for implementing
the foster care redesign.
(c) Section 264.154, Family Code, as added by this section,
applies only to a contract entered into with a single source
continuum contractor on or after the effective date of this
section.
SECTION 5. Subchapter A, Chapter 265, Family Code, is
amended by adding Sections 265.0041 and 265.0042 to read as
follows:
Sec. 265.0041. GEOGRAPHIC RISK MAPPING FOR PREVENTION AND
EARLY INTERVENTION SERVICES. (a) The department shall use
existing risk terrain modeling systems, predictive analytics, or
geographic risk assessments to:
(1) identify geographic areas that have high risk
indicators of child maltreatment and child fatalities resulting
from abuse or neglect; and
(2) target the implementation and use of prevention
and early intervention services to those geographic areas.
(b) The department may not use data gathered under this
section to identify a specific family or individual.
Sec. 265.0042. COLLABORATION WITH INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER
EDUCATION. (a) The Health and Human Services Commission, on behalf
of the department, shall enter into agreements with institutions of
higher education to conduct efficacy reviews of any prevention and
early intervention programs that have not previously been evaluated
for effectiveness through a scientific research evaluation
process.
(b) The department shall collaborate with an institution of
higher education to create and track indicators of child well-being
to determine the effectiveness of prevention and early intervention
services.
SECTION 6. Section 265.005(b), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) A strategic plan required under this section must:
(1) identify methods to leverage other sources of
funding or provide support for existing community-based prevention
efforts;
(2) include a needs assessment that identifies
programs to best target the needs of the highest risk populations
and geographic areas;
(3) identify the goals and priorities for the
department's overall prevention efforts;
(4) report the results of previous prevention efforts
using available information in the plan;
(5) identify additional methods of measuring program
effectiveness and results or outcomes;
(6) identify methods to collaborate with other state
agencies on prevention efforts; [and]
(7) identify specific strategies to implement the plan
and to develop measures for reporting on the overall progress
toward the plan's goals; and
(8) identify specific strategies to increase local
capacity for the delivery of prevention and early intervention
services through collaboration with communities and stakeholders.
SECTION 7. (a) Section 531.02013, Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 531.02013. FUNCTIONS REMAINING WITH CERTAIN
AGENCIES. The following functions are not subject to transfer
under Sections 531.0201 and 531.02011:
(1) the functions of the Department of Family and
Protective Services, including the statewide intake of reports and
other information, related to the following:
(A) child protective services, including
services that are required by federal law to be provided by this
state's child welfare agency;
(B) adult protective services, other than
investigations of the alleged abuse, neglect, or exploitation of an
elderly person or person with a disability:
(i) in a facility operated, or in a facility
or by a person licensed, certified, or registered, by a state
agency; or
(ii) by a provider that has contracted to
provide home and community-based services; [and]
(C) prevention and early intervention services;
and
(D) investigations of alleged abuse or neglect
occurring at a child-care facility, including a residential
child-care facility, as those terms are defined by Section 42.002,
Human Resources Code; and
(2) the public health functions of the Department of
State Health Services, including health care data collection and
maintenance of the Texas Health Care Information Collection
program.
(b) Notwithstanding any provision of Subchapter A-1,
Chapter 531, Government Code, or any other law, the responsibility
for conducting investigations of reports of abuse or neglect
occurring at a child-care facility, including a residential
child-care facility, as those terms are defined by Section 42.002,
Human Resources Code, may not be transferred to the Health and Human
Services Commission and remains the responsibility of the
Department of Family and Protective Services.
(c) As soon as possible after the effective date of this
section, the commissioner of the Department of Family and
Protective Services shall transfer the responsibility for
conducting investigations of reports of abuse or neglect occurring
at a child-care facility, including a residential child-care
facility, as those terms are defined by Section 42.002, Human
Resources Code, to the child protective services division of the
department. The commissioner shall transfer appropriate
investigators and staff as necessary to implement this section.
(d) This section takes effect immediately if this Act
receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members of each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for this section to take
immediate effect, this section takes effect on the 91st day after
the last day of the legislative session.
SECTION 8. (a) Subchapter A, Chapter 533, Government Code,
is amended by adding Section 533.0054 to read as follows:
Sec. 533.0054. HEALTH SCREENING REQUIREMENTS FOR ENROLLEE
UNDER STAR HEALTH PROGRAM. (a) A managed care organization that
contracts with the commission to provide health care services to
recipients under the STAR Health program must ensure that at least
90 percent of the managed care organization's STAR Health program
enrollees receive a complete early and periodic screening,
diagnosis, and treatment checkup not later than the 30th day after
the date the enrollee is removed from the enrollee's home and placed
in the conservatorship of the Department of Family and Protective
Services.
(b) The commission shall include a provision in a contract
with a managed care organization to provide health care services to
recipients under the STAR Health program specifying monetary
penalties for the organization's failure to comply with Subsection
(a). The penalties must be in amounts that are proportional to the
number of percentage points by which the organization fails to
comply with the percentage required by Subsection (a).
(b) The Health and Human Services Commission shall, in a
contract for the provision of health care services under the STAR
Health program between the commission and a managed care
organization under Chapter 533, Government Code, that is entered
into or renewed on or after the effective date of this section,
require that the managed care organization comply with Section
533.0054, Government Code, as added by this section.
(c) The Health and Human Services Commission shall seek to
amend contracts for the provision of health care services under the
STAR Health program entered into with managed care organizations
under Chapter 533, Government Code, before the effective date of
this section to require those managed care organizations to comply
with Section 533.0054, Government Code, as added by this section.
To the extent of a conflict between Section 533.0054, Government
Code, as added by this section, and a provision of a contract with a
managed care organization entered into before the effective date of
this section, the contract provision prevails.
(d) The Health and Human Services Commission may not impose
a monetary penalty for noncompliance with a contract provision
described by Section 533.0054(b), Government Code, as added by this
section, until September 1, 2018.
(e) If before implementing Section 533.0054, Government
Code, as added by this section, the Health and Human Services
Commission 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 9. Subchapter B, Chapter 40, Human Resources Code,
is amended by adding Sections 40.039 and 40.040 to read as follows:
Sec. 40.039. REVIEW OF RECORDS RETENTION POLICY. The
department shall periodically review the department's records
retention policy with respect to case and intake records relating
to department functions. The department shall make changes to the
policy consistent with the records retention schedule submitted
under Section 441.185, Government Code, that are necessary to
improve case prioritization and the routing of cases to the
appropriate division of the department.
Sec. 40.040. FOSTER CARE SERVICES VENDOR QUALITY OVERSIGHT
AND ASSURANCE DIVISION; MONITORING OF CONTRACT ADHERENCE. (a) In
this section, "foster care redesign" has the meaning assigned by
Section 264.151, Family Code.
(b) The department shall create within the department the
foster care services vendor quality oversight and assurance
division. The division shall:
(1) oversee quality and ensure accountability of any
vendor that provides foster care and full case management services
for the department under foster care redesign; and
(2) monitor the transfer from the department to a
vendor of full case management services for children and families
receiving services from the vendor, including any transfer
occurring under a pilot program.
(c) The commission shall contract with an independent
verification and validation vendor to develop, in coordination with
the department, standards for the continuous monitoring of the
adherence of a vendor providing foster care services under foster
care redesign to the terms of the contract entered into by the
vendor and the commission. The standards must include performance
benchmarks relating to the provision of case management services in
the catchment area where the vendor operates.
SECTION 10. (a) Section 40.058(f), Human Resources Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(f) A contract for residential child-care services provided
by a general residential operation or by a child-placing agency
must include provisions that:
(1) enable the department and commission to monitor
the effectiveness of the services;
(2) specify performance outcomes, financial penalties
for failing to meet any specified performance outcomes, and
financial incentives for exceeding any specified performance
outcomes;
(3) authorize the department or commission to
terminate the contract or impose monetary sanctions for a violation
of a provision of the contract that specifies performance criteria
or for underperformance in meeting any specified performance
outcomes;
(4) authorize the department or commission, an agent
of the department or commission, and the state auditor to inspect
all books, records, and files maintained by a contractor relating
to the contract; and
(5) are necessary, as determined by the department or
commission, to ensure accountability for the delivery of services
and for the expenditure of public funds.
(b) The Health and Human Services Commission shall, in a
contract for residential child-care services between the
commission and a general residential operation or child-placing
agency that is entered into on or after the effective date of this
section, including a renewal contract, include the provisions
required by Section 40.058(f), Human Resources Code, as amended by
this section.
(c) The Health and Human Services Commission shall seek to
amend contracts for residential child-care services entered into
with general residential operations or child-placing agencies
before the effective date of this section to include the provisions
required by Section 40.058(f), Human Resources Code, as amended by
this section.
(d) The Department of Family and Protective Services and the
Health and Human Services Commission may not impose a financial
penalty against a general residential operation or child-placing
agency under a contract provision described by Section
40.058(f)(2), Human Resources Code, as amended by this section,
until September 1, 2018.
SECTION 11. (a) Subchapter C, Chapter 40, Human Resources
Code, is amended by adding Section 40.0581 to read as follows:
Sec. 40.0581. PERFORMANCE MEASURES FOR CERTAIN SERVICE
PROVIDER CONTRACTS. (a) The commission shall contract with a
vendor or enter into an agreement with an institution of higher
education to develop, in coordination with the department,
performance quality metrics for family-based safety services and
post-adoption support services providers. The quality metrics must
be included in each contract with those providers.
(b) Each provider whose contract with the commission to
provide department services includes the quality metrics developed
under Subsection (a) must prepare and submit to the department a
report each calendar quarter regarding the provider's performance
based on the quality metrics.
(c) The department shall distribute each report prepared by
a family-based safety services provider as required by Subsection
(b) to appropriate family-based safety services caseworkers and
child protective services region management.
(d) The department shall distribute each report prepared by
a post-adoption support services provider as required by Subsection
(b) to appropriate conservatorship and adoption caseworkers and
child protective services region management.
(e) This section does not apply to a provider that has
entered into a contract with the commission to provide family-based
safety services under Section 264.156, Family Code. This
subsection expires on the date Section 264.156, Family Code,
expires.
(b) The quality metrics required by Section 40.0581, Human
Resources Code, as added by this section, must be developed not
later than September 1, 2018, and included in any contract,
including a renewal contract, entered into by the Health and Human
Services Commission with a family-based safety services provider or
a post-adoption support services provider on or after January 1,
2019, except as provided by Section 40.0581(e), Human Resources
Code, as added by this section.
SECTION 12. (a) Subchapter C, Chapter 42, Human Resources
Code, is amended by adding Section 42.0432 to read as follows:
Sec. 42.0432. HEALTH SCREENING REQUIREMENTS FOR CHILD
PLACED WITH CHILD-PLACING AGENCY. (a) A child-placing agency that
contracts with the department to provide services must ensure that
at least 90 percent of the children that are in the managing
conservatorship of the department and are placed with the
child-placing agency receive a complete early and periodic
screening, diagnosis, and treatment checkup not later than the 30th
day after the date the child is placed with the child-placing
agency.
(b) The commission shall include a provision in a contract
with a child-placing agency specifying monetary penalties for the
child-placing agency's failure to comply with Subsection (a). The
penalties must be in amounts that are proportional to the number of
percentage points by which the child-placing agency fails to comply
with the percentage required by Subsection (a).
(b) A child-placing agency that contracts to provide
services for the Department of Family and Protective Services must
comply with the requirements of Section 42.0432, Human Resources
Code, as added by this section, not later than August 31, 2018. The
department and the Health and Human Services Commission may not
impose a monetary penalty for noncompliance with a contract
provision described by that section until September 1, 2018.
SECTION 13. Except as otherwise provided by this Act, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2017.