Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas House Bill HB2532 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	87R12590 TYPED
2	2	By: Noble H.B. No. 2532
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to investigating and responding to complaints filed
8	8	against the Department of Family and Protective Services.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 40.0041, Human Resources Code, is
11	11	amended to read as follows:
12	12	Sec. 40.0041. COMPLAINT PROCESS. (a) Complaints against
13	13	the Department of Family and Protective services by members of the
14	14	public, consumers, department employees, and service recipients in
15	15	connection with any investigation or action taken by the department
16	16	shall be received and investigated by the Health and Human Services
17	17	Commission Office of Inspector General. The executive commissioner
18	18	of the Health and Human Services Commission, in consultation with
19	19	the office of the inspector general and the commissioner of the
20	20	Department of Family and Protective Services, by rule shall develop
21	21	and implement a uniform process for receiving and resolving
22	22	complaints against the department throughout the state. The process
23	23	shall include:
24	24	(1) statewide procedures through which the public,
25	25	consumers, department employees, and service recipients are
26	26	informed:
27	27	(A) of the right to make a complaint against the
28	28	department, including the mailing addresses and telephone numbers
29	29	of appropriate departmentoffice of inspector general personnel
30	30	responsible for receiving complaints and providing related
31	31	assistance; and
32	32	(B) of the department'soffice's procedures for
33	33	resolving a complaint, including the right to appeal a decision
34	34	made at the local level;
35	35	(2) development and statewide distribution of a form
36	36	or telephone system that may be used to make a complaint;
37	37	(3) a requirement that the departmentoffice of
38	38	inspector general provide information by mail or telephone
39	39	regarding the department's procedures for investigating and
40	40	resolving a complaint to each person who makes a complaint; and
41	41	(4) a requirement that the departmentoffice of
42	42	inspector general provide status information via phone, email, or
43	43	other written communication at least quarterly to a person with a
44	44	pending complaint against the department, unless the information
45	45	would jeopardize an undercover investigation.
46	46	(a-1) Any of the functions in Section (a) previously handled
47	47	by the department's Office of Consumer Relations or other entity
48	48	housed within the department shall be fully transferred to the
49	49	Health and Human Services Commission's office of inspector general.
50	50	Within 3 months after the effective date of this Act, the
51	51	commissioner of the Department of Family and Protective Services
52	52	shall transfer all department funds and resources, including any
53	53	and all applicable information technology, allocated for
54	54	performing the duties described in Section (a) to the Health and
55	55	Human Services Commission Office of Inspector General. The
56	56	commissioner of the Department of Family and Protective Services,
57	57	in consultation with the executive commissioner of the Health and
58	58	Human Services Commission and office of inspector general, shall
59	59	adopt any rules necessary for achieving this purpose.
60	60	(b) In addition to other appropriate methods, the
61	61	department may provide the information specified by Subsection
62	62	(a)(1):
63	63	(1) on each registration form, application, or written
64	64	contract for services of a person regulated by the department;
65	65	(2) on a sign prominently displayed in the place of
66	66	business of each person regulated by the department; or
67	67	(3) in a bill for service provided by a person
68	68	regulated by the department.
69	69	(c) In performing the functions described in Section (a),
70	70	the office of the inspector general shall have the authority to:
71	71	(1) make recommendations for corrective and remedial
72	72	actions to be taken by the department in connection with individual
73	73	complaints and enforce compliance with those recommendations;
74	74	(2) audit the department in connection with a
75	75	complaint investigation;
76	76	(3) obtain any and all department data necessary for
77	77	completing an investigation; and
78	78	(4) open any investigation it deems necessary for
79	79	ensuring department or agency compliance with law, procedure, or
80	80	policy.
81	81	(c-1) the department shall fully cooperate with any
82	82	investigation and provide data or other information requested by
83	83	the office of inspector general in connection with an investigation
84	84	within 14 business days of receipt of the request.
85	85	(cd) The departmentoffice of inspector general shall keep
86	86	an information file about each complaint made against the
87	87	department that the departmentoffice has authority to resolve.
88	88	(de) The executive commissioner of the Health and Human
89	89	Services Commission, in consultation with the inspector general and
90	90	the commissioner of the Department of Family and Protective
91	91	Services, shall develop a consistent, statewide process for
92	92	addressing an appeal by a person dissatisfied with the resolution
93	93	of a complaint at the regional level. The process shall include an
94	94	opportunity for appeal of a complaint without the participation of
95	95	the department's ombudsman office.
96	96	(ef) The departmentoffice of inspector general shall
97	97	develop and maintain a centralized tracking system to gather
98	98	information concerning all complaints made against the department
99	99	throughout the state. The departmentoffice of inspector general
100	100	shall require its personnel to provide information regarding each
101	101	complaint for inclusion in records maintained under the tracking
102	102	system at the department'sHealth and Human Services Commission's
103	103	state headquarters, regardless of the location or level at which
104	104	the complaint is initiated or resolved. The department shall
105	105	require at least the following minimum information toshall be
106	106	maintained for each complaint:
107	107	(1) the date the complaint is received;
108	108	(2) the name of the person making the complaint;
109	109	(3) the subject matter of the complaint;
110	110	(4) a record of all persons contacted by the
111	111	departmentoffice of inspector general in relation to the
112	112	complaint;
113	113	(5) a summary of the results of the review or
114	114	investigation of the complaint; and
115	115	(6) for each complaint determined by the department
116	116	office of inspector general to require no corrective action, an
117	117	explanation of the reason that the complaint was closed without
118	118	action.
119	119	(fg) The departmentoffice of inspector general shall
120	120	periodically prepare and deliver reports to the executive
121	121	commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission,and the
122	122	commissioner of the Department of Family and Protective Services,
123	123	the Office of the Governor, and the Chairs of the House Human
124	124	Services Committee and Senate Health and Human Services Committee
125	125	regarding the number, type, and resolution of complaints made in
126	126	the state against the department.
127	127	(gh) The department shall cooperate with the ombudsman for
128	128	children and youth in foster care to create consequences, based on
129	129	the circumstances of the complaint and the severity of the
130	130	retaliation, for any person who is found to have retaliated against
131	131	a child or youth in the conservatorship of the department because of
132	132	a complaint made to the ombudsman.
133	133	(hi) The executive commissioner shall adopt rules requiring
134	134	all residential child-care facilities in which children and youth
135	135	in the conservatorship of the department are placed to display
136	136	information about the ombudsman for children and youth in foster
137	137	care and the process for filing a complaint with the ombudsman in a
138	138	location that is easily accessible and offers maximum privacy to
139	139	the children and youth residing at the facility.
140	140	SECTION 2. Section 531.102, Government Code, is amended to
141	141	read as follows:
142	142	Sec. 531.102. OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL. (a) The
143	143	commission's office of inspector general is responsible for the
144	144	prevention, detection, audit, inspection, review, and
145	145	investigation of fraud, waste, and abuse in the provision and
146	146	delivery of all health and human services in the state, including
147	147	services through any state-administered health or human services
148	148	program that is wholly or partly federally funded or services
149	149	provided by the Department of Family and Protective Services, and
150	150	the enforcement of state law relating to the provision of those
151	151	services. The commission's office of inspector general shall also
152	152	be responsible for receiving, investigating, and responding to
153	153	complaints filed by members of the public, consumers, department
154	154	employees, and service recipients against the Department of Family
155	155	and Protective Services in accordance with Section 40.0041, Human
156	156	Resources Code. The commission may obtain any information or
157	157	technology necessary to enable the office to meet its
158	158	responsibilities under this subchapter or other law.