By: Miles S.B. No. 1628
(Rose)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the authority of the Health and Human Services
Commission's office of the ombudsman to resolve complaints against
the Department of Family and Protective Services.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 40.0041(a), (b), (c), (d), (e), and
(f), Human Resources Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The executive commissioner by rule shall develop and
implement a uniform process for the commission's office of the
ombudsman to receive [receiving] and resolve [resolving]
complaints against the department throughout the state. The
process shall include:
(1) statewide procedures through which the public,
consumers, and service recipients are informed:
(A) of the right to make a complaint against the
department, including the mailing addresses and telephone numbers
of appropriate [department] personnel within the office of the
ombudsman responsible for receiving complaints and providing
related assistance; and
(B) of the [department's] procedures of the
office of the ombudsman for resolving a complaint, including the
right to appeal a decision made at the local level by department
personnel;
(2) development and statewide distribution of a form
or telephone system that may be used to make a complaint;
(3) a requirement that the office of the ombudsman
[department] provide information by mail or telephone regarding the
[department's] procedures of the office of the ombudsman for
investigating and resolving a complaint to each person who makes a
complaint; and
(4) a requirement that the office of the ombudsman
[department] provide status information at least quarterly to a
person with a pending complaint against the department, unless the
information would jeopardize an undercover investigation.
(b) In addition to other appropriate methods, the
commission and the department may provide the information specified
by Subsection (a)(1):
(1) on each registration form, application, or written
contract for services of a person regulated by the commission
[department];
(2) on a sign prominently displayed in the place of
business of each person regulated by the commission [department];
or
(3) in a bill for service provided by a person
regulated by the commission [department].
(c) The commission's office of the ombudsman [department]
shall keep an information file about each complaint made against
the department that the office of the ombudsman [department] has
authority to resolve.
(d) The executive commissioner shall develop a consistent,
statewide process for encouraging the submission of complaints to
local department personnel before contacting the commission's
office of the ombudsman to allow department staff [addressing an
appeal by a person dissatisfied with the resolution of a complaint
at the regional level. The process shall include] an opportunity to
resolve the complaints [for appeal of a complaint without the
participation of the department's ombudsman office].
(e) The commission's office of the ombudsman [department]
shall develop and maintain a centralized tracking system to gather
information concerning all complaints made against the department
throughout the state. The department shall require its personnel
to provide information regarding each complaint for inclusion in
records maintained under the tracking system [at the department's
state headquarters], regardless of the location or level at which
the complaint is initiated or resolved. The office of the ombudsman
[department] shall require at least the following information to be
maintained for each complaint:
(1) the date the complaint is received;
(2) the name of the person making the complaint;
(3) the subject matter of the complaint;
(4) a record of all persons contacted by the office of
the ombudsman [department] in relation to the complaint;
(5) a summary of the results of the review or
investigation of the complaint; and
(6) for each complaint determined by the office of the
ombudsman [department] to require no corrective action, an
explanation of the reason that the complaint was closed without
action.
(f) The commission's office of the ombudsman [department]
shall periodically prepare and deliver reports to the executive
commissioner and the commissioner regarding the number, type, and
resolution of complaints made in the state against the department.
SECTION 2. (a) Not later than January 1, 2022, the
executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission
shall adopt the rules necessary to implement the changes in law made
by this Act.
(b) Section 40.0041, Human Resources Code, as amended by
this Act, applies only to a complaint filed on or after January 1,
2022.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.