87R5965 GCB-D
By: Menéndez S.B. No. 2068
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a biennial state report on suicide rates, establishing
the Texas Violent Death Reporting System, and the sharing of
certain information under a memorandum of understanding on suicide
data.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 531, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 531.02112 to read as follows:
Sec. 531.02112. BIENNIAL STATE REPORT ON SUICIDE. (a) In
this section:
(1) "Council" means the Statewide Behavioral Health
Coordinating Council.
(2) "Postvention" includes activities that promote
healing necessary to reduce the risk of suicide by a person affected
by the suicide of another.
(b) The commission, in conjunction with the Department of
State Health Services, shall prepare a biennial report on the
prevalence of suicide in this state and state policies and programs
adopted across state systems and agencies to prevent suicides. The
report must:
(1) include available statewide and regional data on
the prevalence rates of suicide-related events, including suicidal
thoughts, suicide attempts, and deaths caused by suicide, that to
the extent practicable, is presented in a form that:
(A) is disaggregated by county and recognized
categories of risk; and
(B) is longitudinal to identify changes in
suicide prevalence rates since 2000;
(2) identify the highest categories of risk with
correlational data;
(3) list state statutes, agency rules, and policies
related to suicide and suicide prevention, intervention, and
postvention; and
(4) describe state agency initiatives since 2000 to
address suicide and include the following information relating to
each initiative:
(A) the administering state agency;
(B) the funding sources, including whether the
funding was provided by:
(i) a federal block grant;
(ii) a federal discretionary grant; or
(iii) state appropriations;
(C) the years of operation; and
(D) whether the initiative is an example of a
community-based effort to address suicide.
(c) Each state agency or institution of higher education
that is a member of the council shall provide to the commission the
information described by Subsection (b) of this section, to the
extent that information pertains to the respective work of each
agency or institution.
(d) Not later than November 1 of each even-numbered year,
the council shall submit a copy of the report to the governor, the
lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of representatives,
and each standing legislative committee with primary jurisdiction
over health and mental health.
SECTION 2. Section 193.011, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (a) and (c) and adding Subsection
(b-1) to read as follows:
(a) In this section, "authorized entity" means a medical
examiner, a local registrar, a local health authority, a local
mental health authority, a community mental health center, a mental
health center that acts as a collection agent for the suicide data
reported by community mental health centers, the department, the
Health and Human Services Commission, the Statewide Behavioral
Health Coordinating Council, or any other political subdivision of
this state.
(b-1) The department and the Health and Human Services
Commission shall enter into a memorandum of understanding to share,
as soon as practicable, suicide data collected by the vital
statistics unit to conduct timely fatality reviews and surveillance
for the purpose of preventing additional deaths.
(c) The suicide data an authorized entity receives or
provides under Subsection (b) or (b-1) is not confidential.
SECTION 3. Subchapter D, Chapter 1001, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 1001.090 to read as follows:
Sec. 1001.090. TEXAS VIOLENT DEATH REPORTING SYSTEM. (a)
The department shall establish and operate the Texas Violent Death
Reporting System for the purpose of participating in the National
Violent Death Reporting System operated by the federal Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.
(b) The department shall provide suicide data obtained or
maintained through the Texas Violent Death Reporting System:
(1) in accordance with any memorandum of understanding
entered into by the department under Section 193.011; and
(2) to the commission, for the purpose of the biennial
state report on suicide required under Section 531.02112,
Government Code.
(c) The executive commissioner may adopt rules necessary to
implement this section.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2021.