By: Noble H.B. No. 2375
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the transfer of authority regarding the review and
resolution of complaints against the Department of Family and
Protective Services to the Health and Human Services Commission's
office of inspector general.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 40.0041, Human Resources Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (a), (c), (d), (e), and (f) and
adding Subsections (a-1) and (g-1) to read as follows:
(a) The Health and Human Services Commission's office of
inspector general shall receive complaints against the department
from members of the public, consumers, department employees, and
recipients of department services regarding any investigation
conducted or action taken by the department. The office of
inspector general shall review and resolve each complaint against
the department filed with the office not later than the 45th day
after the date the office receives the complaint. The executive
commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission, in
consultation with the commissioner and the inspector general, by
rule shall develop and implement a uniform process for receiving
and resolving complaints against the department throughout the
state. The process shall include:
(1) statewide procedures through which the public,
consumers, department employees, 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 in the office of inspector
general who are responsible for receiving complaints and providing
related assistance; and
(B) of the office of inspector general's
[department's] procedures for resolving a complaint, including the
right to appeal a decision made at the local level;
(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 inspector general
[department] provide information by mail or telephone regarding the
office of inspector general's [department's] procedures for
reviewing [investigating] and resolving a complaint to each person
who makes a complaint; and
(4) a requirement that the office of inspector general
periodically [department] provide status information, orally or in
writing, [at least quarterly] to a person with a pending complaint
against the department, unless the information would jeopardize an
undercover investigation.
(a-1) In performing the functions described by Subsection
(a), the office of inspector general may:
(1) recommend corrective and remedial actions the
department shall take regarding a complaint and ensure the
department's compliance with the recommendations;
(2) obtain any department data necessary for reviewing
and resolving a complaint; and
(3) open any investigation the office determines
necessary to ensure the department's compliance with state and
federal law or department procedures and policies.
(c) The office of inspector general [department] shall keep
an information file about each complaint made against the
department that the office of inspector general [department] has
authority to resolve.
(d) The executive commissioner of the Health and Human
Services Commission, in consultation with the commissioner and the
inspector general, shall develop a consistent, statewide process
for addressing an appeal by a person dissatisfied with the
resolution of a complaint at the regional level. [The process shall
include an opportunity for appeal of a complaint without the
participation of the department's ombudsman office.]
(e) The office of inspector general [department] shall
develop and maintain a centralized tracking system to gather
information concerning all complaints made against the department
throughout the state. The office of inspector general [department]
shall require its personnel to provide information regarding each
complaint for inclusion in records maintained under the tracking
system at the Health and Human Services Commission's [department's]
state headquarters, regardless of the location or level at which
the complaint is initiated or resolved. The office of inspector
general [department] shall maintain [require at least] the
following information, at a minimum, [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
inspector general [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
inspector general [department] to require no corrective action, an
explanation of the reason that the complaint was closed without
action.
(f) The office of inspector general [department] shall
periodically prepare and deliver reports to the executive
commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission, [and] the
commissioner, the governor, and the chairs of the standing
legislative committees with primary jurisdiction over the
department regarding the number, type, and resolution of complaints
made in the state against the department.
(g-1) The department shall cooperate with the office of
inspector general regarding any review or corrective action to
resolve a complaint filed against the department. The department
shall provide any data or other information requested by the office
of inspector general in connection with a review not later than the
14th day after the date the department receives the request.
SECTION 2. Section 531.102, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-9) to read as
follows:
(a) The commission's office of inspector general is
responsible for:
(1) the prevention, detection, audit, inspection,
review, and investigation of fraud, waste, and abuse in the
provision and delivery of all health and human services in the
state, including:
(A) services through any state-administered
health or human services program that is wholly or partly federally
funded; or
(B) services provided by the Department of Family
and Protective Services;
(2) [, and] the enforcement of state law relating to
the provision of [those] services described by Subdivision (1); and
(3) receiving, reviewing, and resolving complaints
against the Department of Family and Protective Services as
authorized by Section 40.0041, Human Resources Code. [The
commission may obtain any information or technology necessary to
enable the office to meet its responsibilities under this
subchapter or other law.]
(a-9) The commission may obtain any information or
technology necessary to enable the office to meet its
responsibilities under this subchapter or other law.
SECTION 3. (a) As soon as practicable after the effective
date of this Act, but not later than December 1, 2023, the
commissioner of the Department of Family and Protective Services
shall transfer any department funds, resources, including
information technology, documents, and personnel allocated for the
investigation of complaints to the Health and Human Services
Commission's office of inspector general to allow the office to
perform the functions described under Section 40.0041, Human
Resources Code, as amended by this Act.
(b) Notwithstanding the effective date of this Act, the
Health and Human Services Commission's office of inspector general
is not required to comply with changes to Section 40.0041, Human
Resources Code, and Section 531.102(a), Government Code, made by
this Act until the transfer required by Subsection (a) of this
section is completed.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.