89R6040 EAS-D
By: Reynolds H.B. No. 2406
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the regulation of group home facilities, including
optional county or municipal permitting requirements; authorizing
a fee; creating criminal offenses.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle B, Title 4, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Chapter 260E to read as follows:
CHAPTER 260E. GROUP HOME FACILITIES
Sec. 260E.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Assistance with self-administering medication"
means assisting a resident by:
(A) reminding the resident to take a medication;
(B) opening or removing the resident's
medication from a container; or
(C) reminding the resident when a prescription
medication needs to be refilled.
(2) "Commission" means the Health and Human Services
Commission.
(3) "Elderly person" has the meaning assigned by
Section 48.002, Human Resources Code.
(4) "Executive commissioner" means the executive
commissioner of the commission.
(5) "Group home facility" means an establishment:
(A) in which three or more persons who are
unrelated to the owner or operator of the establishment reside;
(B) that provides residential care services to
residents; and
(C) that receives payment or other compensation
for the residential care services.
(6) "Person with a disability" has the meaning
assigned by Section 48.002, Human Resources Code.
(7) "Resident" means a person residing in a group home
facility.
(8) "Residential care services" means shelter,
protection, meals, health care, mobility assistance, or personal
care services.
Sec. 260E.002. EXEMPTIONS. This chapter does not apply to:
(1) a person required to be licensed under Chapter
142, 242, 246, 247, or 252;
(2) a person exempt from licensing under Section
142.003(a)(19) or (20), 242.003(3), or 247.004(4);
(3) a hotel, as defined by Section 156.001, Tax Code;
(4) a retirement community;
(5) a monastery or convent;
(6) a child-care facility, as defined by Section
42.002, Human Resources Code;
(7) a family violence shelter center, as defined by
Section 51.002, Human Resources Code;
(8) a sorority or fraternity house or other dormitory
associated with an institution of higher education; or
(9) a boarding home facility, as defined by Section
260.001.
Sec. 260E.003. MODEL STANDARDS. The executive commissioner
shall develop and publish in the Texas Register model standards for
the operation of a group home facility relating to:
(1) the construction or remodeling of a group home
facility, including plumbing, heating, lighting, ventilation, and
other housing conditions, to ensure residents' health, safety,
comfort, and protection from fire hazards;
(2) sanitary and related conditions in a group home
facility and the facility's surroundings, including insect and
rodent control, water supply, sewage disposal, food handling, and
general hygiene to ensure residents' health, safety, and comfort;
(3) the report and investigation of injuries,
incidents, and unusual accidents and the establishment of other
policies and procedures necessary to ensure resident health and
safety;
(4) assistance to residents self-administering
medication;
(5) in-service education requirements for facility
personnel;
(6) criminal history record checks for facility
personnel; and
(7) assessment and periodic monitoring to ensure a
resident:
(A) does not require the facility to provide
services, other than residential care services; and
(B) is capable of self-administering medication.
Sec. 260E.004. LOCAL REGULATION. (a) A county or
municipality may require a person to obtain a permit from the county
or municipality to operate a group home facility within the
county's or municipality's territorial jurisdiction.
(b) A county or municipality may adopt the standards
developed under Section 260E.003 and require a group home facility
issued a permit by the county or municipality to comply with the
adopted standards.
Sec. 260E.005. PERMIT PROCEDURES; FEES; FINES. (a) A
county or municipality that requires a person to obtain a group home
facility permit to operate within the county's or municipality's
territorial jurisdiction may establish procedures for submission
of a group home facility permit application and for the issuance,
denial, renewal, suspension, and revocation of the permit.
(b) A county or municipality that requires a person to
obtain a group home facility permit to operate within the county's
or municipality's territorial jurisdiction may:
(1) set reasonable fees for issuing the permit,
renewing the permit, and conducting related inspections; and
(2) impose fines for noncompliance with the county or
municipal group home facility regulations.
(c) The fees collected and fines imposed by a county or
municipality under Subsection (b) must be used to administer the
county or municipal permitting program or for other purposes
directly related to providing group home facility services,
including public safety.
(d) A person required to obtain a group home facility permit
shall pay any fees required or fines imposed by the county or
municipality.
Sec. 260E.006. CRIMINAL PENALTY. (a) A person commits an
offense if the person operates a group home facility in a county or
municipality that under Section 260E.004 requires the person to
obtain a permit to operate the facility without holding the
required permit.
(b) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor.
Sec. 260E.007. REQUIRED DISPLAY. A group home facility
issued a permit by a county or municipality shall prominently and
conspicuously post for display in a public area of the facility that
is readily accessible to residents, the operator, employees, and
visitors to the facility:
(1) the permit;
(2) a sign prescribed by the county or municipality
that specifies the procedure for a person to submit a complaint
against the facility to the county or municipality;
(3) a notice in a form prescribed by the county or
municipality stating that inspection and related reports are
available to the public at the facility and providing a telephone
number from which information concerning the facility is available;
(4) a concise summary of the most recent inspection
report for the facility; and
(5) a notice in a form prescribed by the county or
municipality that lists the name, location, and contact information
for:
(A) the local public health services agency
closest in proximity to the facility; and
(B) a local organization that represents,
advocates, or serves elderly persons or persons with a disability,
including any related toll-free contact information for reporting
emergencies to the organization.
Sec. 260E.008. COUNTY OR MUNICIPALITY INSPECTIONS,
SURVEYS, AND INVESTIGATIONS; ACCESS TO RECORDS. (a) A county or
municipality may:
(1) conduct an inspection, survey, or investigation
the county or municipality considers necessary for issuing a group
home facility permit; and
(2) enter the premises of a group home facility at
reasonable times to conduct an inspection, survey, or
investigation.
(b) A county or municipality is entitled to access to books,
records, and other documents maintained by or on behalf of a group
home facility to the extent necessary to enforce the standards the
county or municipality adopts.
Sec. 260E.009. INTERLOCAL COOPERATION. Two or more
counties or municipalities may cooperate and contract to jointly
inspect and permit group home facilities.
Sec. 260E.010. REPORT AND INVESTIGATION OF ABUSE, NEGLECT,
OR EXPLOITATION. (a) A person, including an owner, operator, or
employee of a group home facility issued a permit by a county or
municipality, who has reasonable cause to believe a resident is
being or has been abused, neglected, or exploited shall report the
abuse, neglect, or exploitation to the Department of Family and
Protective Services for the department or an appropriate law
enforcement agency to investigate the alleged abuse, neglect, or
exploitation. The Department of Family and Protective Services
shall investigate the alleged abuse, neglect, or exploitation as
authorized and in the manner provided by Chapter 48, Human
Resources Code, or assist the law enforcement agency in the conduct
of the investigation.
(b) Each group home facility issued a permit by a county or
municipality shall require each facility employee, as a condition
of employment with the facility, to sign a statement acknowledging
the employee may be criminally liable under Section 48.052, Human
Resources Code, for failure to report abuse, neglect, or
exploitation of a resident.
(c) An owner, operator, or employee of a group home facility
issued a permit by a county or municipality may not retaliate
against a facility employee who in good faith:
(1) submits a complaint to the commission's office of
inspector general;
(2) cooperates in an investigation conducted by the
commission's office of inspector general; or
(3) reports abuse, neglect, or exploitation of a
resident to the Department of Family and Protective Services.
Sec. 260E.011. REQUIRED REPORT BY LESSOR OF ABUSE, NEGLECT,
OR EXPLOITATION; CRIMINAL PENALTY. (a) A person commits an offense
if the person:
(1) is the owner of a building leased to a person for
the operation of a group home facility;
(2) has actual knowledge that a resident of the group
home facility is being or has been abused, neglected, or exploited;
and
(3) fails to report the abuse, neglect, or
exploitation to the Department of Family and Protective Services
for the department or an appropriate law enforcement agency to
investigate.
(b) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor.
Sec. 260E.012. ANNUAL REPORT TO COMMISSION; LEGISLATIVE
REPORT. (a) Not later than September 30 of each year, each county
or municipality that requires a person to obtain a group home
facility permit under Section 260E.004 shall submit to the
commission a written report for the preceding state fiscal year
that includes the total number of:
(1) group home facility permits issued by the county
or municipality;
(2) group home facility permit applications the county
or municipality denied and the reason for each denial;
(3) active group home facility permits as of August 31
of that year;
(4) residents housed in each permitted group home
facility;
(5) inspections the county or municipality conducted
of group home facilities;
(6) permits the county or municipality revoked or
suspended as a result of an inspection the county or municipality
conducted and a summary of the outcome for the residents displaced
by the revocation or suspension of each permit;
(7) incidents occurring at each permitted group home
facility that required the intervention of a peace officer, as
defined by Article 2A.001, Code of Criminal Procedure; and
(8) incidents occurring at each permitted group home
facility that required the intervention of an emergency medical
services employee or firefighter.
(b) The commission shall establish and maintain a
standardized compilation of information reported under this
section and provide to the legislature a written report on that
compilation not later than January 1 of each odd-numbered year.
SECTION 2. As soon as practicable after the effective date
of this Act, the executive commissioner of the Health and Human
Services Commission shall develop the model standards required by
Section 260E.003, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.