Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HB5452 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R9420 MM-D
2	2	By: Garcia of Bexar H.B. No. 5452
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7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to the establishment of a crisis nursery facility pilot
10	10	program by the Health and Human Services Commission.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 42, Human Resources Code,
13	13	is amended by adding Section 42.0464 to read as follows:
14	14	Sec. 42.0464. CRISIS NURSERY FACILITY PILOT PROGRAM. (a)
15	15	In this section:
16	16	(1) "Crisis nursery facility" means a child-care
17	17	facility that provides care and supervision for children who are
18	18	voluntarily placed for temporary care for all or part of the 24-hour
19	19	day by a parent or legal guardian to prevent or help resolve a
20	20	family crisis or stressful situation or address a problem whose
21	21	solution is critical to the family's healthy functioning.
22	22	(2) "Program" means the crisis nursery facility pilot
23	23	program established under this chapter.
24	24	(b) The commission shall establish and administer the
25	25	crisis nursery facility pilot program in Bexar County to address
26	26	the need for temporary care for children and improve outcomes for
27	27	families experiencing a crisis or a stressful situation, including
28	28	escaping domestic violence.
29	29	(c) Under the program, the commission shall:
30	30	(1) establish child-care licensing regulations and
31	31	requirements for crisis nursery facilities; and
32	32	(2) provide grants to eligible municipalities or
33	33	nonprofit organizations located in or otherwise serving Bexar
34	34	County to establish crisis nursery facilities.
35	35	(d) The commission shall establish application criteria and
36	36	requirements for the acceptable use of money under the program. The
37	37	application criteria must require applicants to:
38	38	(1) demonstrate substantial need for emergency child
39	39	care or a high rate of child removal by the department in the
40	40	municipality or local area served by the applicant;
41	41	(2) demonstrate capacity to meet child-care licensing
42	42	regulations and requirements established by the commission;
43	43	(3) provide a detailed plan for the establishment of a
44	44	crisis nursery facility under the program that includes:
45	45	(A) details regarding the proposed use of money
46	46	received under the program;
47	47	(B) information regarding any matching funds or
48	48	funds available to the applicant from gifts, grants, and donations
49	49	other than grants under the program;
50	50	(C) the age groups of children the applicant
51	51	proposes to serve; and
52	52	(D) the proposed location of the facility; and
53	53	(4) provide a plan for connecting families who use the
54	54	facility with additional services designed to prevent future family
55	55	crises.
56	56	(e) The executive commissioner shall adopt rules regarding
57	57	the regulation of crisis nursery facilities. The rules must:
58	58	(1) specify:
59	59	(A) the child-care licensing regulations that
60	60	apply to a facility;
61	61	(B) requirements for ensuring the safety and
62	62	well-being of children in the care of the facility, including
63	63	requirements regarding:
64	64	(i) food preparation;
65	65	(ii) sleeping arrangements;
66	66	(iii) safe drop-off and pick-up procedures;
67	67	and
68	68	(iv) staff-to-child ratios;
69	69	(C) requirements for background checks for
70	70	facility employees and conduct that prevents an individual from
71	71	being eligible to be employed by a facility;
72	72	(D) the capacity of a facility based on the size
73	73	of the facility and the children's needs; and
74	74	(E) the information that must be collected by the
75	75	facility and submitted to the commission at the request of the
76	76	commission, including deidentified information regarding:
77	77	(i) the number of children served by the
78	78	facility;
79	79	(ii) the average age of children served by
80	80	the facility;
81	81	(iii) the average length of stay for
82	82	children served by the facility;
83	83	(iv) any services with which the facility
84	84	connects families served by the facility;
85	85	(v) the reasons given for the use of the
86	86	facility; and
87	87	(vi) any other information the executive
88	88	commissioner considers necessary to evaluate the program;
89	89	(2) require that a child may not spend more than 72
90	90	consecutive hours at a crisis nursery facility;
91	91	(3) allow complaints against a facility to be filed
92	92	with the commission; and
93	93	(4) require the commission to regularly inspect a
94	94	facility, including each time a complaint is filed against the
95	95	facility.
96	96	(f) Not later than October 1, 2028, the commission shall
97	97	prepare and submit to the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of
98	98	the house of representatives, and standing committee of each house
99	99	of the legislature with primary jurisdiction over the commission a
100	100	report on:
101	101	(1) an evaluation of the program's effectiveness; and
102	102	(2) recommendations for legislative or other action,
103	103	including a recommendation on whether to continue, expand, or
104	104	terminate the program.
105	105	(g) The executive commissioner may adopt rules necessary to
106	106	implement this section.
107	107	(h) This section expires September 1, 2029.
108	108	SECTION 2. As soon as practicable after the effective date
109	109	of this Act, the Health and Human Services Commission shall
110	110	establish the pilot program required under Section 42.0464, Human
111	111	Resources Code, as added by this Act.
112	112	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
113	113	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
114	114	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
115	115	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
116	116	Act takes effect September 1, 2025.