Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB275 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R470 AMF-D
2	2	By: Miles S.B. No. 275
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7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to the authority of the Health and Human Services
10	10	Commission's office of the ombudsman to resolve complaints against
11	11	the Department of Family and Protective Services.
12	12	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	13	SECTION 1. Sections 40.0041(a), (b), (c), (d), (e), and
14	14	(f), Human Resources Code, are amended to read as follows:
15	15	(a) The executive commissioner by rule shall develop and
16	16	implement a uniform process for the commission's office of the
17	17	ombudsman to receive [receiving] and resolve [resolving]
18	18	complaints against the department throughout the state. The
19	19	process shall include:
20	20	(1) statewide procedures through which the public,
21	21	consumers, and service recipients are informed:
22	22	(A) of the right to make a complaint against the
23	23	department, including the mailing addresses and telephone numbers
24	24	of appropriate office [department] personnel responsible for
25	25	receiving complaints and providing related assistance; and
26	26	(B) of the office's [department's] procedures for
27	27	resolving a complaint, including the right to appeal a decision
28	28	made at the local level by department personnel;
29	29	(2) development and statewide distribution of a form
30	30	or telephone system that may be used to make a complaint;
31	31	(3) a requirement that the office [department] provide
32	32	information by mail or telephone regarding the office's
33	33	[department's] procedures for investigating and resolving a
34	34	complaint to each person who makes a complaint; and
35	35	(4) a requirement that the office [department] provide
36	36	status information at least quarterly to a person with a pending
37	37	complaint against the department, unless the information would
38	38	jeopardize an undercover investigation.
39	39	(b) In addition to other appropriate methods, the
40	40	commission and the department may provide the information specified
41	41	by Subsection (a)(1):
42	42	(1) on each registration form, application, or written
43	43	contract for services of a person regulated by the commission
44	44	[department];
45	45	(2) on a sign prominently displayed in the place of
46	46	business of each person regulated by the commission [department];
47	47	or
48	48	(3) in a bill for service provided by a person
49	49	regulated by the commission [department].
50	50	(c) The commission's office of the ombudsman [department]
51	51	shall keep an information file about each complaint made against
52	52	the department that the office [department] has authority to
53	53	resolve.
54	54	(d) The executive commissioner shall develop a consistent,
55	55	statewide process for encouraging the submission of complaints to
56	56	local department personnel before contacting the commission's
57	57	office of the ombudsman to allow department staff [addressing an
58	58	appeal by a person dissatisfied with the resolution of a complaint
59	59	at the regional level. The process shall include] an opportunity to
60	60	resolve the complaints [for appeal of a complaint without the
61	61	participation of the department's ombudsman office].
62	62	(e) The commission's office of the ombudsman [department]
63	63	shall develop and maintain a centralized tracking system to gather
64	64	information concerning all complaints made against the department
65	65	throughout the state. The department shall require its personnel
66	66	to provide information regarding each complaint for inclusion in
67	67	records maintained under the tracking system [at the department's
68	68	state headquarters], regardless of the location or level at which
69	69	the complaint is initiated or resolved. The office [department]
70	70	shall require at least the following information to be maintained
71	71	for each complaint:
72	72	(1) the date the complaint is received;
73	73	(2) the name of the person making the complaint;
74	74	(3) the subject matter of the complaint;
75	75	(4) a record of all persons contacted by the office
76	76	[department] in relation to the complaint;
77	77	(5) a summary of the results of the review or
78	78	investigation of the complaint; and
79	79	(6) for each complaint determined by the office
80	80	[department] to require no corrective action, an explanation of the
81	81	reason that the complaint was closed without action.
82	82	(f) The commission's office of the ombudsman [department]
83	83	shall periodically prepare and deliver reports to the executive
84	84	commissioner and the commissioner regarding the number, type, and
85	85	resolution of complaints made in the state against the department.
86	86	SECTION 2. (a) Not later than January 1, 2026, the
87	87	executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission
88	88	shall adopt the rules necessary to implement the changes in law made
89	89	by this Act.
90	90	(b) Section 40.0041, Human Resources Code, as amended by
91	91	this Act, applies only to a complaint filed on or after January 1,
92	92	2026.
93	93	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.