HBA-NIK H.B. 1585 76(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1585
By: Naishtat
Human Services
3/1/1999
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 
Currently, adults with multiple disabilities seeking public services
negotiate a service delivery system involving a variety of state agencies,
programs with different eligibility criteria, multiple case managers, and
overlapping services.  H.B. 1558 directs  the various agencies involved in
delivering services to adults with multiple disabilities to develop a
coordinated system to address  the needs of their clients effectively.
This bill requires certain agencies to create a comprehensive program for
adults with multiple disabilities, and to provide in the plan for standards
of evaluation and reports of necessary information, such as costs and
funding. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking
authority is expressly delegated to Texas Health and Human Services
Commission, the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, the Texas
Commission for the Blind, the Texas Commission for the Deaf and Hard of
Hearing, the Texas Council on Offenders with Mental Impairments, the Texas
Education Agency, the Texas Department on Aging, the Texas Department of
Criminal Justice, the Texas Department of Health, the Texas Department of
Housing and Community Affairs, the Texas Department of Human Services, the
Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, the Department of
Protective and Regulatory Services, the Texas Rehabilitation Commission,
and the Texas Workforce Commission in Section 1 (Section 531.051,
Government Code) of this bill. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Subchapter B, Chapter 531, Government Code, by adding
Section 531.051, as follows: 

Sec. 531.051.  MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING ON SERVICES FOR ADULTS WITH
MULTIPLE DISABILITIES. (a)  Requires the Texas Health and Human Services
Commission (HHS), the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, the Texas
Commission for the Blind, the Texas Commission for the Deaf and Hard of
Hearing, the Texas Council on Offenders with Mental Impairments, the Texas
Education Agency, the Texas Department on Aging, the Texas Department of
Criminal Justice, the Texas Department of Health, the Texas Department of
Housing and Community Affairs, the Texas Department of Human Services, the
Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, the Department of
Protective and Regulatory Services, the Texas Rehabilitation Commission,
and the Texas Workforce Commission to adopt a joint memorandum of
understanding (memorandum) to implement a system of local level interagency
staffing groups to coordinate services for adults with multiple
disabilities. 

(b)  Specifies the contents of the memorandum.

(c)  Requires the HHS and other agencies specified in Subsection (a), in
developing the memorandum, to consult and solicit input from appropriate
advocacy and consumer groups, as well as representatives of local
interagency staffing groups regarding the transition of a person receiving
services from children and youth programs into those programs providing
services for adults.  Requires the HHS and other agencies specified in
Subsection (a) to produce a coordinated system for adults parallel to that
for multiproblem children and youth established under the memorandum
required by Section  264.003 (Memorandum of Understanding on Services for
Multiproblem Children and Youth), Family Code. 

(d)  Requires the participating agencies to review and update the
memorandum required by this section before the end of each state fiscal
year. 

(e)  Requires each participating agency, by rule, to adopt the memorandum
and all its revisions. 

(f)  Requires the HHS to establish outcome standards to measure and
evaluate the effectiveness of the system under this section.  Requires each
participating agency to provide the HHS with information relating to the
costs of services provided by that agency in accordance with the
memorandum, those services' funding sources, and any other information
considered necessary by the HHS. 

SECTION 2.  Requires the HHS and each agency listed in SECTION 1 to adopt
the joint memorandum by November 1, 1999. 

SECTION 3.  Requires the HHS to submit a report relating to the memorandum
to the governor and the legislature by September 1, 2000. The report must
include an evaluation of the services established under the memorandum. 

SECTION 4.  Emergency clause.
  Effective date: upon passage.