HBA-JRA H.B. 3126 76(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 3126
By: Chisum
Public Health
3/30/1999
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Currently, Texas does not have any standardized evaluation criteria to
measure the effectiveness of its anti-drug programs.  H.B. 3126 requires
state agencies that fund drug prevention programs to develop a uniform
evaluation system for drug abuse prevention programs. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking
authority is expressly delegated to the Texas Commission on Alcohol and
Drug Abuse, the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission, the Texas Youth
Commission, and the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services in
SECTION 1; and to any state agency that provides a grant to fund a drug
abuse prevention program in SECTION 3 of this bill. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  ESTABLISHMENT OF CRITERIA.  Requires the Texas Commission on
Alcohol and Drug Abuse, the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission, the Texas
Youth Commission, and the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services,
by rule, to establish a uniform set of criteria for evaluating the
effectiveness of a drug abuse prevention program that receives grant
funding from the agency. 

SECTION 2.  EVALUATION OF PROGRAM EFFECTIVENESS.  Requires the above
agencies to develop the criteria in cooperation with other state agencies
that provide grants to drug abuse prevention programs.  Provides that the
criteria must evaluate whether a program is targeting problems that are
specific to a given community or school, providing social services to
children who have a family member with a drug addiction, using strategies
that are appropriate for children of different ages, and providing
continuity in services and intervention strategies for all grade levels. 

SECTION 3.  RULES; ANNUAL REPORT.  Requires a state agency that provides a
grant to fund a drug abuse prevention program to adopt rules for evaluating
the effectiveness of the program that incorporate the criteria developed
under SECTION 2 of this Act.  Requires the agency, by rule, to require the
program to submit to the agency an annual report that describes the
program's effectiveness in meeting the established criteria. 

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