HBA-MPM H.B. 2202 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2202 By: Tillery Public Education 4/9/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, there are no school-based health clinics across the state that provide health services to children without access to health care due to lack of providers or extreme poverty. H.B. 2202 authorizes a school district to establish school-based student health centers (centers) to meet these needs and authorizes the centers to provide services to a student only if the district obtains written consent from the student's parent, guardian, or person having legal control of the student. Furthermore, this bill authorizes a district to seek assistance in establishing and operating a health center from any public health agency located in the community, and requires a public health agency, upon request, to cooperate and provide assistance to a district to the extent possible; and authorizes the district and a public health agency to, by agreement, jointly establish, operate, and fund a health center. This bill also requires the Texas Education Agency to award grants to assist districts with the costs of operating health centers and provides that in order to be eligible to receive a grant for a health center, a district must furnish matching funds at least equal to the amount received under the grant. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking authority is expressly delegated to the State Board of Education in SECTION 1 (Section 38.011, Education Code) of this bill. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Chapter 38, Education Code, by adding Section 38.011, as follows: Sec. 38.011. SCHOOL-BASED STUDENT HEALTH CENTERS. (a) Authorizes a school district (district) to establish a school-based student health center (health center) at one or more campuses in the district to meet the health care needs of students without other access to health care, after consultation with the appropriate campus-level planning and decisionmaking committees (committee) established under Subchapter F (District-Level and SiteBased Decision-Making), Chapter 11 (School Districts), Education Code. Authorizes the health center to provide services in mental health care, physical health care, including immunizations, family and home support, health education, or social services. (b) Authorizes a health center to provide services to a student only if the district obtains written consent from the student's parent, guardian, or person having legal control of the student on a consent form developed by the district. Provides that the consent form must list each category of service available at the health center in a format that allows a person to consent to one or more categories of service. (c) Requires health center staff and person whose consent is obtained under Subsection (b) to jointly identify any health-related concerns of the student that may be interfering with the student's ability to succeed in school and to jointly accept responsibility for addressing those concerns. (d) Authorizes a district to seek assistance in establishing and operating a health center from any public health agency located in the community. Requires a public health agency, upon request, to cooperate and provide assistance to a district to the extent possible, considering the resources available to the public health agency. Authorizes the district and a public health agency to, by agreement, jointly establish, operate, and fund a health center. (e) Requires a district to seek all available sources of funding available to compensate for the cost of services provided by the health center, including money available under the state Medicaid program or private health insurance or health benefits plans. (f) Requires the Texas Education Agency (agency) to award grants to assist districts with the costs of operating health centers in accordance with this section, subject to available appropriations. Requires the State Board of Education (board), after consultation with the Health and Human Services Commission (commission), by rule, to establish procedures for awarding grants under this subsection. Provides that the procedures must include a statewide competitive process under which the agency evaluates proposals submitted by districts according to guidelines and objectives adopted by the board with assistance from the commission. Prohibits the agency from awarding more than $250,000 per health center location. (g) Provides that in order to be eligible to receive a grant for a health center, a district must furnish matching funds at least equal to the amount received under the grant. Provides that the matching funds may be obtained from any source available to the district, including community or foundation donations, individual contributions, and local governmental agency operating funds. SECTION 2. Requires the agency, with assistance from the commission, to evaluate the impact of the health centers operating in this state on student health and student readiness to learn and succeed in school, and to submit a report on this evaluation to the legislature which includes recommendations for state funding of health centers no later than January 15, 2001. SECTION 3.Emergency clause. Effective date: upon passage.