HBA-DMD S.B. 1574 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisS.B. 1574 By: West Human Services 4/19/1999 Engrossed BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, over 1.3 million Texas youths are estimated to be at increased risk of delinquent activities due to the effects of poverty, prenatal substance abuse, child abuse and neglect, or parents illequipped for the responsibilities of raising a child. Current prevention and intervention efforts are often narrowly focused on specific risk factors and fragmented among several different agencies. S.B. 1574 provides that the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services (DPRS) has primary responsibility for implementing and managing programs intended to provide early intervention or prevent at-risk behaviors that lead to child abuse, delinquency, running away, truancy, and dropping out of school. This bill requires DPRS to operate the prevention and early intervention services division (division) to provide services for children in at-risk situations and for the families of those children. It also transfers certain programs designed to benefit children to DPRS to be administered by the division. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking authority is expressly delegated to the secretary of state in SECTION 3 of this bill. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 40.002(b), Human Resources Code, to provide that the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services (DPRS) has primary responsibility for implementing and managing programs intended to provide early intervention or prevent at-risk behaviors that lead to child abuse, delinquency, running away, truancy, and dropping out of school. Makes conforming changes. SECTION 2. Amends Subtitle E, Title 5, Family Code, by adding Chapter 265, as follows: CHAPTER 265. PREVENTION AND EARLY INTERVENTION SERVICES Sec. 265.001. DEFINITIONS. Defines "department," "division," and "prevention and early intervention services" in this chapter. Sec. 265.002. PREVENTION AND EARLY INTERVENTION SERVICES DIVISION. Requires DPRS to operate a division to provide services for children in at-risk situations and for the families of those children and to achieve the consolidation of prevention and early intervention services within the jurisdiction of a single agency in order to avoid fragmentation and duplication of services and to increase the accountability for the delivery and administration of these services. Requires the prevention and early intervention services division within DPRS (division) to be called the prevention and early intervention services division. Specifies the required duties of the division. Sec. 265.003. CONSOLIDATION OF PROGRAMS. (a) Requires DPRS, in order to implement the duties provided in Section 265.002, to consolidate into the division programs with the goal of providing early intervention or prevention of at-risk behavior that leads to child abuse, delinquency, running away, truancy, and dropping out of school. (b) Authorizes the division to provide additional prevention and early intervention services in accordance with Section 265.002. SECTION 3. (a) Transfers the Parent as Teachers Program from the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, the Communities in Schools Program from the Texas Education Agency and the Texas Workforce Commission, and the Buffalo Soldier Heritage Program from the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission, to DPRS to be administered by the division, on the effective date of this Act. (b) Transfers any powers, duties, obligations, rights, contracts, records, employees, property, funds, and appropriations of an agency program listed under Subsection (a) of this section to DPRS on September 1, 1999. (c) Transfers the employees of the services for at-risk youth program and the community youth development grant program administered by DPRS to the division. (d) Provides that for the 1999 and 2000 state fiscal years, the number of employees transferred to DPRS under Subsection (b) of this section is not included in determining the department's compliance with any limitation on the number of full-time equivalent positions imposed by the General Appropriations Act. (e) Provides that a reference in law or administrative rule to any agency listed in Subsection (a) of this section that relates to a program transferred under that subsection means DPRS. Provides that a reference in law or administrative rule to an executive officer of an agency listed under Subsection (a) of this section that relates to a program transferred under that subsection means the executive director of DPRS. (f) Provides that a rule of an agency listed in Subsection (a) of this section relating to a program transferred under that subsection continues in effect as a rule of the agency until superseded by a rule of DPRS. Authorizes the secretary of state to adopt rules as necessary to expedite the implementation of this subsection. (g) Provides that the transfer of the programs listed in Subsection (a) of this section and associated powers, duties, functions, and activities under this Act does not affect or impair any act done, any obligation, right, order, license, permit, rule, criterion, standard, or requirement existing, any investigation begun, or any penalty accrued under former law, and that law remains in effect for any action concerning those matters. (h) Provides that an action brought or proceeding commenced before the effective date of this Act, including a contested case or a remand of any action or proceeding by a reviewing court, is governed by the law and rules applicable to the action or proceeding immediately before the effective date of this Act. SECTION 4.Effective date: September 1, 1999. SECTION 5.Emergency clause.