HBA-BSM H.B. 2543 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2543 By: Naishtat Human Services 7/9/2001 Enrolled BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Severe antisocial behavior in children such as frequent fighting, stealing, and vandalism are the strongest predictors of chronic delinquency. It has been proposed that early childhood interventions may help prevent chronic delinquency. Good parenting and nurturing families are essential to effective interventions in the lives of children with severe behavioral problems. Today, however, families may face difficult challenges such as both parents working, the loss of extended family support, marital discord, and divorce. House Bill 2543 establishes a pilot program to provide integrated family services for families with young children who exhibit severe behavioral problems in a child-care environment. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS House Bill 2543 amends the Human Resources Code to require the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services (PRS), subject to the availability of funds, to develop and implement a pilot program under which PRS awards grants to or contracts with community-based organizations experienced in parenting skills to provide child-care intervention services to: _parents of children who are at least 18 months of age but not more than five years of age who exhibit severe behavior problems in a child-care environment; and _child-care facilities providing services for these children. The bill requires an organization under the pilot program to contract with child-care facilities that provide care for children with severe behavioral problems and to ensure that the organization has procedures to refer each child suspected of having a disability to an appropriate early childhood intervention or special education program. The bill provides that the child-care intervention services provided by an organization must include: _integrated family services for parents requiring parental participation and parenting skills training, including training in positive parenting and behavioral intervention techniques that are designed to minimize child-care disruptions and the loss of child-care options; and _specialized training in behavioral intervention techniques for child-care facilities with which the organization contracts. The bill requires PRS to submit a report to the legislature concerning the effectiveness of the pilot program no later than December 1, 2002. The pilot program expires September 1, 2003. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.