| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the establishment of a crisis nursery facility pilot |
|
|
program by the Health and Human Services Commission. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 42, Human Resources Code, |
|
|
is amended by adding Section 42.0464 to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 42.0464. CRISIS NURSERY FACILITY PILOT PROGRAM. (a) |
|
|
In this section: |
|
|
(1) "Crisis nursery facility" means a child-care |
|
|
facility that provides care and supervision for children who are |
|
|
voluntarily placed for temporary care for all or part of the 24-hour |
|
|
day by a parent or legal guardian to prevent or help resolve a |
|
|
family crisis or stressful situation or address a problem whose |
|
|
solution is critical to the family's healthy functioning. |
|
|
(2) "Program" means the crisis nursery facility pilot |
|
|
program established under this chapter. |
|
|
(b) The commission shall establish and administer the |
|
|
crisis nursery facility pilot program in Bexar County to address |
|
|
the need for temporary care for children and improve outcomes for |
|
|
families experiencing a crisis or a stressful situation, including |
|
|
escaping domestic violence. |
|
|
(c) Under the program, the commission shall: |
|
|
(1) establish child-care licensing regulations and |
|
|
requirements for crisis nursery facilities; and |
|
|
(2) provide grants to eligible municipalities or |
|
|
nonprofit organizations located in or otherwise serving Bexar |
|
|
County to establish crisis nursery facilities. |
|
|
(d) The commission shall establish application criteria and |
|
|
requirements for the acceptable use of money under the program. The |
|
|
application criteria must require applicants to: |
|
|
(1) demonstrate substantial need for emergency child |
|
|
care or a high rate of child removal by the department in the |
|
|
municipality or local area served by the applicant; |
|
|
(2) demonstrate capacity to meet child-care licensing |
|
|
regulations and requirements established by the commission; |
|
|
(3) provide a detailed plan for the establishment of a |
|
|
crisis nursery facility under the program that includes: |
|
|
(A) details regarding the proposed use of money |
|
|
received under the program; |
|
|
(B) information regarding any matching funds or |
|
|
funds available to the applicant from gifts, grants, and donations |
|
|
other than grants under the program; |
|
|
(C) the age groups of children the applicant |
|
|
proposes to serve; and |
|
|
(D) the proposed location of the facility; and |
|
|
(4) provide a plan for connecting families who use the |
|
|
facility with additional services designed to prevent future family |
|
|
crises. |
|
|
(e) The executive commissioner shall adopt rules regarding |
|
|
the regulation of crisis nursery facilities. The rules must: |
|
|
(1) specify: |
|
|
(A) the child-care licensing regulations that |
|
|
apply to a facility; |
|
|
(B) requirements for ensuring the safety and |
|
|
well-being of children in the care of the facility, including |
|
|
requirements regarding: |
|
|
(i) food preparation; |
|
|
(ii) sleeping arrangements; |
|
|
(iii) safe drop-off and pick-up procedures; |
|
|
and |
|
|
(iv) staff-to-child ratios; |
|
|
(C) requirements for background checks for |
|
|
facility employees and conduct that prevents an individual from |
|
|
being eligible to be employed by a facility; |
|
|
(D) the capacity of a facility based on the size |
|
|
of the facility and the children's needs; and |
|
|
(E) the information that must be collected by the |
|
|
facility and submitted to the commission at the request of the |
|
|
commission, including deidentified information regarding: |
|
|
(i) the number of children served by the |
|
|
facility; |
|
|
(ii) the average age of children served by |
|
|
the facility; |
|
|
(iii) the average length of stay for |
|
|
children served by the facility; |
|
|
(iv) any services with which the facility |
|
|
connects families served by the facility; |
|
|
(v) the reasons given for the use of the |
|
|
facility; and |
|
|
(vi) any other information the executive |
|
|
commissioner considers necessary to evaluate the program; |
|
|
(2) require that a child may not spend more than 72 |
|
|
consecutive hours at a crisis nursery facility; |
|
|
(3) allow complaints against a facility to be filed |
|
|
with the commission; and |
|
|
(4) require the commission to regularly inspect a |
|
|
facility, including each time a complaint is filed against the |
|
|
facility. |
|
|
(f) Not later than October 1, 2028, the commission shall |
|
|
prepare and submit to the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of |
|
|
the house of representatives, and standing committee of each house |
|
|
of the legislature with primary jurisdiction over the commission a |
|
|
report on: |
|
|
(1) an evaluation of the program's effectiveness; and |
|
|
(2) recommendations for legislative or other action, |
|
|
including a recommendation on whether to continue, expand, or |
|
|
terminate the program. |
|
|
(g) The executive commissioner may adopt rules necessary to |
|
|
implement this section. |
|
|
(h) This section expires September 1, 2029. |
|
|
SECTION 2. As soon as practicable after the effective date |
|
|
of this Act, the Health and Human Services Commission shall |
|
|
establish the pilot program required under Section 42.0464, Human |
|
|
Resources Code, as added by this Act. |
|
|
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
|
|
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
|
|
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
|
|
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
|
|
Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |