Current through Reg. 49, No. 38; September 20, 2024
(a) Introduction
And Legal Authority. The Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental
Retardation (TDMHMR) and Texas Department of Human Services (TDHS) enter into a
memorandum of understanding (MOU) in accordance with Texas Health and Safety
Code (THSC), §533.044. The statute requires the use of a uniform
assessment tool to assess whether an elderly person, a person with mental
retardation, a person with a developmental disability, or a person who is
suspected of being a person with mental retardation or a developmental
disability and who is receiving services in a facility regulated or operated by
TDMHMR or TDHS needs a guardian of the person or estate or both. TDMHMR and
TDHS agree to require the following entities, as indicated, to comply with the
provisions of this MOU:
(1) TDMHMR: state
facilities; local mental retardation authorities and their contractors; and
providers in the ICF/MR/RC or Medicaid waiver programs; and
(2) TDHS: nursing facilities.
(b) Definitions: The following
words and terms, when used in this section, have the following meanings, unless
the context clearly indicates otherwise:
(1)
Capacity Assessment for Self Care and Financial Management -- The uniform
capacity assessment instrument developed by TDMHMR and TDHS in compliance with
THSC, §533.044, for use by providers described in subsection (a)(1) and
(2) of this section to assess an individual's:
(A) ability to make a decision and
communicate that decision to others; and
(B) capacity to:
(i) substantially provide the individual's
food, clothing, or shelter;
(ii)
care for the individual's physical health; or
(iii) manage the individual's financial
affairs.
(2)
Developmental disability (related condition) -- In accordance with the Code of
Federal Regulations, Title 42, §435.1009, a severe and chronic disability
that:
(A) is attributable to:
(i) cerebral palsy or epilepsy; or
(ii) any other condition, other than mental
illness, found to be closely related to mental retardation because the
condition results in impairment of general intellectual functioning or adaptive
behavior similar to that of individuals with mental retardation, and requires
treatment or services similar to those required for individuals with mental
retardation;
(B) is
manifested before the individual reaches age 22; and
(C) is likely to continue indefinitely;
and
(D) results in substantial
functional limitation in three or more of the following areas of major life
activity:
(i) self-care;
(ii) understanding and use of
language;
(iii) learning;
(iv) mobility;
(v) self-direction; and
(vi) capacity for independent
living.
(3)
Elderly -- In accordance with Texas Human Resources Code, §
102.001, sixty years
of age or older.
(4) ICF/MR/RC --
The Intermediate Care Facilities for Persons with Mental Retardation or a
Related Condition program which provides Medicaid-funded residential services
to individuals with mental retardation or a related condition.
(5) Individual -- A person who is receiving
services from a provider and who:
(A) is
elderly; or
(B) has mental
retardation or is suspected of having mental retardation, including a person
who is dually diagnosed with mental retardation and mental illness;
or
(C) has a developmental
disability or is suspected of having a developmental disability.
(6) Local mental retardation
authority -- As defined in the Texas Health and Safety Code, §
531.002, an entity to
which the Texas Mental Health and Mental Retardation Board delegates its
authority and responsibility within a specified region for planning, policy
development, coordination, and resource development and allocation and for
supervising and ensuring the provision of mental retardation services to
consumers in one or more local service areas.
(7) Medicaid waiver program - A home and
community-based program serving people with mental retardation and/or related
conditions which is operated by TDMHMR as authorized by the Health Care
Financing Administration (HCFA) in accordance with §1915(c) of the Social
Security Act, including the Home and Community-based Services (HCS), Home and
Community-based Waiver Services -- OBRA (HCS-O), and Mental Retardation Local
Authority (MRLA) programs.
(8)
Mental retardation -- Significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning
existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during
the developmental period (birth to 18 years of age.)
(9) Nursing facility -- An organization that
provides organized and structured nursing care and service and is licensed
under THSC, Chapter 242.
(10)
Planning team -- For providers other than nursing facilities, a group composed
of the individual receiving services, the individual's legally authorized
representative (LAR), actively-involved family members and friends who are
invited by the individual or LAR, and professional and other support staff,
that meets to assess the individual's habilitation, treatment, and
service/support needs and develop strategies for enabling the individual to
achieve desired outcomes.
(11)
Provider -- Those entities described in subsection (a)(1) and (2) of this
section.
(12) Professional -- A
person licensed or certified by the State of Texas in a health or human
services occupation or who meets TDMHMR criteria to be a case manager, service
coordinator, qualified mental retardation professional, or associate
psychologist.
(13) State facilities
-- State hospitals, state schools, and state centers that are operated by
TDMHMR.
(c) Capacity
Assessment.
(1) A provider will perform a
capacity assessment for an individual receiving services from that provider
when:
(A) the provider believes a guardian of
the person or the estate for that individual may be appropriate and a referral
to the appropriate court for guardianship is anticipated; or
(B) requested to do so by a court.
(2) In conducting the capacity
assessment, the provider will use the Capacity Assessment for Self Care and
Financial Management. Copies of the Capacity Assessment for Self Care and
Financial Management may be obtained by contacting the Office of Policy
Development, TDMHMR, 909 West 45th Street, Austin, Texas 78756, 512/206-4516,
or from the TDHS Long Term Care Policy web site.
(d) Performance Of Capacity Assessment. The
capacity assessment will be performed:
(1) for
providers other than nursing facilities, by the professional designated by the
planning team with assistance from other staff or consultants as requested by
the professional or directed by the planning team; and
(2) at nursing facilities, by the social
worker with assistance from member(s) of the interdisciplinary care plan team
as requested by the social worker.
(e) Annual Review. No later than the last
month of each state fiscal year, TDMHMR and TDHS shall review and modify the
MOU as necessary.