Texas Administrative Code
Title 26 - HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Part 1 - HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION
Chapter 3 - MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING WITH OTHER STATE AGENCIES
Subchapter B - MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING CONCERNING COORDINATION OF SERVICES TO PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
Section 3.67 - Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services (PRS)

(A) Child Protective Services (CPS) is the branch of the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services (PRS) that provides services to children at risk of abuse or neglect and to their families. These services include: intake/investigation of abuse/neglect referrals, in-home services, truant and runaway services, removal services, substitute care, family reunification, and adoption. Child protective services are provided without regard to income. If the court orders removal of a child from the child's home and places the child in the conservatorship of the state, foster care maintenance payments are made to the substitute care provider. Children in foster care are also eligible for Medicaid.

(B) The Adult Protective Services (APS) Program of PRS investigates reports of abuse, neglect, or exploitation of elderly adults and adults with disabilities. When a report is validated, APS provides or arranges for services to remedy the situation in the least restrictive manner possible. Ongoing APS services provided include direct casework, specialized support services, and guardianship services. All services provided are voluntary, except in cases in which a client:

(C) PRS also has the responsibility of overseeing investigations of abuse, neglect, or exploitation conducted by other state agencies which operate, license, certify, or register facilities for persons with disabilities. PRS receives and reviews complaints about these investigations. Of the 30,235 clients served in fiscal year (FY) 1992, 34% (10,171) were nonelderly persons with disabilities. PRS expects to provide APS services to approximately 11,518 nonelderly persons with disabilities in FY 1993.

(A) The Licensing Department of PRS regulates facilities that provide out-of-home care for children and regulates child-placing agencies that place children for foster care, residential child care, and adoption. The Child Day Care Licensing Program is responsible for regulating day care centers, kindergartens, and nursery schools; schools, grades kindergarten and above; drop-in care centers; group day care homes; and registered family homes.

(B) The Residential Child Care Licensing Program is responsible for regulating institutions providing basic child care, residential treatment centers, halfway houses, therapeutic camps, institutions serving mentally retarded children, emergency shelters, foster group homes, foster family homes, child-placing agencies, and maternity homes.

(C) The Licensing Program develops minimum standards, evaluates applications for licensure, certification, and registration, and monitors regulated facilities on an ongoing basis for compliance with minimum standards. Licensing staff investigate complaints and serious incidents in regulated facilities and allegations of illegal operation. Specialized staff investigate allegations of abuse and neglect in regulated child care facilities and allegations of illegal child-placing activities.

(A) the legislative appropriations request (LAR), a document prepared and submitted to the Legislative Budget Board and the governor's Budget Office prior to each legislative session. It contains PRS's request for appropriations for the next biennium based on four levels of funding for each program and activity. It also provides a summary of PRS's request. Specifically, it provides the objective and a description of each program and activity as well as data for need indicators, performance measures, object of expense, and method of finance for a five-year period. This period includes two years of the appropriations request and the three previous years;

(B) the fiscal year operating plan is the budget for PRS based on appropriations received. It contains a breakdown of budgeted dollars by program area and activity at the state level. For each program, the document states the need, the description of program activities, the budget allocation for each activity, the performance measures or units of service, and the method of finance. The allocation covers the current fiscal year and the two previous years;

(C) the annual report is a fiscal-year description of PRS services, a review of the services, and an accounting of PRS expenditures. The report contains a section of statistics that depicts estimated expenditures by method of finance, benefit expenditures by region, a summary of agency information by county, aged and disabled benefits by county, families and children benefits by county, and data concerning the regulation of child care facilities. In addition to client data, PRS has demographic data from the 1985 Special Texas Census and population estimates and projections from the Texas Department of Health. The 1985 Special Texas Census was a mailout survey to the general population of Texas. It was a data collection effort comprising a sample of 22,000 Texas households to identify human service needs in support of the Texas Department of Human Services' (DHS's) budget and planning process. With a response rate of over 64% of the valid sample, data was collected for more than 12,300 households or over 33,000 individuals. The data collected for each person concentrated on money income; demographics (age, sex, race/ethnicity, marital status, language, and education); employment status; medical insurance coverage; medical utilization; disability; functional impairment; help available for persons with disabilities; child care; child support payment; knowledge about runaways; child abuse and/or neglect; and family violence shelters. Based on the response rate and the selection of data variables, data may provide adequate representation for the state and for DHS regions.