Current through Reg. 49, No. 38; September 20, 2024
(a) Overview.
(1) Pursuant to the Texas Human Resources
Code, § 41.0011, this memorandum of understanding has been developed by
the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services (TDPRS), Texas
Commission for the Blind (TCB), Texas Department of Health (TDH), Texas
Department of Human Services (TDHS), Texas Department of Mental Health and
Mental Retardation (TXMHMR), Texas Education Agency (TEA), Texas Interagency
Council on Early Childhood Intervention (ECI), Texas Juvenile Probation
Commission (TJPC), Texas Rehabilitation Commission (TRC), and Texas Youth
Commission (TYC), hereinafter referred to as "the agencies," in consultation
with advocacy and consumer groups.
(2) The memorandum, as adopted by rule by
each agency, provides for the implementation of a system of community resource
coordination groups, hereinafter referred to as coordination groups, to
coordinate services for children and youths who need services from more than
one agency, hereinafter referred to as "children and youths with multi-agency
needs" or, more briefly, as "children and youths."
(3) All coordination groups established
pursuant to this memorandum must conform to the Model of Community Resource
Coordination Groups (CRCG model) approved by the Commission on Children, Youth,
and Family Services on April 27, 1990. This model is adopted by reference and
may be obtained from:
(A) TDPRS, 701 West
51st St., Austin, Texas 78751;
(B)
TCB, 4800 North Lamar Boulevard, Austin, Texas 78756;
(C) TDH, 1100 West 49th Street, Austin, Texas
78756
(D) TDHS, 701 West 51st St.,
Austin, Texas 78751;
(E) TXMHMR,
909 West 45th St., Austin, Texas 78756;
(F) TEA, 1701 North Congress, Austin, Texas
78701;
(G) ECI, 1100 West 49th St.,
Austin, Texas 78756;
(H) TJPC, 2015
South I.H.35, Austin, Texas 78741;
(I) TRC, 4900 North Lamar Blvd., Austin,
Texas 78751; or
(J) TYC, 4900 North
Lamar Blvd., Austin, Texas 78751.
(4) As specified in subsection (c)(5) of this
section, this memorandum also requires the agencies, the coordination groups,
and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, hereinafter referred to as
"the commission," to work together to ensure that the commission's strategic
plan for delivering health and human services in Texas includes appropriate
plans for delivering coordinated services to children and youths.
(b) Role of the family. Although
the primary purpose of this memorandum is to establish a system for interagency
coordination of services to children and youths, the agencies:
(1) recognize the importance of the family in
the life of each child and youth whom the agencies serve; and
(2) are committed to providing services
pursuant to this memorandum in the most normal and least restrictive
environments possible.
(c) Each agency's financial and statutory
responsibilities.
(1) Each agency's financial
and statutory responsibilities for children and youth are described in
Health and Human Services in Texas: A Reference Guide,
published by the commission.
(2)
Each agency agrees to provide coordination groups with relevant additional
information about its financial and statutory responsibilities when such
information is necessary for the groups to meet their responsibilities. The
additional information may include, but is not limited to, descriptions of
subcategories of funding for different types of service such as investigation,
risk prevention, family preservation, emergency shelter, diagnosis and
evaluation, residential care, follow-up services after a stay in residential
care, and information and referral assistance.
(3) Whenever necessary in particular cases,
coordination groups are responsible for further clarifying the agencies'
financial and service responsibilities.
(4) The agencies agree to seek the resources
needed to comply with this memorandum.
(5) To the extent that operating under this
memorandum helps the agencies to identify structural problems, gaps, and
inefficiencies in the state's systems for delivering health and human services
to children and youths with multi-agency needs, the agencies agree to give the
commission information about the problems, gaps, and inefficiencies so
identified. The agencies also agree to ask the coordination groups to provide
such information. The commission, in turn, will appropriately incorporate
information provided by the agencies and the coordination groups into the
commission's strategic plan.
(d) Children and youths with multi-agency
needs. For the purpose of this memorandum, a "child or youth with multi-agency
needs" is a person who:
(1) is less than 22
years old;
(2) meets an agency's
statutory age-limitations for eligibility;
(3) is now receiving services or has received
them in the past; and
(4) needs
services that require interagency coordination.
(e) Interagency cost-sharing.
(1) The agencies agree to share the cost of
providing needed services when:
(A) a
coordination group confirms that a referring agency cannot provide all of the
services needed; and
(B) the needed
services are within the financial capabilities and statutory responsibilities
of one or more of the other agencies.
(2) Cost-sharing includes, but is not limited
to:
(A) provision of services by more than
one agency; and
(B) provision of
services by:
(i) one or more agencies;
and
(ii) one or more third parties
under purchase-of-service contracts with one or more agencies.
(f)
Eliminating duplication of services. Within the limits of existing legal
authority, each coordination group must make reasonable efforts to eliminate
duplication of services relating to the assessment and diagnosis, treatment,
residential placement and care, and case management of children and youths with
multi-agency needs. Each agency agrees to notify the governor's office about
federal laws and regulations that cause duplication of services. Each agency
also agrees to notify its board about rules that cause duplication of services,
and to pursue amendments to state laws, rules, and policies when necessary to
eliminate such duplication.
(g)
Interagency dispute resolution.
(1) Each
agency must designate a negotiator who is not a member of any coordination
group to resolve disputes. The negotiator must have:
(A) decision-making authority over the
agency's representative on the coordination group; and
(B) the ability to interpret policy and
commit funds.
(2) When
two or more members of a coordination group disagree about their respective
agencies' service responsibilities, the coordination group must send the
designated negotiators for those agencies written notification that a dispute
exists. Within 45 days after receiving the written notification, the
negotiators must confer together to resolve the dispute.
(3) When an interagency dispute cannot be
resolved in the manner described in paragraph (2) of this subsection, the
aggrieved party may refer the dispute to the Health and Human Services
commissioner.
(h)
Composition of coordination groups. Each coordination group must include one
appointed representative from each participating state agency, and as many as
five local representatives from the private sector. The private-sector
representatives must be selected by their peers from private-sector agencies
serving youths in the geographical area the coordination group serves. The
private-sector representatives have the same status as state-agency
representatives. The organizations they represent are considered member
agencies of the coordination group, and they are encouraged to present cases
from the private sector.
(i) Case
identification and referral. Each coordination group must implement the
procedures for identifying and referring cases specified in the CRCG model. Any
member of a coordination group may refer the case of any eligible child or
youth to the coordination group if the referring member's agency cannot
otherwise provide or arrange all the services the child or youth
needs.
(j) Convening coordination
group meetings. Any member of a coordination group may convene a coordination
group meeting pursuant to subsection (i) of this section. Each coordination
group must establish procedures for scheduling meetings.
(k) Permissible nonattendance. A member
agency's representative may be excused from attending a coordination group
meeting if the coordination group determines that the member agency's service
responsibilities do not apply to the child or youth whose services will be
discussed at the meeting.
(l)
Sharing confidential information. The members of each coordination group must
treat all information about children and youths discussed at the group's
meetings as confidential. Each member agency must ensure that the coordination
group complies with the agency's legal requirements concerning disclosure of
confidential records and information. When necessary, compliance may include
case-by-case documentation of all parties reviewing a child's or youth's
records.
(m) Implementing this
memorandum. The state CRCG advisory committee, which includes private sector
representatives and one representative from each participating state agency,
must develop and recommend to the commissioners and executive directors of the
agencies a comprehensive plan to implement this memorandum.
(n) Adoption by rule and revision by
unanimous consent. Pursuant to § 41.0011 of the Human Resources Code, each
agency must adopt this memorandum by rule. The memorandum may be expanded,
modified, or amended at any time by the unanimous written consent of the
agencies.
