88TH LEGISLATIVE SESSION OUTCOMES

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TEXAS CASA’S LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES FOR THE 88TH LEGISLATIVE SESSION

1. Texas CASA supports policies that preserve families, promote family reunification when possible, and minimize the time children spend in foster care. Learn more.

• Implementing the Family First Prevention Services Act and expanding access and funding for evidence-based mental health, substance abuse treatment and in-home parenting skills.
• Strengthening the children’s mental health service array to prevent entries into foster care because their parents cannot find or access needed mental health care for their children
  

2. Texas CASA supports funding and policies that provide a child access to safe, stable placements in their community that meet their individual need and support their permanency goals. Learn more.

• Increasing the number of Treatment Foster Care Homes, which allow children and youth to receive intensive, trauma-informed mental health services in a family-like setting.
• Implementing the Family First Prevention Services Act and building upon the Qualified Residential Treatment Program pilot to increase the number of short-term, high-quality treatment beds available to the highest-needs children and youth in foster care.
• Implementing the recommendations from the Senate Bill 1575 workgroup to improve the quality and oversight of traditional residential treatment centers in Texas. Read the SB 1575 Report here.
• Implementing the newly proposed Foster Care Rate Methodology, which will tie funding to providers based on the services and supports they offer to children, rather than relying on an outdated level of care rating system.

3. Texas CASA supports policies that allow CASA volunteers to be appointed by judges to represent the best interest of children involved with the child protection system, whether as part of a Suit Affecting the Child Parent Relationship or motions from the court. Learn more.

• Amend Chapter 264.601 of the Texas Family Code to allow CASA programs to utilize state funding for all child welfare cases, including Court-Ordered Services cases.
• Amend Chapter 107.031 of the Texas Family Code to clarify the types of cases in which judges can appoint volunteer advocates, including CASA.
• Amend Chapter 264.203 of the Texas Family Code to allow optional appointment of guardians ad litem to Court-Ordered Services cases to help ensure that children receive best-interest representation in their child welfare case, regardless of whether or not a Suit Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship has been filed.

4. Texas CASA supports funding and policies that further support and encourage placement with relative caregivers. Learn more.

• Increase the daily reimbursement rate for kinship caregivers.
• Allow kinship caregivers, regardless of whether they are licensed, to receive the maximum daily reimbursement rate.
• Increase one-time funding and access to concrete services, such as diapers, beds and clothing, especially early in a placement.
• Streamline the process and requirements for accessing childcare and respite care for kinship caregivers so that it is more readily and more widely available.
• Support the expansion of Kinship Navigator programs, which help provide caregivers with information, education and referral to a wide range of services and supports.
• Streamline and improve the licensing process to allow more kinship caregivers to become licensed foster parents and receive full state and federal foster care benefits.
  

5. Texas CASA supports continued funding from the Health and Human Services Commission and the Department of Family and Protective Services. Learn more.

• Texas CASA supports continued funding from the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) of $31.9M for the 2024-2025 biennium.
• Texas CASA supports continued legislative funding for Family Finding/Collaborative Family Engagement under the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) in the amount of $643,600 for the 2024-2025 biennium.
• Texas CASA supports the Office of the Governor’s Trusteed Programs Exceptional Item request for $120 million for Victim Assistance Funding to offset any decrease in federal Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funds.
  

87th Legislative Session Outcomes

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TEXAS CASA’S PRIORITIES FOR THE 87^TH LEGISLATIVE SESSION

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Texas CASA Funding Items

• Request an increase in annual legislative funding under HHSC by $2.25 million, in addition to the current annual funding level of $14.95 million, to $17.2 million.
• Support continued legislative funding for Family Finding/Collaborative Family Engagement under DFPS at $643,600 for the 2022-2023 fiscal biennium.

Texas CASA Legislative Policy Priorities

• Support policies that preserve families, promote family reunification when possible, and minimize the time children spend in foster care.
• Support funding and policy changes to fully implement the federal Family First Prevention Services Act within a reasonable timeframe.
• Support needed state funding for DFPS priorities and adequate foster care and kinship provider rates.
• Integrate policies and practices that respect and elevate child, youth and family voice in all aspects of the child protection system.
• Support policies to recognize and address disparities and disproportionality in the child protection system and achieve equity for youth and families in vulnerable populations.
• Improve services and supports for older youth in foster care, and youth transitioning out of foster care.
• Support continued state funding to enable the successful expansion of Community-Based Care, and ensure transparency and performance accountability.
• Strengthen policies and services in the STAR Health Medicaid program that cover children and youth currently or formerly in foster care.
• Support necessary changes to the Texas Family Code to ensure children and youth with dual status in foster care and the juvenile justice system receive efficient and effective services and supports.
• Improve access to high-quality treatment services and supports for children, parents and families affected by substance use disorder and mental illness.
• Strengthen policies and programs that improve educational outcomes for children and youth currently or formerly in foster care.
• Support funding and policy changes that help prevent human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children and youth, along with adequate funding for services and supports that meet the needs of survivors of trafficking.
• Expand transportation options for children, parents and family members to help children stay in their school of origin, to support parental and sibling visitation, and to access services.
• Support funding and policy changes that promote the development of a trauma-informed child protection system.

86th Legislative Session Outcomes

Increased Annual Legislative Funding
CASA will get an increase of $3.5 million for 2020-21, taking our annual state funding from $13.2 million to $14.95 million! The House had funded our full request of a $4.5 million increase for the biennium, but the Senate had come in much lower in their version of the bill. The $3.5 million represents a compromise between the two funding amounts.

Collaborative Family Engagement, our family finding and engagement partnership with DFPS, was fully funded by both chambers!

Improving Outcomes for Older Youth & Youth Transitioning Out of the State’s Care
HOUSE BILL 53 BY REP. INA MINJAREZ, ET AL.
Summary: Adds topics to be covered under Preparation for Adult Living requirements. Requires PAL to include lessons concerning insurance, taxes and voting.

HOUSE BILL 123 BY REP. JAMES WHITE
Summary: Allows for foster children, homeless youth, and unaccompanied minors ages 18-21 to receive a copy of their birth certificate without requiring parental consent or any fee. Also grants fee waivers for foster children, homeless youth, and unaccompanied minors when applying for a Driver’s License or ID.

Meeting the Healthcare Needs of Children & Youth in Foster Care

HOUSE BILL 72 BY REP. JAMES WHITE
Summary: Allows adoptive parents to opt into STAR Health Medicaid for their child if the youth has a chronic health condition. Establishes a program that protects the continuity of care for each child and ensures the child receives their health benefits.

Addressing Educational Challenges for Students in Foster Care
HOUSE BILL 811 BY REP. JAMES WHITE
Summary: Requires public schools to consider whether a child is experiencing homelessness or in foster care when taking disciplinary action.

HOUSE BILL 1702 BY REP. DONNA HOWARD
Summary: Requires liaison officers at institutions of higher education who assist students formerly in foster care to obtain the names and information of all current and incoming students who were previously in the conservatorship of the Department. The bill requires the liaison to provide these students with information about support services available to them on campus. The liaison officer may participate in relevant training that serves to better assist children formerly in foster care.

HOUSE BILL 1709 BY REP. MARY GONZALEZ

Texas CASA's Priorities for the 85th Legislative Session

SB 78 by Senator Nelson & Sponsored by Representative Price Summary: Allows CASA programs to be eligible recipients of refurbished, surplus state computers that can be distributed to foster youth.

HB 249 by Representative Hernandez & Sponsored by Senator Taylor*
Summary: Ensures that children in Texas receive the same high-quality abuse and neglect investigations by consolidating all child abuse and neglect investigations under Child Protective Services (CPS) and requiring the transfer of the regulatory functions of Child Care Licensing to the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC). This was a high-priority item initiated by Texas CASA and our partners with the Texas Children’s Advocacy Centers. *Some of this same language is included in HB 5 and SB 11.

HB 1556 by Representative Mary Gonzalez & Sponsored by Senator Menendez
Summary: Authorizes foster parents to make decisions regarding their foster child’s special education services as soon as the child is placed in their home, unless prohibited from doing so by the court.

HB 3561 by Representative Klick*
Summary: Requires judges, attorneys ad litem and guardians ad litem to assure that older foster youth have birth certificates, social security cards and other identification documents, as well as a state-issued driver’s license or identification card; and creates a presumption of indigence for foster and homeless youth who are issued Class C misdemeanor citations. *Although this bill was killed by a procedural effort, major portions were amended onto other legislation, including SB 1758, SB 11 and SB 1913.

Texas CASA Funding Priorities
SB 1 by Senator Nelson & Sponsored by Representative Zerwas

• Funding for CASA programs under the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) was increased by $250,000 per year, although this was    less than the $2 million increase requested.
• Funding for the innovative Collaborative Family Engagement (CFE) effort was sustained at $321,800 annually under the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS), as requested.
• Language was added to SB 1 to allow unexpended funds from Fiscal Year 2018 to automatically carry forward into FY 2019, as requested.