By: Bucy H.B. No. 57
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to improvements to the Texas Information and Referral
Network.
       BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
       SECTION 1.  Section 531.0312, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (f) and (g) to read
as follows:
       (a)  The Texas Information and Referral Network at the
commission is the program responsible for the development,
coordination, and implementation of a statewide information and
referral network that integrates existing community-based
structures with state and local agencies. The network must:
             (1)  include information relating to transportation
services provided to clients of state and local agencies;
             (2)  be capable of assisting with statewide disaster
response and emergency management, including through the use of
interstate agreements with out-of-state call centers to ensure
preparedness and responsiveness;
             (3)  include technology capable of communicating with
clients of state and local agencies using one-way and two-way
electronic text messaging to:
                   (A)  enhance client access to information and
referral services;
                   (B)  decrease client wait times;
                   (C)  improve customer service; and
                   (D)  disseminate information to clients in a
timely manner; [and]
             (4)  include a publicly accessible Internet-based
system to provide real-time, searchable data about [the location
and number of] clients of state and local agencies using the system,
including:
                   (A)  the number of clients;
                   (B)  the location of clients;
                   (C)  [and] the types of requests made by [the]
clients; and
                   (D)  aggregated, de-identified demographic
information regarding the clients and client households served by
the network, including, if the information is volunteered by the
clients after the clients have been given an opportunity to provide
informed and explicit consent:
                         (i)  the gender, race, and ethnicity of each
client; and
                         (ii)  whether the client or a member of the
client's household is:
                               (a)  a veteran;
                               (b)  involved in the criminal justice
system;
                               (c)  pregnant; or
                               (d)  the caregiver to a child who is
five years of age or younger or a kinship caregiver;
             (5)  use a standardized screening tool to identify the
nonmedical drivers of health for all clients who provide informed
and explicit consent to be screened using the screening tool;
             (6)  provide enhanced navigation services under a level
of care three (LOC-3) as prescribed by the Department of State
Health Services' Texas Resilience and Recovery Utilization
Management Guidelines in order to:
                   (A)  better address complex client needs; and
                   (B)  collaborate with community partners;
             (7)  be capable of providing closed-loop referrals to
support clients and track referral outcomes;
             (8)  exchange resource data with external partners,
including vendors, through data sharing agreements for the purposes
of:
                   (A)  connecting clients to a requested service;
                   (B)  addressing nonmedical drivers of health; and
     

Statutes affected:
Introduced: Government Code 531.0312, Government Code 531.0313 (Government Code 531)