|
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
relating to the establishment of the Work Group on Mental Health |
|
Access for First Responders. |
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
SECTION 1. (a) In this section: |
|
(1) "Executive commissioner" means the executive |
|
commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission. |
|
(2) "First responder" has the meaning assigned by |
|
Section 421.095, Government Code. |
|
(3) "First responder organization" means: |
|
(A) an organization, including a fire |
|
department, law enforcement agency, or emergency medical services |
|
provider, of a political subdivision of this state that employs a |
|
first responder; or |
|
(B) a volunteer fire department. |
|
(4) "Work group" means the Work Group on Mental Health |
|
Access for First Responders. |
|
(b) Not later than December 1, 2017, the Health and Human |
|
Services Commission shall establish the Work Group on Mental Health |
|
Access for First Responders to develop and make recommendations for |
|
improving access to mental health care services for first |
|
responders. |
|
(c) The work group is composed of 15 members appointed by |
|
the executive commissioner, unless otherwise provided, as follows: |
|
(1) one member from the Health and Human Services |
|
Commission with expertise in the field of mental health care; |
|
(2) the dean of the Sam Houston State University |
|
College of Criminal Justice or the dean's designee; |
|
(3) three practicing mental health professionals, as |
|
defined by Section 61.601, Education Code; |
|
(4) one representative of volunteer fire departments; |
|
(5) one representative of paid fire departments, |
|
appointed from a list provided by a statewide association of paid |
|
firefighters; |
|
(6) two representatives of paid police departments, |
|
appointed from a list provided by a statewide association of police |
|
officers; |
|
(7) one representative of a sheriff's department; |
|
(8) two representatives of emergency medical services |
|
providers and personnel licensed under Chapter 773, Health and |
|
Safety Code, one of whom must be a representative of a fire |
|
department that provides emergency medical services and must be |
|
appointed from a list provided by a statewide association of paid |
|
firefighters; |
|
(9) one municipal government representative; |
|
(10) one county government representative; and |
|
(11) one representative of the Texas Department of |
|
Insurance. |
|
(d) The member described by Subsection (c)(1) of this |
|
section is the presiding officer of the work group. |
|
(e) A work group member is not entitled to compensation for |
|
service on the work group or to reimbursement for any expenses |
|
incurred in performing work group duties. |
|
(f) The work group shall meet at least quarterly at the call |
|
of the presiding officer. Work group meetings are subject to the |
|
open meetings law, Chapter 551, Government Code, except that the |
|
work group may meet by teleconference. |
|
(g) The Health and Human Services Commission shall provide |
|
administrative support for the work group. Funding for the |
|
administrative and operational expenses of the work group shall be |
|
provided from the commission's existing budget. The work group may |
|
accept gifts, grants, and donations from any source to perform a |
|
work group duty. |
|
(h) The work group shall develop recommendations to |
|
address: |
|
(1) the difference in access to mental health care |
|
services between: |
|
(A) volunteer fire departments and small law |
|
enforcement agencies, fire departments, and emergency medical |
|
services providers; and |
|
(B) large law enforcement agencies, fire |
|
departments, and emergency medical services providers; |
|
(2) potential solutions for state and local |
|
governments to provide greater access to mental health care |
|
services for first responders; |
|
(3) the sufficiency of first responder organizations' |
|
employee health insurance plans for obtaining access to mental |
|
health care services for first responders; |
|
(4) the sufficiency of first responder organizations' |
|
human resources policies, including: |
|
(A) whether guaranteed employment should be |
|
offered for a first responder who self-reports a mental health |
|
issue; |
|
(B) the effectiveness of existing municipal |
|
employee assistance programs for treating post-traumatic stress |
|
disorder and whether those programs should be expanded; |
|
(C) any policy modification necessary to improve |
|
access to mental health care services for first responders; and |
|
(D) the establishment of best practices for |
|
municipalities, counties, and state agencies regarding legal |
|
reporting duties for first responders anonymously seeking mental |
|
health treatment; |
|
(5) the effectiveness of workers' compensation and |
|
other benefit claims for first responders, including determining: |
|
(A) the process by which those claims for first |
|
responders are handled and whether that process may be improved; |
|
(B) the feasibility of requiring post-traumatic |
|
stress disorder to be covered under workers' compensation for first |
|
responders and if covered, the standards for diagnosing that |
|
condition; |
|
(C) the effectiveness of workers' compensation |
|
benefits and related benefits under Chapter 607, Government Code, |
|
and whether those benefits are excessively denied; |
|
(D) the effectiveness of outsourcing workers' |
|
compensation and other benefit claims to third parties; and |
|
(E) methods for improving the appeals process for |
|
workers' compensation and other benefit claims; |
|
(6) the feasibility of mental health training during |
|
the licensing or certification and renewal process for first |
|
responders; |
|
(7) the effectiveness of methods for assessing a first |
|
responder's mental health care needs after a critical incident, |
|
including determining: |
|
(A) the feasibility of creating a standardized |
|
post-critical incident checklist to assess a first responder's |
|
mental health and of establishing minimum requirements for a first |
|
responder to return to duty; and |
|
(B) the effectiveness of critical incident |
|
stress debriefing programs used by local governments in this state |
|
and whether: |
|
(i) those programs may be expanded |
|
statewide; and |
|
(ii) peer support may benefit those |
|
programs; |
|
(8) the opportunities for public-private partnerships |
|
to provide mental health care services to first responders; and |
|
(9) possible Texas-specific barriers, including |
|
stigmas, for first responders seeking mental health care services. |
|
(i) In developing the recommendations described by |
|
Subsection (h) of this section, and for academic research related |
|
to the recommendations, the work group may collaborate with the |
|
Bill Blackwood Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas at Sam |
|
Houston State University, the College of Criminal Justice at Sam |
|
Houston State University, or any other academic institution |
|
considered necessary by the presiding officer of the work group. |
|
(j) The work group shall develop a written report of the |
|
work group's recommendations described by Subsection (h) of this |
|
section. The work group shall electronically deliver the report to |
|
the governor, the lieutenant governor, and all members of the |
|
legislature not later than January 1, 2019. |
|
(k) The work group is abolished and this Act expires June 1, |
|
2019. |
|
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017. |