Bill Text: TX HB1794 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Relating to the establishment of the Work Group on Mental Health Access for First Responders.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 6-1)
Status: (Passed) 2017-06-15 - Effective on 9/1/17 [HB1794 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-HB1794-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Relating to the establishment of the Work Group on Mental Health Access for First Responders.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 6-1)
Status: (Passed) 2017-06-15 - Effective on 9/1/17 [HB1794 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-HB1794-Introduced.html
85R3161 SCL-D | ||
By: Bell | H.B. No. 1794 |
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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) "First responder" has the meaning assigned by | ||
Section 421.095, Government Code. | ||
(2) "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. | ||
(3) "Work group" means the Work Group on Mental Health | ||
Access for First Responders. | ||
(b) 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 13 members appointed by | ||
the governor, unless otherwise provided, as follows: | ||
(1) the dean of the Sam Houston State University | ||
College of Criminal Justice or the dean's designee; | ||
(2) three practicing mental health professionals, as | ||
defined by Section 61.601, Education Code; | ||
(3) one representative of volunteer fire departments; | ||
(4) one representative of paid fire departments, | ||
appointed from a list provided by a statewide association of paid | ||
firefighters; | ||
(5) two representatives of paid police departments, | ||
appointed from a list provided by a statewide association of police | ||
officers; | ||
(6) 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; | ||
(7) one municipal government representative; | ||
(8) one county government representative; and | ||
(9) 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 but is entitled to reimbursement for | ||
actual and necessary expenses incurred in performing work group | ||
duties. The work group may accept gifts, grants, and donations to | ||
pay for those expenses. | ||
(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. | ||
(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 November 1, 2018. | ||
(k) The work group is abolished May 1, 2019. | ||
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives | ||
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as | ||
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this | ||
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this | ||
Act takes effect September 1, 2017. |