bill moves family services complaints to the ombudsman

The text as introduced · 741 words

89R470 AMF-D

By: Miles
S.B. No. 275

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the authority of the Health and Human Services

Commission's office of the ombudsman to resolve complaints against

the Department of Family and Protective Services.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Sections 40.0041(a), (b), (c), (d), (e), and

(f), Human Resources Code, are amended to read as follows:

(a) The executive commissioner by rule shall develop and

implement a uniform process for the commission's office of the

ombudsman to receive [ receiving ] and resolve [ resolving ]

complaints against the department throughout the state. The

process shall include:

(1) statewide procedures through which the public,

consumers, and service recipients are informed:

(A) of the right to make a complaint against the

department, including the mailing addresses and telephone numbers

of appropriate office [ department ] personnel responsible for

receiving complaints and providing related assistance; and

(B) of the office's [ department's ] procedures for

resolving a complaint, including the right to appeal a decision

made at the local level by department personnel ;

(2) development and statewide distribution of a form

or telephone system that may be used to make a complaint;

(3) a requirement that the office [ department ] provide

information by mail or telephone regarding the office's

[ department's ] procedures for investigating and resolving a

complaint to each person who makes a complaint; and

(4) a requirement that the office [ department ] provide

status information at least quarterly to a person with a pending

complaint against the department, unless the information would

jeopardize an undercover investigation.

(b) In addition to other appropriate methods, the

commission and the department may provide the information specified

by Subsection (a)(1):

(1) on each registration form, application, or written

contract for services of a person regulated by the commission

[ department ];

(2) on a sign prominently displayed in the place of

business of each person regulated by the commission [ department ];

or

(3) in a bill for service provided by a person

regulated by the commission [ department ].

(c) The commission's office of the ombudsman [ department ]

shall keep an information file about each complaint made against

the department that the office [ department ] has authority to

resolve.

(d) The executive commissioner shall develop a consistent,

statewide process for encouraging the submission of complaints to

local department personnel before contacting the commission's

office of the ombudsman to allow department staff [ addressing an

appeal by a person dissatisfied with the resolution of a complaint

at the regional level. The process shall include ] an opportunity to

resolve the complaints [ for appeal of a complaint without the

participation of the department's ombudsman office ].

(e) The commission's office of the ombudsman [ department ]

shall develop and maintain a centralized tracking system to gather

information concerning all complaints made against the department

throughout the state. The department shall require its personnel

to provide information regarding each complaint for inclusion in

records maintained under the tracking system [ at the department's

state headquarters ], regardless of the location or level at which

the complaint is initiated or resolved. The office [ department ]

shall require at least the following information to be maintained

for each complaint:

(1) the date the complaint is received;

(2) the name of the person making the complaint;

(3) the subject matter of the complaint;

(4) a record of all persons contacted by the office

[ department ] in relation to the complaint;

(5) a summary of the results of the review or

investigation of the complaint; and

(6) for each complaint determined by the office

[ department ] to require no corrective action, an explanation of the

reason that the complaint was closed without action.

(f) The commission's office of the ombudsman [ department ]

shall periodically prepare and deliver reports to the executive

commissioner and the commissioner regarding the number, type, and

resolution of complaints made in the state against the department.

SECTION 2. (a) Not later than January 1, 2026, the

executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission

shall adopt the rules necessary to implement the changes in law made

by this Act.

(b) Section 40.0041, Human Resources Code, as amended by

this Act, applies only to a complaint filed on or after January 1,

2026.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.