SECTION 351.15. Information Regarding Community-based Services

(a) Applicability. This section applies to the following state health and human services agencies: Texas Department on Aging (TDoA); Texas Department of Human Services (TDHS); Texas Department of Health (TDH); Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation (TDMHMR); Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services (TDPRS).

(b) Information to be provided to long-term care clients. A state health and human services agency that delivers long-term care services must provide to each long-term care client; to the client's legally authorized representative (LAR) (as defined in §241.151, Health and Safety Code); and, if the LAR is not a member of the client's family and it is possible, to at least one family member, information about all long-term care and long-term support options appropriate to the client's needs that are currently available. The information must be provided before the agency allows the client to be placed in a care setting, including a nursing home, intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded, or institution for the mentally retarded licensed or operated by the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services, to receive care or services provided by the agency or by a person under an agreement with the agency. The information must be provided in a manner designed to maximize the client's understanding of all available options. The information must include community-based options and other options available through other agencies and providers and must be easily understood by the client, the client's family member, or the client's LAR. The agency must obtain a signed statement from the client or the client's LAR that confirms that the client was informed about community-based care and support options. The agency must retain a copy of each statement in the client's records. If the client, or the client's LAR, selects an option that is not immediately available for any reason, the agency must provide assistance in placing the client's name on a waiting list for that option. A competent adult client (a client who has not been adjudicated as incapacitated to manage his or her personal affairs) may withhold consent to provide notification to the client's family member or other LAR. If the client is in the conservatorship of a health and human services agency, the information must be provided to the client's agency caseworker and foster parents, if applicable.

(c) Programs affected. The requirements of subsection (b) of this section apply to the following agencies and programs:

(1) TDHS--Nursing Facility Care; Hospice Program; Swing Bed Program; Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE Waiver Program); Adult Foster Care; Consumer Managed Personal Assistance Services; Home Delivered Meals; Day Activity and Health Services; Emergency Response; In-Home Family Support Program; Medically Dependent Children Program (MDCP); Primary Home Care; Residential Care; Respite Care; Special Services to Persons with Disabilities; Special Services to Persons with Disabilities 24-Hour Attendant Care, Community Based Alternatives Waiver Program; Community Living Assistance and Support Services Waiver Program Deaf-Blind Multiple Disabilities; Waiver Program; and the Consolidated Waiver Program.

(2) TDH--Texas Health Steps; Texas Health Steps-Comprehensive Care Program (CCP); Children with Special Health Care Needs Services Program (CSHCN); Respite Grant Programs.

(3) TDMHMR--all long-term care services.

(4) TDPRS--all long-term care services.

(d) Reporting. By November 1 of each year, agencies that operate the programs listed in subsection (c) of this section must report to the Texas Legislature and to the Health and Human Services Commission the number of clients served in community-based settings and the number of clients served in residential-care settings in the programs during the previous fiscal year. By November 1 of each year, DPRS must report to the Texas Legislature and to the Health and Human Services Commission the number of Adult Protective Services clients placed in community-based and nursing home services and the number of Child Protective Services children by type of placement. By November 1 of each year, TDoA must report to the Texas Legislature and to the Health and Human Services Commission the number of clients served in the Options for Independent Living program.

Source Note: The provisions of this §351.15 adopted to be effective February 13, 2000, 25 TexReg 717; amended to be effective August 4, 2002, 27 TexReg 6685