(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.
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