¡Attención!

SAVE THE DATE!

Training Opportunities:
Post Ike: Youth Services Respond to Crisis
Holly Bell, Amy Dunn, Jack Nowicki
December 16, 2008
Houston

Rethinking Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Frank J. Kros
January 16, 2009
Austin

and

Youth In Action
February 4, 2009
TNOYS & Texans Care for Children partner to hold Youth In Action/Children's Advocacy Day
For more information click here

TNOYS Legislative Agenda 2007

Prior to each legislative session, TNOYS surveys its membership to develop a legislative agenda.  Our agenda for the 80th legislative session, which convened on January 9, 2007, is below.  Our agenda for the 81st legislative session, which will convene on January 13, 2009, is coming soon.  If you would like to provide input on the 2009 TNOYS legislative agenda, please contact our Policy Coordinator, Christine Gendron, at cgendron@tnoys.org. 

 

 2007 Legislative Agenda

Click here to download the 2007 TNOYS Legislative Agenda in PDF format.

 Vulnerable Youth & Families Need Community Supports!

Like small children, youth have critical developmental needs, in areas that include Competence (physical, intellectual, emotional, civic, employability), Character, Confidence, and Connection to family and community.  When adverse conditions exist and these needs aren’t met, a downward spiral with devastating results can and frequently does occur.

  • Of the 61,433 children confirmed as victims of child abuse and neglect in Texas in 2005, 26,307, over 42%, were age 7-17 (DFPS Annual Report, 2005).
  • Children who are abused or neglected are 50% more likely to be arrested while a juvenile, 40% more likely to be arrested for a violent crime as an adult, and 33% more likely to abuse drugs. The results of one study showed that 55% of status offenders and 45% of juvenile delinquents had substantiated histories of maltreatment. The percent of status offenders who had been sexually abused was seven times higher among runaways (Child Maltreatment Histories Among Runaway and Delinquent Children. Clinical Pediatrics, December 1990).
  • While the dropout rate has decreased since 1996, Texas still ranks among the 15 worst states in the country for kids leaving school without a high school diploma, regardless of how the dropout rate is measured (Texas KIDS COUNT special report, The High Cost of Dropping Out: How Many? How Come? How Much? 2006)
  • In 2005, 18% of young adults in Texas (age 18-24) were not enrolled in school, not working, and had no post-secondary degree. Texas ranks 39th among states (Kids Count 2006).
  • Risky behaviors of teens in Texas are on the rise, with 52.5% of teens having sexual intercourse, which is higher than the national rate of 46.8%. Teen rates of heavy drinking and driving under the influence of alcohol are also higher than the national average (CPPP, The State of Texas Children 2006).
  • The U.S. Census estimates that 21% of Texas children under age 19 (1.4 million) are uninsured  - the highest percentage in the nation. (CPPP, Texas Health Care: What Has Happened and What Work Remains, June 2006)
  • The American Community Survey shows Texas with the 5th highest poverty rate among the states: one out of six Texas is poor. Texas has the 5th highest rate of child poverty (one in four children lives in poverty). (CPPP, U.S. Census, 2006)

Our priorities must change!  If we believe that children should be raised by capable, involved families (as strongly supported by research), Texas must be willing to invest in services to help children of ALL ages and their families, who are struggling and failing.

Legislative Priority Action Items:

#1.  Increase Funding for Prevention and Early Intervention Programs at DFPS, in order to strengthen prevention of child abuse and neglect and juvenile delinquency

  • Support DFPS Exceptional Item #1: Restore 53.5% cut to Prevention and Intervention Programs in DFPS appropriations request (resulting from 10% baseline reduction to DFPS budget) – total $40.4 million
  • Support DFPS Exceptional Item #9:  Increase funding for Prevention and Early Intervention Programs at DFPS, by $13.3 million for the biennium; ADDITIONALLY, restore10%  funding diverted from STAR for UCAP services
  • Increase STAR Program 10% - $4.2 million for the biennium, as indicated in Exceptional Item #9, DFPS LAR; PLUS restore an additional 10%, or $4.2 million for the biennium, previously diverted for Universal Child Abuse Prevention services now provided by STAR contractors. (Total of $8.4 million/biennium)
  • Increase CYD Program funds to add programs in two new high risk zip code areas
  • Fund 3-4 new evidence-based contracted child abuse and juvenile delinquency prevention programs
  • Funds to implement community-based at risk family services, called for in SB6

#2.  Ensure that children in foster care receive optimal care in out-of-home placements, by paying rates that adequately reimburse the increased cost of care

  • Increase reimbursement rates for foster and substitute care services, to more adequately cover costs and pay new costs associated with expanded requirements in licensing standards.
  • Reimburse emergency shelters at a higher rate, for high-level children served in shelters when other placements are not available.

--TNOYS joins with others to support the following goals and legislative or policy initiatives, vital to promote the safety and well-being of Texas children and their families

Child Welfare

  • Allocate additional funding for conservatorship, family-based safety services, and Preparation for Adult Living caseworkers at the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) to support caseload ratios consistent with national standards
  • Require all outsourced caseworkers and supervisors to achieve core competencies through required trainings, experience, or education in a manner that is consistent throughout all regions of the state
  • Ensure that the Child Abuse Prevention Trust Fund has legal protection and a stable funding stream 
  • Increase funding in adequately support and expand Transition Centers, which provide supportive services to older youth leaving foster care
  • Implement a Kinship Care Subsidy Program for Kincare Relatives at or below 200% of the federal poverty level who become a child’s legal guardian or custodian

Children’s Mental Health

  • Direct the Department of State Health Services by rider to re-establish a children’s mental health unit, and require that the Department publish quarterly child mental health services data; to ensure that children’s mental health services/behavioral health services and policy receive adequate focus
  • Increase funding for community-based children’s mental health services sufficiently to serve all eligible children with mental health care needs, and avoid more restrictive/costly treatment outside the community
  • Require all state agencies serving children and families to incorporate a “System of Care” approach with training to ensure the acquisition of skills to implement evidence based and promising practices
  • Expand the Texas Integrated Funding Initiative, serving children with multiple needs across multiple agencies, and integrate with the “System of Care” approach to training (above)

Juvenile Justice

  • Support the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission’s budget request so that juveniles receive community-based probation services and avoid entering the more costly and restrictive Texas Youth Commission (TYC) system
  • Provide dedicated resources to provide services to truants and other youth with Class C misdemeanors, through a mandated municipal fee in larger county or municipal jurisdictions
  • Fund community-based mental health and substance abuse programs to address the needs of at-risk youth so that the youth never enter the juvenile justice system
  • Fully fund substance abuse and mental health services for youth incarcerated in TYC facilities who need these services; and for youth who have left TYC, in order to reduce recidivism
  • Fund TYC so that it can lower its staff-to-youth ratios to national standards and increase staff training
  • Enhance protections to reduce violence in TYC facilities
  • Create an entity within state government to provide objective research to state policymakers on criminal justice issues

Children’s Health

  • Simplify the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and Children’s Medicaid by moving to 12-month continuous eligibility
  • Help low income families achieve self-sufficiency. Adopt CHIP and Children’s Medicaid policies that modify the asset test. Create exemptions to the 90-day waiting period. Factor in childcare expenses and child support when calculating income
  • Increase CHIP and Medicaid reimbursement rates to at least the level of Medicare reimbursement rates to ensure that enough healthcare professionals are available to serve children in these programs regardless of where they live
  • Increase funding for community-based outreach to inform families about the availability of CHIP and Children’s Medicaid and to assist with enrollment and renewal
  • Remove barriers for Children’s Medicaid and CHIP application, enrollment, and renewal, including repealing the 90-day waiting period and the assets test for CHIP coverage; implement 12 months of continuous eligibility for children in Medicaid and CHIP

Child Poverty

  • Protect funding for critical health and human service programs that together keep millions of children and families from malnutrition, illness, eviction, and homelessness
  • Require all legislation that contains cuts to children and family programs to be accompanied by a Child Impact Statement that would include the number of children impacted and the nature of the impact