HB 5452 — Relating to the establishment of a crisis nursery facility pilot program by the Health and Human Services Commission.

Summary

Relating to the establishment of a crisis nursery facility pilot program by the Health and Human Services Commission.

Bill Text

AI-generated reading aid from the bill's amendatory text — verify against the official bill.

This bill amends 1 section(s) of the Texas statutes: Section 42.0464, Human Resources Code.

• Section 42.0464, Human Resources Code

  Sec. 42.0464. CRISIS NURSERY FACILITY PILOT PROGRAM. (a) In this section: (1) "Crisis nursery facility" means a child-care facility that provides care and supervision for children who are voluntarily placed for temporary care for all or part of the 24-hour day by a parent or legal guardian to prevent or help resolve a family crisis or stressful situation or address a problem whose solution is critical to the family's healthy functioning. (2) "Program" means the crisis nursery facility pilot program established under this chapter. (b) The commission shall establish and administer the crisis nursery facility pilot program in Bexar County to address the need for temporary care for children and improve outcomes for families experiencing a crisis or a stressful situation, including escaping domestic violence. (c) Under the program, the commission shall: (1) establish child-care licensing regulations and requirements for crisis nursery facilities; and (2) provide grants to eligible municipalities or nonprofit organizations located in or otherwise serving Bexar County to establish crisis nursery facilities. (d) The commission shall establish application criteria and requirements for the acceptable use of money under the program. The application criteria must require applicants to: (1) demonstrate substantial need for emergency child care or a high rate of child removal by the department in the municipality or local area served by the applicant; (2) demonstrate capacity to meet child-care licensing regulations and requirements established by the commission; (3) provide a detailed plan for the establishment of a crisis nursery facility under the program that includes: (A) details regarding the proposed use of money received under the program; (B) information regarding any matching funds or funds available to the applicant from gifts, grants, and donations other than grants under the program; (C) the age groups of children the applicant proposes to serve; and (D) the proposed location of the facility; and (4) provide a plan for connecting families who use the facility with additional services designed to prevent future family crises. (e) The executive commissioner shall adopt rules regarding the regulation of crisis nursery facilities. The rules must: (1) specify: (A) the child-care licensing regulations that apply to a facility; (B) requirements for ensuring the safety and well-being of children in the care of the facility, including requirements regarding: (i) food preparation; (ii) sleeping arrangements; (iii) safe drop-off and pick-up procedures; and (iv) staff-to-child ratios; (C) requirements for background checks for facility employees and conduct that prevents an individual from being eligible to be employed by a facility; (D) the capacity of a facility based on the size of the facility and the children's needs; and (E) the information that must be collected by the facility and submitted to the commission at the request of the commission, including deidentified information regarding: (i) the number of children served by the facility; (ii) the average age of children served by the facility; (iii) the average length of stay for children served by the facility; (iv) any services with which the facility connects families served by the facility; (v) the reasons given for the use of the facility; and (vi) any other information the executive commissioner considers necessary to evaluate the program; (2) require that a child may not spend more than 72 consecutive hours at a crisis nursery facility; (3) allow complaints against a facility to be filed with the commission; and (4) require the commission to regularly inspect a facility, including each time a complaint is filed against the facility. (f) Not later than October 1, 2028, the commission shall prepare and submit to the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the house of representatives, and standing committee of each house of the legislature with primary jurisdiction over the c

  added

Action History

1. April 07, 2025

   Referred to Human Services

2. April 07, 2025

   Read first time

3. March 14, 2025

   Filed

Sponsors

• Josey Garcia · Primary

Subjects