Quick recap

The meeting began with introductions and updates on legislative advocacy efforts, including the importance of federal funding and rule changes. The group discussed various challenges facing substance use disorder services, including budget cycles, parental consent requirements, and credentialing issues for community behavioral health centers. The conversation ended with discussions on developing a legislative strategy, focusing on identifying organizational strengths and addressing potential threats, while emphasizing the need to finalize priorities by early next year.

Next steps

• Noelle: collect feedback on chemical dependency treatment facility regulation rules by today

• Noelle: set up notification to track when parental consent rule clarifications will be discussed on the education side

• Noelle: send the December 11th Health and Human Services executive committee meeting agenda regarding Texas Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics rule changes

• Jennifer: ask Susan Garnett about the benefits of CCBHC credential from their local mental health authority experience

• Duane: contact Dr. Laguna to ask when and how cost information should be conveyed for the rate study

• Noelle: bring up the rate study information request at upcoming meeting with HHSC in the next week

• Noelle and Duane: work on creating an outline for legislative strategy that includes strengths, challenges, opportunities, and threats analysis

• All members: come to next meeting with legislative ideas for the working group discussion

• Noelle: reach out to members who can't attend to submit their legislative ideas for review

• Group: finalize legislative priorities by second quarter of next year

  
  

Summary

New Participant Joins Legislative Call

Noelle greeted the attendees and mentioned Guillermo and Sherry's absence from the call. She introduced Stephanie Grogan, who is the Impact Director at Phoenix House Texas, as a new participant joining the legislative call. Duane acknowledged Stephanie's introduction.

ASAP Advocacy and Budget Strategy

Noelle Delgado, Executive Director of ASAP, opened the meeting and introduced participants, including Duane Gallagher, who has been ASAP's contract lobbyist since 2007. The group discussed the importance of advocating for the federal block grant funding and developing a strategy for addressing the sunset of certain rules. Duane provided updates on the Texas budget cycle, highlighting the significance of the HHSC Legislative Appropriations Request (LAR) process and the need for increased funding for substance use disorder services. He also mentioned the upcoming leadership change at HHSC, with Stephanie Muth set to become the new Executive Commissioner. The conversation ended with a discussion on policy changes and rulemaking processes that could impact the work of attendees' organizations.

Chemical Dependency Rule Feedback Discussion

Noelle requested feedback on the chemical dependency treatment facility regulation rules by the 9th, and Duane discussed the importance of providing input early to influence rule changes and develop legislative priorities. They highlighted issues like the difficulty of transferring licenses to new locations and unnecessary restrictions on counselor interns performing assessments, emphasizing the need for achievable legislative goals. Duane stressed the importance of finalizing priorities early to increase the chances of passing bills into law, given the challenges of the legislative process.

Parental Consent Challenges in Rural Areas

The group discussed challenges with parental consent requirements for prevention providers, particularly in rural communities, which were implemented in a recent education bill. Duane explained that while the bill's author has moved to Texas Tech, the provisions seem to be unintended consequences, and suggested targeting specific issues for legislative clarification. Noelle agreed to investigate the exact issues being faced by different school districts and explore potential workarounds, while also looking into upcoming rule changes for Texas Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics.

CBHHC Credentialing Discussion

The group discussed the Community Behavioral Health Center (CBHHC) credential, with Jennifer confirming that their local mental health authority has it and Noelle explaining that LBHAs and LMHAs fall into this category. Noelle speculated that HHSC might eventually outsource contracts to these organizations, though this was not confirmed. The conversation concluded with a brief mention of Sunset and auditor contacts, though no specific details were provided.

Rate Increases and Legislative Strategy

The group discussed upcoming rate increases and data collection requirements with HHSC, with Noelle explaining that organizations should be notified when additional cost information is needed to justify rate changes. The conversation ended with a shift toward developing a legislative strategy, with Noelle proposing to transform the group into a working committee focused on identifying organizational strengths, challenges, and opportunities while addressing threats like the potential combination of mental health and substance use block grants. Duane emphasized the importance of finalizing legislative priorities by the second quarter of next year, and Jennifer raised concerns about the fate of combining mental health and SUDS block grants, which Noelle clarified remains uncertain but may be addressed in January.