HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE CHAPTER 531. PROVISIONS GENERALLY APPLICABLE TO MENTAL HEALTH AND INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY SERVICES

HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE

TITLE 7. MENTAL HEALTH AND INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY

SUBTITLE A. SERVICES FOR PERSONS WITH MENTAL ILLNESS OR AN INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY

CHAPTER 531. PROVISIONS GENERALLY APPLICABLE TO MENTAL HEALTH AND INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY SERVICES

Sec. 531.001. PURPOSE; POLICY. (a) It is the purpose of this subtitle to provide for the effective administration and coordination of mental health and intellectual disability services at the state and local levels.

(b) Recognizing that a variety of alternatives for serving persons with mental illness or an intellectual disability exists, it is the purpose of this subtitle to ensure that a continuum of services is provided. The continuum of services includes:

(1) mental health facilities operated by the Department of State Health Services and community services for persons with mental illness provided by the department and other entities through contracts with the department; or

(2) state supported living centers operated by the Department of Aging and Disability Services and community services for persons with an intellectual disability provided by the department and other entities through contracts with the department.

(c) It is the goal of this state to provide a comprehensive range of services for persons with mental illness or an intellectual disability who need publicly supported care, treatment, or habilitation. In providing those services, efforts will be made to coordinate services and programs with services and programs provided by other governmental entities to minimize duplication and to share with other governmental entities in financing those services and programs.

(d) It is the policy of this state that, when appropriate and feasible, persons with mental illness or an intellectual disability shall be afforded treatment in their own communities.

(e) It is the public policy of this state that mental health and intellectual disability services be the responsibility of local agencies and organizations to the greatest extent possible. The Department of State Health Services shall assist the local agencies and organizations by coordinating the implementation of a statewide system of mental health services. The Department of Aging and Disability Services shall assist the local agencies and organizations by coordinating the implementation of a statewide system of intellectual disability services. Each department shall ensure that mental health and intellectual disability services, as applicable, are provided. Each department shall provide technical assistance for and regulation of the programs that receive funding through contracts with that department.

(f) It is the public policy of this state to offer services first to those persons who are most in need. Therefore, funds appropriated by the legislature for mental health and intellectual disability services may be spent only to provide services to the priority populations identified in the applicable department's long-range plan.

(g) It is the goal of this state to establish at least one special officer for mental health assignment in each county. To achieve this goal, the Department of State Health Services shall assist a local law enforcement agency that desires to have an officer certified under Section 1701.404, Occupations Code.

(h) It is the policy of this state that the Department of State Health Services serves as the state's mental health authority and the Department of Aging and Disability Services serves as the state's intellectual disability authority. The executive commissioner is responsible for the planning, policy development, and resource development and allocation for and oversight of mental health and intellectual disability services in this state. It is the policy of this state that, when appropriate and feasible, the executive commissioner may delegate the executive commissioner's authority to a single entity in each region of the state that may function as the local mental health or intellectual and developmental disability authority for one or more service areas in the region.

Added by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1991. Amended by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 60, Sec. 19, eff. Sept. 1, 1993; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 821, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995; Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1420, Sec. 14.800, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.

Amended by:

Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1 (S.B. 219), Sec. 3.1333, eff. April 2, 2015.

Sec. 531.002. DEFINITIONS. In this subtitle:

(1) "Business entity" means a sole proprietorship, partnership, firm, corporation, holding company, joint-stock company, receivership, trust, or any other entity recognized by law.

(2) "Chemical dependency" means:

(A) abuse of alcohol or a controlled substance;

(B) psychological or physical dependence on alcohol or a controlled substance; or

(3) "Commission" means the Health and Human Services Commission.

(4) "Commissioner" means:

(A) the commissioner of state health services in relation to mental health services; and

(B) the commissioner of aging and disability services in relation to intellectual disability services.

(5) "Community center" means a center established under Subchapter A, Chapter 534.

(6) "Department" means:

(A) the Department of State Health Services in relation to mental health services; and

(B) the Department of Aging and Disability Services in relation to intellectual disability services.

(7) "Effective administration" includes continuous planning and evaluation within the system that result in more efficient fulfillment of the purposes and policies of this subtitle.

(8) "Executive commissioner" means the executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission.

(9) "ICF-IID" means the medical assistance program serving individuals with an intellectual or developmental disability who receive care in intermediate care facilities.

(10) "Intellectual disability services" includes all services concerned with research, prevention, and detection of intellectual disabilities, and all services related to the education, training, habilitation, care, treatment, and supervision of persons with an intellectual disability, but does not include the education of school-age persons that the public educational system is authorized to provide.

(11) "Local agency" means:

(A) a municipality, county, hospital district, rehabilitation district, school district, state-supported institution of higher education, or state-supported medical school; or

(B) any organizational combination of two or more of those entities.

(12) "Local intellectual and developmental disability authority" means an entity to which the executive commissioner delegates the executive commissioner's authority and responsibility within a specified region for planning, policy development, coordination, including coordination with criminal justice entities, and resource development and allocation and for supervising and ensuring the provision of intellectual disability services to persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the most appropriate and available setting to meet individual needs in one or more local service areas.

(13) "Local mental health authority" means an entity to which the executive commissioner delegates the executive commissioner's authority and responsibility within a specified region for planning, policy development, coordination, including coordination with criminal justice entities, and resource development and allocation and for supervising and ensuring the provision of mental health services to persons with mental illness in the most appropriate and available setting to meet individual needs in one or more local service areas.

(14) "Mental health services" includes all services concerned with research, prevention, and detection of mental disorders and disabilities, and all services necessary to treat, care for, supervise, and rehabilitate persons who have a mental disorder or disability, including persons whose mental disorders or disabilities result from a substance abuse disorder.

(15) "Person with a developmental disability" means an individual with a severe, chronic disability attributable to a mental or physical impairment or a combination of mental and physical impairments that:

(A) manifests before the person reaches 22 years of age;

(B) is likely to continue indefinitely;

(C) reflects the individual's need for a combination and sequence of special, interdisciplinary, or generic services, individualized supports, or other forms of assistance that are of a lifelong or extended duration and are individually planned and coordinated; and

(D) results in substantial functional limitations in three or more of the following categories of major life activity:

(i) self-care;

(ii) receptive and expressive language;

(iii) learning;

(iv) mobility;

(v) self-direction;

(vi) capacity for independent living; and

(vii) economic self-sufficiency.

(16) "Person with an intellectual disability" means a person, other than a person with a mental disorder, whose mental deficit requires the person to have special training, education, supervision, treatment, or care in the person's home or community or in a state supported living center.

(17) "Priority population" means those groups of persons with mental illness or an intellectual disability identified by the applicable department as being most in need of mental health or intellectual disability services.

(18) "Region" means the area within the boundaries of the local agencies participating in the operation of community centers established under Subchapter A, Chapter 534.

(19) "State supported living center" means a state-supported and structured residential facility operated by the Department of Aging and Disability Services to provide to clients with an intellectual disability a variety of services, including medical treatment, specialized therapy, and training in the acquisition of personal, social, and vocational skills.

Added by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1991. Amended by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 107, Sec. 6.01, eff. Aug. 30, 1993; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 821, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1995; Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 367, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.

Amended by:

Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 284 (S.B. 643), Sec. 17, eff. June 11, 2009.

Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 1292 (H.B. 2303), Sec. 1, eff. June 19, 2009.

Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1 (S.B. 219), Sec. 3.1333, eff. April 2, 2015.

Sec. 531.0021. REFERENCE TO STATE SCHOOL OR SUPERINTENDENT. (a) A reference in law to a "state school" means a state supported living center.

(b) A reference in law to a "superintendent," to the extent the term is intended to refer to the person in charge of a state supported living center, means the director of a state supported living center.

Added by Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 284 (S.B. 643), Sec. 18, eff. June 11, 2009.

Amended by:

Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1 (S.B. 219), Sec. 3.1333, eff. April 2, 2015.

Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 30 (H.B. 446), Sec. 6.05, eff. September 1, 2023.

Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 30 (H.B. 446), Sec. 14.01(1), eff. September 1, 2023.