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SPONSOR: |
JP Taylor |
DATE TYPED: |
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HB |
537 |
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SHORT TITLE: |
Statewide Information & Referral Task
Force |
SB |
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ANALYST: |
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APPROPRIATION
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Appropriation
Contained |
Estimated
Additional Impact |
Recurring or
Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
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FY03 |
FY04 |
FY03 |
FY04 |
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$150.0 |
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Recurring
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GF |
(Parenthesis
( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Duplicates
Senate Bill 422.
Responses
Received From
Department
of Health (DOH)
Health
Policy Commission (HPC)
State
Agency on Aging (SAA)
Synopsis
of Bill
House Bill 537 appropriates $150.0 to the
Developmental Disabilities Planning Council for the purpose of establishing a
statewide task force to develop a statewide information and referral program,
using a 211-telephone number. The bill proposes to pilot test the program in
The
bill contains an emergency clause.
Significant
Issues
The task force includes representative from Department of Health (DOH), Human Services Department (HSD) Agency on Aging, the long-term care link program, Children Youth and Families Department (CYFD) Department of Labor (DOL) and the Governor’s Committee on Concerns for the Handicapped, Commission for the Blind, the Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, a statewide organization that raises money for health and human services purposes and other interested parties.
DOH reports
that there is a need for a comprehensive health and human services referral and
information resource system. According
to the Dona Ana County Advocates for Children, Youth and Families, this system
has been implemented in 20% of the states in the
DOH
indicates that there is an existing effort underway to develop a broader
web-based Public Health Division (PHD) resource directory for information and
referral. It is suggested that the Information and Referral Task Force examine
the development of the PHD directory and utilization of other existing resource
directories before appropriating additional funding for resource and
referral.
State Agency on Aging reports that several cities, including Albuquerque, Las Cruces and Santa Fe, are developing “211” information systems. To date, the cities have not developed a plan to coordinate the systems.
Considerations
must be made to accommodate callers who do not speak English. This is particularly
likely in
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The appropriation of
$150.0 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining
at the end of FY 04 shall revert to the general fund.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
Agencies
note that participation in the task force and in the pilot test would require
significant staff time. In particular, the development and implementation of
the pilot test would require considerable staff time and some administrative
efforts.
DUPLICATION
Duplicates
Senate Bill 422
TECHNICAL ISSUES
HB
537 makes no provision for accountability and monitoring of the recipient of
the appropriated funds (the Developmental Disabilities Planning Council.)
DOH questions why the Developmental Disabilities
Planning Council has been chosen to receive the appropriation and carry out the
provisions of HB 537. It is unclear, for
example, whether the Council has the appropriate experience and personnel for
such a task. HB 537 does not establish any system for oversight of this work,
or any means of holding the Council accountable
The
following suggestions would strengthen the provisions in HB 537:
·
State the types of services to be covered
by the proposed system, and whether it is intended for situations of emergency
or catastrophic events.
·
Require attention to issues of telephone
infrastructure.
·
Require exploration of alternatives for
people without telephones.
·
Require that the task force consider ways
for a system to determine what kind of referral is appropriate for each caller.
·
Require that the proposed task force make
provisions for updating the planned system.
·
Add provisions for oversight and
monitoring of the project and for holding the recipients of funds accountable.
OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
A
211 system could be a single point of entry into a statewide information and
referral system. This approach could be a partial solution to the fragmented
nature of health and human services systems, which at present can make access
extremely difficult. Such a system has been implemented in 20% of the states in
the
Nationally,
211 information and referral systems have been found to decrease non-emergency
calls on 911 emergency lines. Such a system might also reduce the burden of
non-emergency visits to emergency rooms. This could reduce the burden on the
emergency medical system, as well as the associated costs.
According
to DOH there
may be significant benefits from a 211 general information and referral system,
however, the following list note potential problems that are not dealt with in
HB 537.
A
211 phone line would have serious limitations in the event of an emergency,
since phone lines might be overloaded or down. In addition, in
POSSIBLE QUESTIONS
Should the funds be
appropriated to DOH instead of the Developmental Disabilities Planning Council?
Does the Council have
the experience and personnel to carry out the task?
BD/yr