NOTE: As provided in LFC policy, this report is
intended only for use by the standing finance committees of the
legislature. The Legislative Finance Committee does not assume
responsibility for the accuracy of the information in this report when used for
other purposes.
The most recent FIR
version (in HTML & Adobe PDF formats) is available on the Legislative
Website. The Adobe PDF version includes
all attachments, whereas the HTML version does not. Previously issued FIRs and attachments may be
obtained from the LFC in
SPONSOR: |
SFC |
DATE TYPED: |
|
HB |
|
||
SHORT TITLE: |
Statewide Information & Referral Task
Force |
SB |
CS/422/SPACS/SFCS |
||||
|
ANALYST: |
|
|||||
APPROPRIATION
Appropriation
Contained |
Estimated
Additional Impact |
Recurring or
Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
||
FY03 |
FY04 |
FY03 |
FY04 |
|
|
|
|
|
Indeterminate See Narrative |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(Parenthesis
( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Duplicates
House Bill 537.
Responses
Received From
Department
of Health (DOH)
Health
Policy Commission (HPC)
State
Agency on Aging (SAA)
Synopsis
of Bill
The Senate Finance Committee Substitute for
Senate Bill 422 creates a statewide task force to develop a statewide
information and referral plan, using a 211-telephone number for access to
health and human services. The task force will be located in the developmental
disabilities planning council
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.
The 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.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
Agencies will be
required to absorb the costs of developing the information and referral plan an existing budgets since the bill does not have an
appropriation.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
Agencies
note that participation in the task force will require significant staff time.
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, 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
BD/prr:yr:njw