Bill Text: TX HB3428 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Enrolled

Texas House Bill 3428 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Relating to training on Alzheimer's disease and dementia for certain Department of Family and Protective Services employees and area agencies on aging employees and volunteers.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 5-1)

Status: (Passed) 2019-06-14 - Effective on 9/1/19 [HB3428 Detail]

Download: Texas-2019-HB3428-Enrolled.html



	H.B. No. 3428




	AN ACT
	relating to training on Alzheimer's disease and dementia for
	certain Department of Family and Protective Services employees and
	area agencies on aging employees and volunteers.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 40, Human Resources Code,
	is amended by adding Section 40.036 to read as follows:
	Sec. 40.036. ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE AND DEMENTIA TRAINING.
	(a) In this section:
	(1) "Adult protective services employee" means a
	division employee who performs a function described by Section
	40.035(a).
	(2) "Division" means the department's adult protective
	services division.
	(b) Except as provided by Subsections (c) and (d), the
	department shall develop a training program for adult protective
	services employees on identifying and interacting with individuals
	who have Alzheimer's disease or dementia. The program must include
	an initial four-hour training requirement and an annual two-hour
	continuing education requirement. The requirements are in addition
	to the training required by Section 40.035, but may be provided in
	conjunction with that training. The training program must cover,
	at a minimum, information about:
	(1) dementia, including behavioral and psychiatric
	symptoms;
	(2) interaction with an individual who has impaired
	communication skills, including effective and respectful
	communication techniques;
	(3) techniques for understanding and approaching an
	individual's behavioral symptoms;
	(4) specific aspects of safety, including wandering by
	an individual;
	(5) abuse, neglect, and exploitation, as defined by
	Section 48.002, of an individual with Alzheimer's disease or
	dementia, including:
	(A) identifying the most common types of abuse;
	(B) recognizing signs of abuse, neglect, and
	exploitation; and
	(C) identifying when it is necessary to contact a
	law enforcement agency about potential criminal behavior toward an
	individual with Alzheimer's disease or dementia that is committed
	by a family member or caretaker of the individual or that occurs in
	an institution;
	(6) identification of self-neglect by an individual
	with Alzheimer's disease or dementia; and
	(7) protocols for connecting an individual with
	Alzheimer's disease or dementia to local care resources or
	professionals who are skilled in dementia care to encourage
	cross-referring the individual for services and increase reporting
	of incidents of abuse, neglect, or exploitation.
	(c) The division may use a training program developed or
	adopted by the Health and Human Services Commission or the
	Department of State Health Services if the program is equivalent to
	or more extensive than the program requirements under Subsection
	(b).
	(d) If another state law or a federal law or regulation
	requires training on Alzheimer's disease or dementia that is more
	rigorous or extensive than the training required by Subsection (b),
	the division shall provide training to adult protective services
	employees that complies with that law or regulation.
	(e) An area agency on aging must ensure that the agency's
	employees or volunteers who provide services directly to an elderly
	individual or the individual's family members or caregivers receive
	training on Alzheimer's disease and dementia. The training must:
	(1) be evidence-based or evidence-informed; and
	(2) focus on:
	(A) recognizing the signs and symptoms of
	cognitive impairments caused by Alzheimer's disease or dementia;
	and
	(B) understanding how the cognitive impairments
	may affect the screening of and service planning for an elderly
	individual.
	(f) An area agency on aging may provide the training
	described by Subsection (b) through:
	(1) a course developed by the agency; or
	(2) a course that is available from the department,
	the Health and Human Services Commission, the Department of State
	Health Services, or an entity that is involved in education or
	services relating to Alzheimer's disease or dementia, including the
	Alzheimer's Association and caregiver organizations.
	SECTION 2. As soon as practicable after the effective date
	of this Act, the Department of Family and Protective Services
	shall:
	(1) develop or approve the Alzheimer's disease and
	dementia training program required by Section 40.036, Human
	Resources Code, as added by this Act; and
	(2) begin providing the initial training required by
	that section to all existing and newly hired adult protective
	services employees, as defined by that section.
	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.


	______________________________	______________________________
	President of the Senate	Speaker of the House


	I certify that H.B. No. 3428 was passed by the House on May 3,
	2019, by the following vote: Yeas 139, Nays 1, 2 present, not
	voting.

	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House


	I certify that H.B. No. 3428 was passed by the Senate on May
	22, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.

	______________________________
	Secretary of the Senate
	APPROVED: _____________________
	Date

	_____________________
	Governor