MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2019 Regular Session

To: Appropriations

By: Representatives Read, Mims, Arnold, Bennett, Bounds, Brown, Clark, Hines, Holland, Mettetal, Myers, Turner, Watson, Dixon

House Bill 1652

AN ACT MAKING AN APPROPRIATION TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES, FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 2020.

     BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1.  The following sum, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated out of any money in the State General Fund not otherwise appropriated, to the Department of Human Services for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2019, and ending June 30, 2020 $    179,814,866.00.

SECTION 2.  The following sum, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated out of any money in any special fund in the State Treasury to the credit of the Department of Human Services which is comprised of special source funds collected by or otherwise available to the department for the support of the various divisions of the department, for the purpose of defraying the expenses of the department for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2019, and ending June 30, 2020...............

............................................ $ 1,340,948,160.00.

     SECTION 3.  None of the funds appropriated by this act shall be expended for any purpose that is not actually required or necessary for performing any of the powers or duties of the Department of Human Services that are authorized by the Mississippi Constitution of 1890, state or federal law, or rules or regulations that implement state or federal law.

SECTION 4.  Of the funds appropriated under the provisions of Section 1 of this act and authorized for expenditure under the provisions of Section 2 of this act, not more than the amounts set forth below shall be expended; however, notwithstanding any other provision in this act, it is the intent of the Legislature that any amount of funds and positions may be transferred between the Department of Human Services and the Department of Child Protection Services in order to comply with agreements made by the State of Mississippi with the United States District Court in reference to the Olivia Y., et al. lawsuit.

DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES

FUNDING:

General Funds......................... $     69,722,064.00.

Special Funds............................ 1,240,894,846.00

Total............................ $   1,310,616,910.00

     With the funds appropriated for this budget, the following positions are authorized:

  AUTHORIZED POSITIONS:

Permanent:    Full Time...........    1,741

Part Time...........        1

Time-Limited: Full Time...........      474

Part Time...........        0

DIVISION OF CHILD PROTECTION SERVICES

FUNDING:

General Funds........................ $      110,092,802.00

Special Funds............................... 100,053,314.00

Total....................... $     210,146,116.00

With the funds appropriated for this budget, the following positions are authorized:

  AUTHORIZED POSITIONS:

Permanent:    Full Time...........    1,537

Part Time...........        0

Time-Limited: Full Time...........      417

Part Time...........        0

     None of the funds herein appropriated shall be used in violation of Internal Revenue Service's Publication 15-A relating to the reporting of income paid to contract employees, as interpreted by the Office of the State Auditor.

     SECTION 5.  It is the intention of the Legislature that the Department of Human Services and Department of Child Protection Services shall maintain complete accounting and personnel records related to the expenditure of all funds appropriated under this act and that such records shall be in the same format and level of detail as maintained for Fiscal Year 2019.  It is further the intention of the Legislature that the agency's budget request for Fiscal Year 2021 shall be submitted to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee in a format and level of detail comparable to the format and level of detail provided during the Fiscal Year 2020 budget request process.

     SECTION 6.  Of the funds appropriated in Section 2 herein to Department of Human Services, One Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00) shall be transferred to the Department of Health, Child Care Licensure Program from the Child Care Development Fund or other appropriate special fund.  These funds are to be transferred to the Board of Health no later than July 31, 2019.  The Department of Health shall make a complete accounting to the Department of Human Services detailing the uses of these funds in accordance with federal and state regulations.

     SECTION 7.  It is the intention of the Legislature that whenever two (2) or more bids are received by this agency for the purchase of commodities or equipment, and whenever all things stated in such received bids are equal with respect to price, quality and service, the Mississippi Industries for the Blind shall be given preference.  A similar preference shall be given to the Mississippi Industries for the Blind whenever purchases are made without competitive bids.

     SECTION 8.  The Department of Human Services and the Department of Child Protection Services is authorized to expend available funds on technology or equipment upgrades or replacements when it will generate savings through efficiency or when the savings generated from such upgrades or replacements exceed expenditures thereof.

     SECTION 9.  It is the intention of the Legislature that none of the funds provided herein shall be used to pay certain utilities for state furnished housing for any employees.  Such utilities shall include electricity, natural gas, butane, propane, cable and phone services.  Where actual cost cannot be determined, the agency shall be required to provide meters to be in compliance with legislative intent.  Such state furnished housing shall include single-family and multi-family residences but shall not include any dormitory residences.  Allowances for such utilities shall be prohibited.

     SECTION 10.  In compliance with the "Mississippi Performance Budget and Strategic Planning Act of 1994," it is the intent of the Legislature that the funds provided herein shall be utilized in the most efficient and effective manner possible to achieve the intended mission of this agency.  Based on the funding authorized, this agency shall make every effort to attain the targeted performance measures provided below:

                                                          FY2020

Performance Measures                                      Target

Support Services

     Percentage of referred/directed

          investigative audits conducted.                 100.00

     Percentage of special investigations

          conducted.                                       95.00

     Percentage of referred/obtained fraud

          investigations conducted timely.                100.00

     Percentage of Administrative

          Disqualification Hearings and Fair

          Hearings conducted timely.                       99.00

     Percentage of monitoring reviews

          conducted within acceptable time frames.         98.00

     Total Amount of Funds Recovered                3,500,000.00

Aging & Adult Services

     In Home Services - Age 60 + Clients Served       100,542.00

     Community Services - Age 60 + Clients Served      73,787.00

     Congregate Meals - Units Services                232,791.00

     Home Delivered Meals - Units Services          1,486,361.00

     Substantiated Incidences of Abuse of

          Vulnerable Adults per 1,000 Population            0.20

     Home Delivered Meals, percent Reduction

          of Persons on Waiting list                        0.00

Child Support Enforcement

     Number of Paternities Established                 18,000.00

     Percent Change - Paternities Established (%)           0.00

     Number of Obligations Established                 22,500.00

     Percent Change - Obligations Established (%)           0.00

     Total Collections                            365,000,000.00

     Percentage Change in Total Collections                 0.00

     Absent Parents Located (Individuals)              60,000.00

     Percentage of Child Support Cases

          Current on Payments (%)                          30.00

Community Services

     Number of Elderly Served by CSBG & LIHEAP         19,579.00

     Number of Disabled Served CSBG/LIHEAP             18,000.00

     Number of Households Achieving

          Self-Sufficiency CSBG/LIHEAP                       882

     Increase in Rate of Household Attaining

          Self-Sufficiency (%)                              2.00

     Number of Households Stabilized CSBG/LIHEAP       17,712.00

     Percent Increase in the Number of

          Households Stabilized (%)                         2.00

     Number of Households Weatherized                     516.00

Early Childhood Care & Dev

     Number of Children Served                         28,000.00

Assistance Payments

     Dollar Amount of Assistance ($).                 690,000.00

Food Assistance

     Average monthly households                       225,000.00

     Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program

          - SNAP $                                716,413,100.00

     Percentage of Mississippi Households

          Receiving SNAP Benefits (%)                      22.51

Tanf Work Program

     Average Monthly number of TANF Households          4,600.00

     Average Monthly number of persons served

          in TANF Work Program                          1,107.00

     TANF Work Program Participation rate.                 60.00

     Persons Employed through the TANF Work

          Program for the year                            720.00

     Number of Households Receiving TANF

          Benefits During the Year                      4,600.00

     Percentage of Households Receiving TANF

          During the Year (%)                              49.00

     Percentage of TANF Participants in Job

          Training Who Enter Employment (%)                30.00

     Percentage of TANF Participants in Job

          Training Who Enter Employment at a

          Salary Sufficient to be Ineligible for

          TANF (%)                                         19.00

     Percentage of TANF Participants in Job

          Training Who Remain Employed for: One

          Year After Leaving the Program                   75.00

     Percentage of TANF Participants in Job

          Training Who Remain Employed for: Five

          Years After Leaving the Program                  65.00

Social Services Block Grant

     Total clients served by The Division of

          Family & Children's Services                 75,611.00

     Total clients served by Aging and Adult

          Services                                     21,178.00

     Total clients served by The Division of

          Youth Services                               12,880.00

Youth Services

     Number of children served in DYS

          Community Services                           12,500.00

     Institutional Component (Children Served)            300.00

     Number of volunteers in DYS Community

          Services/Institution                            100.00

     Children Placed in Alternative Placement               0.00

     Percentage of children diverted from DYS

          institutional care through problem

          resolution at the local level                    85.00

     Recidivism rate will be reduced                       20.00

     A reporting of the degree to which the performance targets set above have been or are being achieved shall be provided in the agency's budget request submitted to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee for Fiscal Year 2021.

     SECTION 11.  It is the intent of the Legislature that the Department of Human Services, Division of Child Support Enforcement, make a concentrated effort to increase collections of past due child support payments.  On or before January 1, 2020, the Executive Director of the Department of Human Services shall submit a report to the Legislative Budget Office detailing year-to-date performance measures in the Child Support Enforcement Program compared with the prior year.

     SECTION 12.  It is the intention of the Legislature that the Department of Human Services shall have the authority to spend such additional funds as it shall receive from the federal government in incentives or the federal match on those incentives for the purpose of child support enforcement.

     SECTION 13.  Of the funds appropriated in Section 1, Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000.00) shall be transferred to the Juvenile Facility Monitoring Unit at the Department of Public Safety no later than July 31, 2019.

     SECTION 14.  Of the funds appropriated herein, to the Department of Human Services One Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00), is provided for the support of the Home Delivered Meals Program and any additional funds that may be appropriated to this program.

     SECTION 15.  Of the funds provided in Section 1, herein to the Department of Human Services, an amount not to exceed One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00) is provided to fund the Senior Olympics Program.

     SECTION 16.  Of the funds appropriated in Section 1, herein to the Department of Child Protection Services, it is the intention of the Legislature that Ninety-three Thousand Six Hundred One Dollars ($93,601.00) shall be allocated to the Mississippi Children's Trust Fund supported from General Fund court assessments.

     SECTION 17. It is the intention of the Legislature that the Governor’s Office, Division of Medicaid and the Department of Human Services shall work together to implement HB 1090 of the 2017 Regular Session, known as the "Medicaid and Human Services Transparency and Fraud Prevention Act".

     SECTION 18.  The money herein appropriated shall be paid by the State Treasurer out of any money in the State Treasury to the credit of the proper fund or funds as set forth in this act, upon warrants issued by the State Fiscal Officer; and the State Fiscal Officer shall issue his warrants upon requisitions signed by the proper person, officer or officers, in the manner provided by law.

     SECTION 19.  This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2019, and shall stand repealed June 30, 2019.