MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2018 Regular Session

To: Appropriations

By: Representatives Read, Mims, Arnold, Bennett, Bounds, Brown, Currie, Gipson, Holland, Mettetal, Myers, Turner, Watson

House Bill 1600

AN ACT MAKING AN APPROPRIATION TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES, FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 2019.

     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, 2018, and ending June 30, 2019 $    50,698,567.00.

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, 2018, and ending June 30, 2019...............

............................................ $ 1,236,934,632.00.

     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.  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

     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 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 2018.  It is further the intention of the Legislature that the agency's budget request for Fiscal Year 2020 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 2019 budget request process.

     SECTION 6.  Of the funds appropriated in Section 2, 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, 2018.  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 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:

                                                          FY2019

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 Referred Administrative

          Disqualification Hearings and Fair Hearings

          Conducted Timely                                100.00

     Percentage of Monitoring Reviews Conducted

          within Acceptable Timeframes                     98.00

     Total Amount of Funds Recovered ($)            2,851,330.00

Aging & Adult Services

     In-home Services (Persons)                           17,391

     Community Services (Persons)                         15,118

     Number of Congregate Meals                          460,948

     Number of Home-Delivered Meals                    2,238,296

     Substantiated Incidences of Abuse of

          Vulnerable Adults per 1,000 Population            0.20

     Home Delivered Meals, Percent Reduction

          of Persons on Waiting List (%)                    1.00

Child Support Enforcement

     Number of Paternities Established                    45,938

     Change in Paternities Established (%)                  4.60

     Number of Obligations Established                    42,000

     Change in Obligations Established (%)                 16.00

     Total Collections ($)                        390,000,000.00

     Change in Total Collections (%)                        5.00

     Absent Parents Located (Number of)                   60,000

     Child Support Cases Current

          on Payments (%)                                  35.00

Community Services

     Number of Elderly Served by CSBG & LIHEAP            19,579

     Number of Handicapped Served                         18,400

     Number of Households Achieving

          Self-Sufficiency                                   882

     Increase in Rate of Household

          Attaining Self Sufficiency (%)                    2.00

     Number of Households Stabilized                      17,712

     Increase in the Number of

          Households Stabilized (%)                         2.00

     Number of Households Weatherized                        516

Early Childhood Care & Dev

     Number of Children Served                            28,000

Assistance Payments

     Dollar Amount of Assistance ($)                  830,000.00

Food Assistance

     Average Monthly Households                          285,000

     Supplemental Nutrition Assistance

          Program - SNAP ($)                      950,000,000.00

     Percentage of Mississippi Households

          Receiving SNAP Benefits (%)                      21.60

Tanf Work Program

     TANF Households per Month (Avg)                       6,800

     Work Program (Avg Persons Served)                     2,200

     TANF Work Program Participation Rate (%)              50.00

     Persons Employed                                        720

     Number of Households Receiving TANF

          Benefits During the Year                         6,800

     Percentage of Households Receiving TANF

          During the Year (%)                              45.00

     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

          Five Years After Leaving the Program (%)         65.00

Social Services Block Grant

     Clients Served, Family & Child Services              75,611

     Clients Served, Aging & Adult Services               21,178

     Clients Served, Youth Services                       12,880

Youth Services

     Community Services (Children Served)                 12,500

     Institutional Component (Children Served)               300

     Number of Volunteers - Community Services               100

     Children Placed in Alternative Placement               0.00

     Children Diverted from Institutional

          Care (%)                                         85.00

     Recidivism Rate (%)                                   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 2020.

     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, 2019, 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.  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 14.  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, 2018.

     SECTION 15.  Of the funds appropriated herein, an additional One Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00) of Special Funds to be transferred from the Division of Medicaid, are provided to fund the Home Delivered Meals Program in the Aging and Adult Services Division.

     SECTION 16.  Of the funds provided in Section 1, an amount not to exceed One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00) is provided to fund the Senior Olympics Program.

     SECTION 17.  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 18.  This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2018, and shall stand repealed June 30, 2018.