Bill Text: TX HB2651 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: Relating to required training and continuing education requirements for persons who provide medical care or other support to survivors of sexual assault.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-3)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2023-05-24 - Removed from local & uncontested calendar [HB2651 Detail]

Download: Texas-2023-HB2651-Comm_Sub.html

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By: Howard, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Blanco) H.B. No. 2651
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 3, 2023;
May 5, 2023, read first time and referred to Committee on Health &
Human Services; May 19, 2023, reported favorably by the following
vote: Yeas 8, Nays 0; May 19, 2023, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to required training and continuing education
requirements for persons who provide medical care or other support
to survivors of sexual assault.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 420.011(c), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(c) The attorney general shall adopt rules establishing
minimum standards for the certification of a sexual assault nurse
examiner and the renewal of that certification by the nurse
examiner, including standards for examiner training courses and for
the interstate reciprocity of sexual assault nurse examiners. The
certification is valid for three [two] years from the date of
issuance. The attorney general shall also adopt rules establishing
minimum standards for the suspension, decertification, or
probation of a sexual assault nurse examiner who violates this
chapter.
SECTION 2. Section 323.002(a), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) Each health care facility that has an emergency
department shall comply with Sections 323.004 and 323.0044. At the
request of the department, a health care facility that has an
emergency department shall submit to the department for approval a
plan for providing the services required by Section 323.004 to
sexual assault survivors who arrive for treatment at the emergency
department of the health care facility. Each health care facility
that is not a SAFE-ready facility shall include in the plan
submitted under this subsection the facility's written policies
developed under Sections 323.0045(c) and 323.0046(c).
SECTION 3. Section 323.0045, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 323.0045. BASIC SEXUAL ASSAULT FORENSIC EVIDENCE
COLLECTION TRAINING. (a) A person who performs a forensic medical
examination on a sexual assault survivor must complete [have] at
least two hours of basic forensic evidence collection training or
the equivalent education that conforms to the evidence collection
protocol developed by the attorney general under Section 420.031,
Government Code.
(b) A person who completes a continuing medical or nursing
education course in forensic evidence collection described by
Section 156.057, 204.1563, or 301.306, Occupations Code, that is
approved or recognized by the appropriate licensing board is
considered to have completed basic [sexual assault] forensic
evidence collection training for purposes of this chapter.
(c) Each health care facility that has an emergency
department and that is not a SAFE-ready facility shall develop a
written policy [plan] to ensure that a person described by
Subsection (a) completes training on basic [train personnel on
sexual assault] forensic evidence collection in accordance with
this section.
SECTION 4. Subchapter A, Chapter 323, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 323.0046 to read as follows:
Sec. 323.0046. BASIC SEXUAL ASSAULT RESPONSE POLICY AND
TRAINING FOR CERTAIN HEALTH CARE FACILITY PERSONNEL. (a) A health
care facility that has an emergency department shall provide at
least one hour of basic sexual assault response training to
facility employees who provide patient admission functions,
patient-related administrative support functions, or direct
patient care. The training must include instruction on:
(1) the provision of survivor-centered,
trauma-informed care to sexual assault survivors; and
(2) the rights of sexual assault survivors under
Chapter 56A, Code of Criminal Procedure, including:
(A) the availability of a forensic medical
examination, including an examination that is available when a
sexual assault survivor does not report the assault to a law
enforcement agency; and
(B) the role of an advocate as defined by Section
420.003, Government Code, in responding to a sexual assault
survivor.
(b) An employee described by Subsection (a) who completes a
continuing medical or nursing education course in forensic evidence
collection described by Section 156.057, 204.1563, or 301.306,
Occupations Code, that is approved or recognized by the appropriate
licensing board is considered to have completed basic sexual
assault response training for purposes of this section.
(c) Each health care facility that has an emergency
department and that is not a SAFE-ready facility shall develop a
written policy to ensure that all appropriate facility personnel
complete the basic sexual assault response training required by
Subsection (a).
SECTION 5. Subchapter D, Chapter 204, Occupations Code, is
amended by adding Section 204.1563 to read as follows:
Sec. 204.1563. CONTINUING EDUCATION IN FORENSIC EVIDENCE
COLLECTION. (a) A physician assistant licensed under this chapter
whose practice includes treating patients in an emergency room
setting shall complete at least two hours of continuing medical
education relating to:
(1) the provision of trauma-informed care to sexual
assault survivors;
(2) appropriate community referrals and prophylactic
medications;
(3) the rights of a sexual assault survivor under
Chapter 56A, Code of Criminal Procedure, including the opportunity
to request the presence of an advocate as defined by Section
420.003, Government Code, and a forensic medical examination;
(4) forensic evidence collection methods; and
(5) state law pertaining to the custody, transfer, and
tracking of forensic evidence.
(b) The content of the continuing medical education
relating to forensic evidence collection must conform to the
evidence collection protocol distributed by the attorney general
under Section 420.031, Government Code.
SECTION 6. Sections 301.306(a) and (c), Occupations Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(a) As part of continuing education requirements under
Section 301.303, a license holder who is employed to work in an
emergency room setting and who is required under board rules to
comply with this section shall complete at least two hours of
continuing education relating to:
(1) the provision of trauma-informed care to sexual
assault survivors;
(2) appropriate community referrals and prophylactic
medications;
(3) the rights of a sexual assault survivor, including
the opportunity to request the presence of an advocate as defined by
Section 420.003, Government Code, and a forensic medical
examination under Chapter 56A, Code of Criminal Procedure;
(4) forensic evidence collection methods; and
(5) state law pertaining to the custody, transfer, and
tracking of forensic evidence [relating to forensic evidence
collection not later than:
[(1) September 1, 2008; or
[(2) the second anniversary of the initial
issuance of a license under this chapter to the license holder].
(c) The board shall adopt rules to identify the license
holders who are required to complete continuing education under
Subsection (a) and to establish the content of that continuing
education. The content of the continuing education relating to
forensic evidence collection must conform to the evidence
collection protocol distributed by the attorney general under
Section 420.031, Government Code. The board may adopt other rules
to implement this section, including rules under Section 301.303(c)
for the approval of education programs and providers.
SECTION 7. Section 420.011(c), Government Code, as amended
by this Act, applies only to an application for renewal of a sexual
assault nurse examiner certificate filed on or after the effective
date of this Act. An application for renewal of a certificate filed
before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
effect on the date the application was filed, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 8. (a) Section 323.002(a), Health and Safety Code,
as amended by this Act, applies only to a report requested by the
Department of State Health Services on or after January 1, 2024.
(b) Section 323.0045(a), Health and Safety Code, as amended
by this Act, applies only to a forensic medical examination that
occurs on or after December 1, 2023. A forensic medical examination
that occurs before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
law as it existed immediately before that date, and the former law
is continued in effect for that purpose.
(c) Not later than December 1, 2023, a health care facility
that has an emergency department shall develop the written policies
required by Section 323.0045(c), Health and Safety Code, as amended
by this Act, and Section 323.0046(c), Health and Safety Code, as
added by this Act.
(d) Notwithstanding Section 323.0046(a), Health and Safety
Code, as added by this Act, a health care facility that has an
emergency department is not required to comply with that subsection
until December 1, 2023.
SECTION 9. Section 301.306, Occupations Code, as amended by
this Act, and Section 204.1563, Occupations Code, as added by this
Act, apply to an application for the renewal of a license filed on
or after September 1, 2024. An application for the renewal of a
license filed before that date is governed by the law in effect on
the date the application was filed, and the former law is continued
in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 10. Not later than June 1, 2024, the Texas Physician
Assistant Board shall adopt the rules required by Section 204.1563,
Occupations Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 11. Not later than June 1, 2024, the Texas Board of
Nursing shall adopt the rules required by Section 301.306,
Occupations Code, as amended by this Act.
SECTION 12. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
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