STATE AGENCIES UNDERGO SUNSET REVIEW PROCESS – TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF STATE HEALTH SERVICES
Last week, I wrote about the Texas Health and Human Services Commission undergoing the sunset review process. As a reminder, this is the process in which the state has to identify and eliminate government waste, duplication and general inefficiencies in state agencies, the Texas Legislature established the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission in 1977. The sunset review process is designed to review each of these agencies every twelve years. This review is done by taking up a certain number of the state agencies each time the Texas Legislature convenes. In this week’s article, we are going to review the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS).
The Texas Department of State Health Services is an agency that has under gone multiple name changes over the years and has had its duties and responsibilities changed and/or transferred to and from other state agencies. Today, the agency is sub-agency of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Additionally, the day to day operations of the agency are overseen by the agency’s commissioner who oversees the staff of the DSHS and implements the duties and responsibilities of the agency.
According to a publication submitted to the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission by the Texas Department of State Health Services in May of 2014, the Department was originally created in 2003. This agency is currently a division of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, which I featured in last week’s article. Originally, the Texas Department of State Health Services was created as an experiment. This experiment however, would result in one of the most complicated and complex state agencies in the state of Texas. Some of the former agencies that were either combined or renamed to create the current Department of State Health Services were the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, The Texas Department of Health, The Texas Department of Health Care Information Council, and the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation. They merged these various former Texas state agencies with a very ambitious mission in mind thereby creating over 200 programs and 165 funding streams with the intent and goal to improve the health and wellness of our fellow Texans.
As I had mentioned previously, the Texas Department of State Health Services is one of the most complex agencies in the state of Texas with regards to its overall scope and service. Due to its vast diversity of services, the DSHS executive team needs to be agile and have excellent multitasking abilities in order to be effective in crisis management related situations. A few of the components of the agency are to oversee both mental health and substance abuse programs and be able to effectively try and integrate the health service organizations. Though this was the intent, it has resulted in what has been described as a “nesting doll of agencies within agencies”. Some of the facilities that the agency operates are the state mental health hospital system along with substance abuse programs and other various associated community mental health programs.
If you are interested in learning more visit Texas Department of State Health Services.
Some of the other agencies we will review in the upcoming weeks include the State Office of Administrative Hearings, the Texas Education Agency, and the Department of Aging and Disabilities Services, as well as a number of other agencies. If you would like to learn more visit the Sunset Advisory Commission.
If you have any questions regarding the Texas Department of State Health Services or the sunset review process, please don’t hesitate to contact either my Capitol or District office. My offices are available at any time to assist with questions, concerns or comments (Capitol Office, 512-463-0672; District Office, 361-949-4603).
