Texas Workforce Commission

Final Results of Last Sunset Review

The following material summarizes results of the Sunset review of TWC, including management actions directed to TWC that do not require statutory change. For additional information see the Texas Workforce Commission Staff Report with Final Results.

Vocational Rehabilitation

• Requires the transfer of responsibility for the Vocational Rehabilitation, Business Enterprises of Texas, and Older Blind Independent Living programs, as well as the Criss Cole Rehabilitation Center from DARS to TWC, subject to the necessary federal approval, on September 1, 2016. The Rehabilitation Council of Texas is also included in the transfer. The bill requires the Health and Human Services Transition Legislative Oversight Committee to oversee the transfer of the Vocational Rehabilitation and related programs from DARS to TWC. TWC, DARS, and the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) must work together to develop and submit to the Legislative Oversight Committee a transition plan as soon as practicable after September 1, 2015, to ensure the transfer and integration is accomplished in a careful and deliberate manner with minimal disruption to consumers. The bill also requires TWC to integrate DARS’ vocational rehabilitation staff into local workforce boards and centers no later than August 31, 2018.
• Directs TWC to work with DARS and HHSC to ensure the efficient transition of the Vocational Rehabilitation and related programs. (management action – nonstatutory)
• Directs TWC to integrate the newly transferred programs within the workforce system in a manner that minimizes any disruption in client services and satisfies federal requirements, so that federal funds are not jeopardized. (management action – nonstatutory)
• Requires TWC, in coordination with DARS, to integrate administration, management, and oversight of DARS’ blind and general Vocational Rehabilitation programs by October 1, 2017, to eliminate administrative duplication and better serve consumers.
• Requires TWC to partner with the Texas Education Agency to develop a mechanism to target schools with the highest need for vocational rehabilitation services for students with disabilities who are transitioning from school to work.
• TWC, in conjunction with DARS, should develop a transition plan for the integration of the administration, management, and oversight of the blind and general Vocational Rehabilitation programs, no later than September 1, 2016. (management action – nonstatutory)
• Directs DARS to take immediate steps to ensure access to services for people with multiple disabilities, no matter which division offers the services. TWC should continue this responsibility once the transfer of vocational rehabilitation services occurs. (management action – nonstatutory)
• TWC should create clear, validated guidelines for vocational rehabilitation counselors to ensure better decision making for successful, cost-effective outcomes. (management action – nonstatutory)
• TWC should create a robust and consistent case review system for the Vocational Rehabilitation Program, no matter the nature of a person’s disability. (management action – nonstatutory)
• TWC should designate staff to monitor performance of vocational rehabilitation services statewide and within each local board area. (management action – nonstatutory)
• Directs TWC and DARS to ensure employer relations staff from DARS’ blind and general Vocational Rehabilitation programs are consolidated and work in tandem with their TWC counterparts to build and expand business relationships to increase employment opportunities for people with disabilities. (management action – nonstatutory)
• Directs DARS to develop a strategy for assisting federal contractors to hire individuals with disabilities, and to task its employer relations staff with researching and anticipating similar federal or state initiatives in the future. TWC would carry out this strategy after vocational rehabilitation functions are transferred. (management action – nonstatutory)

Treasury Offset

• Authorizes TWC to participate in the federal treasury offset program to recover outstanding unemployment compensation debts.

Civil Rights Division

• Transfers the powers and duties of the Human Rights Commission to the Texas Workforce Commission.
• Eliminates the requirement for the Civil Rights Division to review fire department exams for discriminatory factors.
• Requires TWC, as part of the division’s annual report, to provide data on the number and type of state agency employment discrimination complaints with merit.
• Requires TWC to develop risk assessment criteria in rule for determining when an agency could be subject to review more frequently than the regular six-year schedule.
• Requires TWC to charge state agencies a rate that covers the costs of reviewing their personnel policies and procedures and annually reassess reimbursement rates to ensure true cost recovery.
• Directs TWC to assist the division in making improvements to electronically track data from state agency personnel policy reviews and use this data to better manage the review process. (management action – nonstatutory)

Child Care

• Requires TWC to include more in-depth data on the effectiveness and outcomes of child care subsidies in its statutorily required report on the program.
• Directs TWC to study potential methods of providing incentives for parents participating in the child care subsidy program to choose providers with a Texas Rising Star quality designation and include the results in its 2017 report to the Legislature. (management action – nonstatutory)
• Requires TWC to establish a process in rule providing for regular review of the Texas Rising Star child care quality standards.
• Requires TWC to develop a policy on gathering and using stakeholder input regarding the child care program.
• Directs TWC to evaluate measures of the child care program’s effectiveness in its internal monthly performance analysis. (management action – nonstatutory)
• Directs TWC to establish baseline board-level data on the Texas Rising Star program and evaluate impacts and trends as program changes progress. (management action – nonstatutory)
• Directs TWC to regularly gather feedback from boards on the quality of TWC’s assistance in managing the child care program. (management action – nonstatutory)
• Directs TWC to establish and regularly update a consolidated policies and procedures manual for the child care program. (management action – nonstatutory)

Career Schools

• Requires TWC to make information on career school enforcement actions available to the public on its website, including each school’s administrative penalties, program revocations, and enrollment suspensions.
• Directs TWC to study the costs, benefits, and impact on employers of collecting employee occupational information as part of employers’ quarterly wage reports, and report its findings to the Legislature by December 1, 2016. (management action – nonstatutory)
• Directs TWC to provide a link to its Reality Check tool on its career schools webpage. (management action – nonstatutory)

Appeals Process and Public Information

• Directs TWC to create a searchable and publicly accessible precedent manual for wage disputes. (management action – nonstatutory)
• Directs TWC to establish procedures and criteria for determining when policies clarified through precedents would be more appropriate for rulemaking. (management action – nonstatutory)
• Directs TWC to provide greater public access to written materials up for discussion in its open public meetings to facilitate the public’s ability to follow and understand deliberations. (management action – nonstatutory)
• Requires TWC to make wage claim notices available to employees in English and Spanish and ensure employees are notified of their ability to request notice in either language.

Continuation

• Continues the Texas Workforce Commission for 12 years.