During the 2027 Texas session of the Texas Legislature, some of the most important legislation for kids and families will be the Sunset bills that reshape key state agencies — and the first public documents for the process are now available.
The sixteen state agencies scheduled to go through the Sunset review process leading up to the 2027 session are responsible for a number of programs for children and families. They provide Medicaid health insurance so kids can see the doctor, enroll families in SNAP so they can put food on the table, ensure kids in foster care are safe, provide child care scholarships so parents can go to work, manage rehabilitation programs for incarcerated youth, and much more.
The Sunset process provides a critical opportunity for Texans who care about these programs and the lives they touch. We can highlight what works and what doesn’t, suggest improvements, and influence the way state leaders retool the agencies.
What are the key phases in the Sunset process? The state’s Sunset Commission will study the state agencies that are up for review, write a report about how to improve each one, hold public hearings, and then provide recommendations to the Legislature, which will make the final decisions about the future of the agencies during the session.
State agencies just took one of the first steps to kick off this Sunset process, releasing their self-evaluation reports. They are quite long — HHSC submitted nearly 1,200 pages — although they largely consist of background information followed by a few pages on self-identified “Major Issues.” We are still analyzing the reports but wanted to pass them along to you and flag a couple initial points that caught our attention:
Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC)
- The first Major Issue identified in the report is “Improve the Customer Experience.” We wholeheartedly agree that during the Sunset process and the 2027 legislative session, one of the top priorities should be ensuring that families who are already eligible for Medicaid, SNAP, or other programs can enroll without encountering outdated technology, delays, or other unintended barriers. The investments the Legislature made this year are an essential first step in that direction, but there is still more work to do. HHSC’s eligibility offices, the “Your Texas Benefits” app, and 2-1-1 call center are all points of entry for enrolling in these critical services; however, there is no central location for information, and the process is highly dependent on each caseworker’s knowledge and expertise. Streamlining and modernization could help, but we need to watch closely so that important details aren’t lost and vital programs aren’t cut in the effort to be “efficient”.
- HHSC did not list children’s mental health among its Major Issues, although the agency oversees much of the state’s behavioral health system. By contrast, both DFPS and TJJD identified gaps in children’s behavioral health services as major barriers to fulfilling their missions. We agree that the Sunset Commission should focus on how Texas is addressing children’s mental health across systems. We encourage the Sunset Commission to review the 31 recommendations offered in the Children’s Behavioral Health Strategic Plan (CBHSP) and use it as a guide for addressing concerns related to gaps in children’s mental health services across Texas. One recommendation from the CBHSP that we support, which was mentioned more broadly in HHSC’s Major Issues, is modernizing its data system to improve continuity of care and data sharing across systems.
Texas Workforce Commission (TWC)
- Texas administers the child care scholarship program through the state’s workforce agency, contracting with 28 local workforce development boards (LWDB) that adopt local policies to administer child care services. In the report, TWC acknowledged that federal monitoring in 2024 found inconsistencies among the LWDBs and the agency’s efforts to provide guidance to address those inconsistencies. The Sunset Commission should consider recommendations for more consistency statewide, while also allowing flexibility for local communities to meet their unique child care needs. A study cited in the TWC report, conducted by the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center, can provide helpful guidance on States’ governance of the child care services program.
- In 2022, HB 619 directed TWC to prepare a Child Care Workforce Strategic Plan to improve the quality of the infant, toddler, preschool, and school-age child care workforce in Texas. In its report for the Sunset process, TWC notes that it has completed 21 of the 30 action items listed in the 2023-2025 report. We urge the Sunset Commission to review the recommendations and consider gaps that should be addressed to strengthen the early educator workforce to ensure the system can keep pace with Texas’s rapid growth and evolving workforce needs.
- TWC’s self-evaluation also reported an average of 80,000 children on the waiting list for child care scholarships from the program in FY 2024. We are thrilled that the Legislature made a $100 million investment in the scholarships during the recent legislative session to connect working parents with high-quality child care. As the Sunset process continues, it will be important to consider additional steps to ensure that the agency’s highly effective child care scholarships can reach more Texas families.
Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS)
DFPS identified three Major Issues that we agree should be priorities during the Sunset process:
- DFPS highlighted that families often encounter complex and fragmented systems when trying to access services, particularly children’s mental health services and behavioral health care administered by HHSC. The agency acknowledges that limited availability and confusing processes mean families are frequently left without the help they need until a CPS case is opened. Even after CPS steps in as a last resort for these families, the same service gaps continue to undermine safety and stability for the children in their care. Addressing the gap in children’s mental health services to prevent children from entering foster care and support children in care, especially those without placement, has been and continues to be a top priority for Texans Care for Children.
- DFPS also raised concerns with the quality and timeliness of child abuse/neglect investigations and delays in families’ access to records, which can undermine fairness in the early stages of a CPS case. While not explicitly identified by DFPS, an effective way to ensure parents are treated fairly and have access to the information they need is by providing access to legal representation early in the process. The Legislature has encouraged earlier access to legal representation by creating the Family Protection Representation program at the Texas Indigent Defense Commission, but has not yet funded this work, leaving a major gap in practice.
- Finally, DFPS acknowledges ongoing challenges with Community-Based Care (CBC), which is designed to shift foster care services to local nonprofits that can be more responsive to their community’s needs. The Legislature recently enacted reforms to strengthen oversight and accountability of CBC. However, the report points to several concerns about ensuring children in foster care have safe, stable placements and a path to a permanent, loving family.
Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD)
- Under Major Issues, TJJD emphasized the mental health needs of youth involved with the justice system as its primary challenge. The agency reports that many young people remain in county facilities or are committed to a detention facility not because of the severity of their offense, but because local communities lack appropriate behavioral health services and crisis stabilization options. These gaps make it harder for kids to get care in their own communities, even though state leaders have long supported the goal of serving more youth closer to home instead of sending them to faraway facilities. The Sunset Commission should look closely at these gaps during its review of both TJJD and HHSC.
Department of State Health Services (DSHS)
- The DSHS report identifies the state’s concerning rate of congenital syphilis as a significant opportunity for improvement. The report notes that Texas accounts for a staggering quarter of all congenital syphilis cases in the nation, despite only 9 percent of the U.S. population living in the state, with cases rising 150 percent since 2018 to more than 900 each year. That is unacceptable, but the Legislature’s investment this past session gives us important new tools to change course. Funding for a provider hotline, rapid response nurses, and expanded education will help doctors diagnose and treat syphilis in pregnancy and ensure babies get timely care. We applaud DSHS for realigning congenital syphilis prevention into its Community Health Improvement Division so these efforts are tied closely to maternal and child health work. Now it’s up to the state to make sure these investments are implemented effectively, so providers get the support they need and Texas families are protected from preventable harm.
We look forward to working with the Sunset Commission, state agencies, and legislators to seize these opportunities to more effectively serve Texas kids and families.
