HOUSE BILL 36

50th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2011

INTRODUCED BY

Danice Picraux

AN ACT

RELATING TO SOCIAL SERVICES; REQUIRING STATE AGENCIES THAT PROVIDE SOCIAL SERVICES TO CONTRACT WITH A NEW MEXICO ENTITY THAT OPERATES A STATEWIDE DATABASE OF SOCIAL SERVICES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. SOCIAL SERVICES DATABASE.--

          A. Each state agency and contractor that provides social services shall contract with a social services database provider. The database shall provide residents with access to information regarding state and federal agencies, local government bodies, philanthropic organizations and other organizations that provide social services. The database shall:

                (1) be available statewide, in both rural and urban areas;

                (2) offer a comprehensive database of social services, including contact information regarding any persons providing social services pursuant to contract. The social service information provided in the database shall include, at minimum:

                     (a) behavioral and physical health services, including individual behavorial and physical health providers;

                     (b) transportation services;

                     (c) housing and housing retrofitting services;

                     (d) food services;

                     (e) legal services, including individual legal services entities or practitioners; and

                     (f) employment services;

                (3) be offered in at least two languages, including English and Spanish;

                (4) be easy to access and understand by residents who have minimal reading and computer literacy skills;

                (5) provide for electronic updates by individual organizations and their representatives;

                (6) offer a systematic update of the services and resources listed;

                (7) be available for viewing online and in customizable print documents;

                (8) be retrievable in a variety of electronic formats so as to be widely accessible in accordance with current industry standards;

                (9) be able to be customized to support the information needs of an organization populating the database; and

                (10) offer in-person training or training that is available through virtual online technology on using and sharing information with the database.

          B. Each state agency or contractor that offers social services shall provide to the social services database provider information regarding the social services that the agency or contractor provides and shall keep that information current in the database.

          C. A state agency or contractor that uses public funds to fund an incomplete project or to complete a project shall share information about the project with the social services database provider.

          D. In grant requests for projects that entail resource data collection, a state agency shall include a request for funding to use and share information with a social services database pursuant to this section and a request for funding customized data collection tools to support specific project needs.

          E. A state agency that provides social services shall seek partnerships among other state agencies, the federal government and private nonprofit persons to identify and apply for available grant funding and other in-kind and financial resources for the implementation of the provisions of this section.

          F. For the purposes of this section:

                (1) "contractor" means a person that provides social services for a state agency pursuant to contract;

                (2) "database" means a repository of information, stored online or otherwise by means of information technology, on one or more subjects that is organized in a way that facilitates local or remote information retrieval;

                (3) "social service" means assistance at no or below-market cost, including behavioral, dental and physical health care; care for dependent adults or children; education; food; housing or housing improvement; legal services; and transportation; and help in maintaining affordable access to utilities and other life essentials provided to improve the life and living conditions for persons in need of that assistance; and

                (4) "social services database provider" means a single entity that is based in the state that operates statewide an online database of social services.

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