 Representative McClendon just completed her ninth term up at the Texas Capitol and she sits on two communities that are so incredibly powerful and important. The Appropriations Committee and the Transportation Committee. She also chairs other committees. There's just a few of her duties. She has been an incredible advocate for those who have been wrongfully imprisoned and for economic prosperity to local communities. Representative Virial has been up at the state capitals since 1999 and one thing that really struck me as I read his bio was you always hear every vote counts. In his case when he first came into the house he won by one vote so that's the power of voting and that was just amazing to me. He has been a very outspoken voice and has focused so much attention on public education and he sits on that very important committee. He also chairs the Investments Committee which is very crucial. Senator Vandeput we have Sarah Clemens with her office today and as you know she was in the house for many years and then she's actually been in the Senate since 1999 and she chairs that very important veteran affairs and military installation committee. So you are very well represented up at the Capitol and so what we are going to do quickly is talk a little bit about the 83rd session and these are some of the bills that pass that will really shape as we go into next session and some of these obviously have been talked about in great extent already. The only one I'll mention is the flexible response which is really going to redo CPS's ability to how they process those neglect cases and that is going to be really interesting as they get that rolled out or roll out in November starting in Webb County and they've got a staggered rollout on that and that's going to really shape next session but I'd like to turn it to our panel and ask them what they felt were some of their greatest accomplishments and disappointments from this last legislative session. Representative McClendon start with you. The greatest legislative accomplishment for children during the 83rd session was that I was involved with I was able to pass HB 2862 which updated some of the legislation needed for the juvenile Justice Department. As many of you know I served for 17 years at the Bear County juvenile probation department and I left there and went to City Council and served there for almost four years and so I've had a lot of contact with children and with dysfunctional families and it's important that we realize and understand what we can do in order to help these families. I don't want I just answer the question. Okay thank you thank you. Representative Ria? Thank you. Can I borrow that mic? All right. Here you can have this one. It's a pleasure to be here and that's a that's a great question. Before I answer it though I was sitting in the audience and just reflecting on how this event has grown over the years and I want to just recognize all of you who dedicate your life to serving others. Raise your hand if you're with a nonprofit organization. Yeah. Oh keep it keep them up keep them up. Okay I see some hands that aren't raised. How about if you're with a public institution in elected office or serving is as a public administrator right? That's just about everybody else. Thank you for your service. You know in this these times that we live in basketball players get recognition you know investment bankers fancy lawyers but there are many of us who have chosen a life of public service and helping others and that's important. Our community is as strong as it is today because of you. So thank you for your time and your efforts. It is a reward that that is so much bigger than we get recognized for. So thank you for your efforts. Last legislative session there are two bills that I passed that I'm very proud of. I didn't do it alone. It was with other people's help that that is the way the legislature works right. There's 181 of us hundred and fifty in the house the rest in the Senate and you got to make friends and sit down with people and figure out how to win support from a diverse set of actors from across the state. We passed legislation that decrease the number of standardized exams that high school students have to take to pass and graduate. That was a big achievement. We cut the number from fifteen down to five and we removed an option for students that should have never been an option. The minimum graduation program was a road to nowhere. If you graduated from high school on the minimum graduation program you could not qualify to enter a community college. Should have never been an option. We got rid of that. We also gave students more flexibility and choosing their electives. It's very important. Too often our high school students are eager to be on their own and and they want to get a job. They want to have a taste of independence. Those 4 years we have them in high school when they're not worrying about paying rent or utilities. If they want to immediately enter the workforce we need to make sure those 4 years are an opportunity for them to learn about what jobs are in demand in their local economy and what certifications that they can and highly valued skills they can acquire during that period so that they can land a great job after high school if that's what they want to do. We need to make sure they have choices and meaningful choices. That legislation did all of these things. Very important. The second bill that I passed with the help of many others including Ruth and members of our local delegation, Leticia in the Senate sponsored the bill. We passed legislation. Initially it was a very strong bill that said there will be a task force that redesigns how we do how we intervene with truance in Bear County. After sitting down with school districts who actually are very strong in the legislature. They know how to kill bills and stop them. We decided that truly what we what needed to happen if anything was going to happen in Bear County and this was a Bear County specific piece of legislation. If anything meaningful was going to change then all the actors all the stakeholders that are involved in the issue of truancy needs to be voluntarily at the table. And so we ended up making the recommendations that were required to come out of this task force to be voluntary. There's no teeth in this bill. But let me tell you it was the smartest thing we did. We passed this legislation. It required the mayor and the county judge to bring together people from our court system. I want to recognize Judge Jarrett who serves on this task force with me today. A number of other judges. Laura Parker is Laura here. There she is. And leaders in our public schools, Brian Woods, Superintendent of Moreside ISD. Is Brian here? His fan club is here. That's great. Judge Bull. Anybody want to clap for Judge Bull? No? Okay. We have a few takers. Ray Saldania chairs a committee. I'm on the committee and so is Leticia. So we have gone together and over the course of a number of months have analyzed this problem that we have. And the problem basically is young people are falling through the cracks. Can you get that? I'm just playing with you. So in truancy, the way it has historically been done, it's a punitive system that creates a pipeline for kids into the criminal justice system. It was designed as a criminal public safety kind of intervention where students and their families were fined when they were brought to court. We have changed that by creating a new step before the courts get involved. A caseworker will get involved. So we've changed the model to be more about a social worker intervening, sitting down with a student and his parents at their campus. We don't want to bring them downtown to a courtroom. We want to keep it in their school community. And we want to intervene at the earliest ages. And we know from the day that we studied that the kids who start missing classes in first grade are the ones that build up a pattern we have trouble with later on because they and their parents did not acquire the routines and the habits of getting to school on time and living up to the requirements of our schools. And so early intervention with a caseworker in the school community, figuring out what's happening behind the scenes. What can we do to stabilize that family to help that student stay in school is the new system that's in place. And school districts are now have all agreed all 15 of them in Bear County have come to an agreement on what the research based interventions are that they should practice. And we are wanting to design a data system to then test those assumptions of what interventions work for our community here. And so this is a really big deal for Bear County because Bear County for the is the first county in the entire state of Texas to say we're going to put a dent in the pipeline from schools to jails. We're going to work with our kids at the earliest ages and we're going to try to help their families in the root problems that result in truancy. So that those are two things that came out of last legislative session that I'm proud of. Did you ask what was the disappointment? We can just focus on the positive if you want. Well, I'll just say one more in two words. We Medicaid expansion didn't happen. That that was a terrible failure of last legislative session. We need to fix that next session. Hi, everyone. I am a far less veteran public speaker than everyone else on this panel. So please forgive me for that. And I think representative Vira hit a lot of the very important points. But my boss is actually a champion in other areas that deal with child welfare, especially human trafficking. So I think two of her biggest achievements this past legislative session were HB eight, which was authored by representative Sifronia Thompson. She sponsored it in sponsored it in the Senate, and it increased the penalties for those who compel prostitution, particularly for minors, which is a really big deal because it made it a first degree felony, which means that it can be up to 99 years in prison. So the huge deterrent. And if you try, which is not nearly long enough, but at least we're getting there. And then also SB 92, which created a minor juvenile diversion program for those who are victims of human trafficking. So when they're picked up and charged with prostitution instead of going into juvenile detention, they're put through programs that allow them to be rehabilitated and given the services they need. Next, and there's not going to be a test on this, so we are not going to go into these numbers. This is CPS budget line item by line item. And what you really just really look at the far right column, we had increases in every line item since the session before overall 11.5 percent increase. We had an increase in the case workers that child protective services got. We had an increase in prevention. The D FPS prevention division went up 43.3 percent. But if we add in what we have over at HHSC, we're all our home visiting and nestled. We had a 45 percent increase. So very good news from that last session. And as we look towards next session, starting with the budget, we see that, you know, a lot of people were really proud when Commissioner Specia came in and he asked for a lot of money. And he got $164 million in exceptional items last session. People were a little worried that he wasn't going to ask again. But guess what? He is asking for 252 million this time. So hopefully we will get a good increase in D FPS budget. This next legislative session. As you all are very well aware, the legislative climate is changing dramatically of all those big state office holders. They're all going to change with the exception of Speaker Strauss. And that's going to really bring a lot of change with regards to key committees, a lot of shuffling, a lot of retiring. The finance committee, the appropriations committee, those folks are leaving. So a lot of change, but with change comes some really good things with regards to opportunities for progress. And so let's turn it back to our speakers on our panels and talk about what you see this session, this upcoming session of how it's going to play in with the change of leadership and with the new people coming in. It's going to be interesting. That's a good word. It is. It really is. Last session, many of us were very disappointed because we did not anticipate the deep cuts that occurred. We did not anticipate the rejection that we would get from a lot of the, how can I say this, in a very nice way, the people who don't think like we think. And it was a uphill battle trying to get things done. And you had to be very strong minded and committed in order to not get discouraged. This session, I don't see it getting any better. In fact, I think it's going to be worse. And the only way you can change that is the public has to come in and talk to the individual legislators, the House members and the senators to get them to understand the needs of the citizens of this great state of Texas. And unless that happens, it's going to be much like it was last session. And it's really not, it's really not a good report. As Alex Prasino used to tell me, I used to go to him and tell him that I needed this and I needed that and I needed that for my district too. And he would say, this is not a good report, Ruth. Well, what I will tell you, I don't have good news for you for the session, except for the fact that the strength of our state lies with the people. And when the people stand up, the state rises. And these advocacy groups that are here today have been so good and famously great in getting the word across. But I'm going to have to challenge you to get a little stronger. Because you need to, you need to to that the legislators know that, you know, this is serious. We're talking about our children. This is serious. We're going to have a new governor. We're going to have a new lieutenant governor. Hopefully, it'll be somebody that representative Billy L and I will be able to have a working relationship with. And if not, we have to be able to create one. And what I tell you 140 days is not time enough to create a relationship. But we can work hard at it. And what have to happen is that you, all of you will have to come to Austin to work with us in order to change minds. And then I can say this, because these the new people, the ones that I want. And that's many of us in this room. We don't have to train them. They come to the stone building already trained. They come knowing the concerns of the people. But there are those who don't come already trained. And it's gonna be incumbent upon us. Because Mike is not gonna come in back. And I'm gonna be there by myself. Along with other members who have like us. And so we're going to have to have the help of a lot of outside when I say outside, I mean, people who are not a part of the legislative process, and not in the legislature, not the staff, and not the legislators to come and speak with members and let them know your concerns. Thank you. Well, I think Ruth's point is well taken. We all need to be a part of the legislative process. And with these new openings, this is our chance to have new leadership and impress upon them what we believe are the priorities for prosperous Texas, and that those priorities begin with investing in our children's welfare. And so I think this is actually an important opportunity. We have seen the priorities of the folks who were there before. And they weren't exactly in line with what we're trying to accomplish. So we have some new people and and that represents an opportunity to try to influence and shape what their agenda is going to be. I know next legislative session, we're going to enter in January with a surplus of revenue, a surplus larger than we have seen in my 15 years in the legislature, mainly driven by oil and gas. And so I see smiling faces that you should be smiling that is a chance to help Commissioner Specia get his priorities accomplished next legislative session, because that dollar figure that very large dollar figure in exemption items, exceptional items. What was the figure 200 and 52 52 million more dollars above a baseline in special items? Isn't a reality yet? That's what he's asking for. So the Appropriations Committee and the Finance Committee needed to liberate and decide what will be the real number with your voices in the room, they will make a better decision. And Commissioner Specia will get what he's asking for. So I really encourage you, there is power in numbers. And this organization is a great organizing advocacy group to belong to. The second point I want to make is that while we are being advocates at the state level, it's important to recognize the state is not going to save the day for our hometown community here. We need to continue pushing forward on the City of San Antonio and Bear County Commissioners Court and our local government agencies who have a direct hand in improving the quality of life for children and families. And that is hugely important. Ultimately, this is where we have more discretion, because in San Antonio, we have shared values here. We have a moral compass in our community that is unique. And it begins and ends with compassion for those in need, I believe. There is a heart of generosity here that's unique. We find shelter for the homeless. We welcome those who are storm battered. Our children are our treasure here. And so there is a lot that we can do right here at home. Ruth mentioned I will not be returning to the legislature after 15 years. I'm going to miss that building and that process. But I'm very happy to share with you that I am running to be your next Mayor of San Antonio. I love you too. And I can't wait to roll my sleeves and get to work with you as a partner. Thank you. The rest of the slides are what has been going on in the interim in terms of Department of Family and Protective Services, a lot of stuff. When you look at the presentation, if you have any questions, please email me. Give me a call and I can walk you through some of those things that will impact what happens next session. But I'd rather us spend the last few minutes that we have with our guest really talking about their priorities for children and families this next legislative session. So, Representative Clinton, if you can lead us off with what your priorities are going to be this next session. You know, I have so many priorities that my list is very long. Well, let me just say this. I have the greatest confidence in Judge Specia because he is the right person for DSPS Commissioner in the right place at the right time who can write the ship. And the ship needs to be writing. I made that word up. I have really appreciated his expertise and his dedication to doing what's right for the Texas children ever since I worked with him when I was a juvenile probation officer and he was a judge. He's always had the concerns of the children as the utmost and primary thing that we should be concerned about. And I was hoping that when he got to Austin that he would have that same concern and he does. So we can rest assured that Judge Specia is in the right place at the right time. I think we must realize that the department has been underfunded and this has led to a shortage of case workers on the state level and an overload of cases to be managed. Case loads need to be adjusted effectively to allow for the complexity of the case. The time and distance of any travel associated with the case loads and the experience level of the case worker. And you may not know how important it is to have a case worker who has a background integrity to be able to sit down with dysfunctional families and explain to them why that daughter, their son is acting out and what needs to be done in order to correct that. So you know, it's a complicated process and we need case workers who have the experience level to be able to work with these families. We deal with parents who do not have the capabilities to even assist their children with the homework. We have children who could care less about studying. And it's not because they don't want to study. They never did learn how to study. So we have a lot of issues that we need to deal with. And I say that because for child protective services to be on the forefront of people who care about children, they need to have a person like Judge Specia at the head. And so we're very fortunate. Besides, he's from San Antonio. Yep. And represent Vial, I know you won't be returning to the pink dome, but somehow I think I have some opinions about this priority is known. Yeah. And real quick, I'll make it short. We need to fully fund pre K in Texas. Another example of our values here in San Antonio, we dedicate our own dollars to help expand quality pre K in our hometown with pre K for essay that needs to continue and be strengthened. The rest of the state needs to learn from us. The second thing is Commissioner Specia's budget request needs to be met inside of that is a whole lot of good that will go toward preventing abuse and neglect for children. We need to decrease standardized testing further that over emphasis of it. I mentioned what we did at the high school level that needs to continue down to the lower grades. And I just looked over to my left and recognize one of the staff members of Jimmy Don Acock, the chairman of public ed, who worked with all of the committee members to pass House Bill five. And that's Belinda White Putzka, who is now the ED at Sunshine Cottage is now living in our community. Thank you for all your work in getting House Bill five passed. And so those are my three objectives that I hope will be carried on. I'm going to give them to you. And Sarah, can you tell us a little bit about Senator Vanipute? Sure. So Senator Vanipute is incredibly concerned about prevention of abuse and neglect, but also not just for people who have been through the CPS system, but in general, things like evidence based parenting classes being offered statewide is something that's very important to her, as well as any other. And but just in general, no matter what happens at the top of the ballot, we're facing a very divisive political climate. So what her main focus has been in all areas is trying to find really smart strategic ways to get around and navigate that system. It's really important that CPS get fully funded that they get the funding they need for prevention and everything like that. But it's also important that we do things like find a Texas solution for Medicaid expansion that everyone can be happy with and to find ways to improve education all the way through higher education for our future generation. Thank you. And the good news is that regardless what happens in the November election for Lieutenant Governor, Senator Vanipute will be coming back in some capacity next legislative session. And I just really want to thank our great panel that we've had today. Kathy, this conference is incredible. The voices that you have assembled are incredible. I can tell you for tax protects, our number one funding priority that we will be fighting very hard for is increased funding for prevention services. And if you need any additional information, please feel free to contact me or go to our website and sign up for alerts. And once again, if we have some parting comments from our panelists, and then we'll have lunch. Ruth, any parting words as represented here? Well, let's keep growing this gathering. Really, it really is as simple as there's power in numbers. And next year when I return as mayor, I want to see us outgrow this space. So, you know, we're going to all bring a friend and we're going to extend the message and the movement of making our community the greatest place to raise children healthy and ready for the future. Ditto to Mike and I would just like to challenge each and every person here to get out and talk to folks about the issue that you are most concerned about. And the voices of children. It's amazing. It's just think about just think about what that means. And if you will be advocate for the child in your life, and the child in the lives of your friends, it makes such a difference, makes such a difference. And that's the way we're going to be able to change the state. And that's the way we're going to be able to influence the appropriations that come out of the legislature for our cities, our counties. And so I know that we have the commitment here in this room. And I just don't want you to underestimate the power that each of you has in order to make changes. Thank you very much. Thank y'all very much. And with that, I believe Kathy is going to try.