1. (a) To receive Emergency Response Services (ERS), a person must meet the functional need criteria as set by HHSC. HHSC uses a standardized assessment instrument to measure the person's ability to perform activities of daily living. This yields a score, which is a measure of the person's level of functional need. HHSC sets the minimum required score for a person to receive ERS, which HHSC may periodically adjust commensurate with available funding. HHSC will seek stakeholder input before making any change in the minimum required score for functional eligibility.

2. (b) The person must also meet the following requirements:

   1. (1) live alone, be alone routinely for eight or more hours each day, or live with a person who could not call for help or otherwise assist the applicant or client in an emergency;
   2. (2) be mentally alert enough to operate the equipment properly, in the judgment of the HHSC caseworker;
   3. (3) have a phone with a private line, if the system requires a private line to function properly;
   4. (4) be willing to sign a release statement that allows the responder to make a forced entry into the applicant's or client's home if the responder is asked to respond to an activated alarm call and has no other means of entering the home to respond; and
   5. (5) live in a place other than a skilled institution, assisted living facility, foster care setting, or any other setting where 24-hour supervision is available.

Source Note:The provisions of this §271.95 adopted to be effective May 1, 1984, 9 TexReg 2166; amended to be effective August 1, 1984, 9 TexReg 3876; amended to be effective July 1, 1986, 11 TexReg 2827; amended to be effective April 29, 1988, 13 TexReg 1547; amended to be effective April 15, 1996, 21 TexReg 2404; amended to be effective August 31, 2004, 29 TexReg 8376; transferred effective September 15, 2023, as published in the August 18, 2023, issue of the Texas Register, 48 TexReg 4523; amended to be effective September 10, 2025, 50 TexReg 5936.