81R10095 HLT-F
By: Turner of Harris H.B. No. 1711
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to requiring the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to
establish a comprehensive reentry and reintegration plan for
offenders released or discharged from a correctional facility.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 495, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 495.028 to read as follows:
Sec. 495.028. CONTRACTS TO IMPLEMENT REENTRY AND
REINTEGRATION PLAN. The department may contract with private
vendors or other entities to implement the comprehensive reentry
and reintegration plan developed under Section 501.092, including
contracting to:
(1) coordinate the supervision and services provided
to offenders in correctional facilities with any supervision or
services provided to offenders who have been released or discharged
from the correctional facility;
(2) provide offenders awaiting release or discharge
with documents that are necessary after release or discharge,
including identification papers, medical prescriptions, job
training certificates, and referrals to services; and
(3) provide housing and structured programs,
including group homes for recovering substance abusers, through
which offenders are provided services immediately following
release or discharge.
SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 501, Government Code, is
amended by adding Sections 501.091, 501.092, and 501.098 to read as
follows:
Sec. 501.091. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Correctional facility" means a facility operated
by or under contract with the department.
(2) "Offender" means an inmate or state jail defendant
confined in a correctional facility.
Sec. 501.092. COMPREHENSIVE REENTRY AND REINTEGRATION PLAN
FOR OFFENDERS. (a) The department shall develop a comprehensive
plan to reduce recidivism and ensure the successful reentry and
reintegration of offenders into the community following an
offender's release or discharge from a correctional facility.
(b) The reentry and reintegration plan developed under this
section must provide for:
(1) an assessment of each offender entering a
correctional facility to determine which skills the offender needs
to develop to be successful in the community following release or
discharge;
(2) programs that address the assessed needs of each
offender; and
(3) a comprehensive network of transition programs to
address the needs of offenders released or discharged from a
correctional facility.
(c) The programs provided under Subsections (b)(2) and (3)
must:
(1) be implemented by highly skilled staff who are
experienced in working with inmate reentry and reintegration
programs;
(2) provide offenders with:
(A) individualized case management and a full
continuum of care;
(B) life-skills training, including information
about budgeting, money management, nutrition, and exercise;
(C) education and, if an offender has a learning
disability, special education;
(D) employment training;
(E) appropriate treatment programs, including
substance abuse and mental health treatment programs; and
(F) parenting and relationship building classes;
and
(3) be designed to build for former offenders
post-release and post-discharge support from the community into
which an offender is released or discharged, including support from
agencies and organizations within that community.
(d) In developing the reentry and reintegration plan under
this section, the department shall ensure that the reentry program
for long-term inmates under Section 501.096 and the reintegration
services provided under Section 501.097 are incorporated into the
plan.
Sec. 501.098. FAMILY UNITY AND PARTICIPATION. (a) The
department shall adopt and implement policies that encourage family
unity while an offender is confined and family participation in an
offender's post-release or post-discharge transition to the
community. In adopting the policies, the department shall consider
the impact of department telephone, mail, and visitation policies
on the ability of an offender's child to maintain ongoing contact
with the offender.
(b) The department, when determining in which correctional
facility to house an offender, shall consider the best interest of
the offender's family and, if possible, house the offender in, or in
proximity to, the county in which the offender's family resides.
(c) The department shall conduct and coordinate research
that examines the impact of an offender's confinement on the
well-being of the offender's child.
SECTION 3. (a) Not later than January 1, 2010, the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice shall adopt and implement the
policies required by Section 501.098, Government Code, as added by
this Act.
(b) Not later than January 1, 2010, the Texas Department of
Criminal Justice shall develop and implement the comprehensive
reentry and reintegration plan for offenders as required by Section
501.092, Government Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2009.