H.B. No. 1711
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. IMPLEMENTATION OF REENTRY AND REINTEGRATION
PLAN. (a) The department may contract and coordinate with private
vendors, units of local government, 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.
(b) To ensure accountability, any contract entered into
under this section must contain specific performance measures that
the department shall use to evaluate compliance with the terms of
the contract.
SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 501, Government Code, is
amended by adding Sections 501.091, 501.092, 501.098, 501.099, and
501.100 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 offenders 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
offenders;
(3) a comprehensive network of transition programs to
address the needs of offenders released or discharged from a
correctional facility;
(4) the identification of providers of existing local
programs and transitional services with whom the department may
contract under Section 495.028 to implement the reentry and
reintegration plan; and
(5) subject to Subsection (c), the sharing of
information between local coordinators, persons with whom the
department contracts under Section 495.028, and other providers of
services as necessary to adequately assess and address the needs of
each offender.
(c) An offender's personal health information may be
disclosed under Subsection (b)(5) only if:
(1) the offender consents to the disclosure; and
(2) the disclosure does not violate the Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (Pub. L. No.
104-191) or other state or federal law.
(d) 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.
(e) 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. REENTRY TASK FORCE. (a) The department shall
coordinate the work of the task force with the Office of Court
Administration, and by rule shall enter into a memorandum of
understanding with the following entities to establish a reentry
task force:
(1) the Texas Youth Commission;
(2) the Texas Workforce Commission;
(3) the Department of Public Safety;
(4) the Texas Department of Housing and Community
Affairs;
(5) the Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with
Medical or Mental Impairments;
(6) the Health and Human Services Commission;
(7) the Texas Judicial Council; and
(8) an organization selected by the department that
advocates for or provides reentry or reintegration services to
offenders following their release or discharge from a correctional
facility.
(b) The reentry task force established under Subsection (a)
may:
(1) identify gaps in services for offenders following
their release or discharge to rural or urban communities in the
areas of employment, housing, substance abuse treatment, medical
care, and any other areas in which the offenders need special
services; and
(2) coordinate with providers of existing local
reentry and reintegration programs, including programs operated by
a municipality or county, to make recommendations regarding the
provision of comprehensive services to offenders following their
release or discharge to rural or urban communities.
Sec. 501.099. 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.
Sec. 501.100. RECIDIVISM STUDY; REPORT. (a) The
department shall conduct and coordinate research to determine
whether the comprehensive reentry and reintegration plan developed
under Section 501.092 and the policies adopted under Section
501.099 to encourage family unity and participation reduce
recidivism rates.
(b) Not later than September 1 of each even-numbered year,
the department shall deliver a report of the results of research
conducted or coordinated under Subsection (a) to the lieutenant
governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the
standing committees of each house of the legislature with primary
jurisdiction over criminal justice and corrections.
SECTION 3. (a) As soon as practicable after the effective
date of this Act, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shall
enter into a memorandum of understanding as 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 adopt and implement the policies required by
Section 501.099, Government Code, as added by this Act.
(c) 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 does not make an appropriation. This
Act takes effect only if a specific appropriation for the
implementation of the Act is provided in a general appropriations
act of the 81st Legislature.
SECTION 5. 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.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1711 was passed by the House on April
24, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 101, Nays 38, 1 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 1711 on May 28, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 134, Nays 9,
1 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1711 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 20, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 29, Nays
1.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor