Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HB1711 Compare Versions

The same version is selected twice. Please select two different versions to compare.

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	H.B. No. 1711
2	2
3	3
4	4	AN ACT
5	5	relating to requiring the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to
6	6	establish a comprehensive reentry and reintegration plan for
7	7	offenders released or discharged from a correctional facility.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 495, Government Code, is
10	10	amended by adding Section 495.028 to read as follows:
11	11	Sec. 495.028. IMPLEMENTATION OF REENTRY AND REINTEGRATION
12	12	PLAN. (a) The department may contract and coordinate with private
13	13	vendors, units of local government, or other entities to implement
14	14	the comprehensive reentry and reintegration plan developed under
15	15	Section 501.092, including contracting to:
16	16	(1) coordinate the supervision and services provided
17	17	to offenders in correctional facilities with any supervision or
18	18	services provided to offenders who have been released or discharged
19	19	from the correctional facility;
20	20	(2) provide offenders awaiting release or discharge
21	21	with documents that are necessary after release or discharge,
22	22	including identification papers, medical prescriptions, job
23	23	training certificates, and referrals to services; and
24	24	(3) provide housing and structured programs,
25	25	including group homes for recovering substance abusers, through
26	26	which offenders are provided services immediately following
27	27	release or discharge.
28	28	(b) To ensure accountability, any contract entered into
29	29	under this section must contain specific performance measures that
30	30	the department shall use to evaluate compliance with the terms of
31	31	the contract.
32	32	SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 501, Government Code, is
33	33	amended by adding Sections 501.091, 501.092, 501.098, 501.099, and
34	34	501.100 to read as follows:
35	35	Sec. 501.091. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
36	36	(1) "Correctional facility" means a facility operated
37	37	by or under contract with the department.
38	38	(2) "Offender" means an inmate or state jail defendant
39	39	confined in a correctional facility.
40	40	Sec. 501.092. COMPREHENSIVE REENTRY AND REINTEGRATION PLAN
41	41	FOR OFFENDERS. (a) The department shall develop a comprehensive
42	42	plan to reduce recidivism and ensure the successful reentry and
43	43	reintegration of offenders into the community following an
44	44	offender's release or discharge from a correctional facility.
45	45	(b) The reentry and reintegration plan developed under this
46	46	section must provide for:
47	47	(1) an assessment of offenders entering a correctional
48	48	facility to determine which skills the offender needs to develop to
49	49	be successful in the community following release or discharge;
50	50	(2) programs that address the assessed needs of
51	51	offenders;
52	52	(3) a comprehensive network of transition programs to
53	53	address the needs of offenders released or discharged from a
54	54	correctional facility;
55	55	(4) the identification of providers of existing local
56	56	programs and transitional services with whom the department may
57	57	contract under Section 495.028 to implement the reentry and
58	58	reintegration plan; and
59	59	(5) subject to Subsection (c), the sharing of
60	60	information between local coordinators, persons with whom the
61	61	department contracts under Section 495.028, and other providers of
62	62	services as necessary to adequately assess and address the needs of
63	63	each offender.
64	64	(c) An offender's personal health information may be
65	65	disclosed under Subsection (b)(5) only if:
66	66	(1) the offender consents to the disclosure; and
67	67	(2) the disclosure does not violate the Health
68	68	Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (Pub. L. No.
69	69	104-191) or other state or federal law.
70	70	(d) The programs provided under Subsections (b)(2) and (3)
71	71	must:
72	72	(1) be implemented by highly skilled staff who are
73	73	experienced in working with inmate reentry and reintegration
74	74	programs;
75	75	(2) provide offenders with:
76	76	(A) individualized case management and a full
77	77	continuum of care;
78	78	(B) life-skills training, including information
79	79	about budgeting, money management, nutrition, and exercise;
80	80	(C) education and, if an offender has a learning
81	81	disability, special education;
82	82	(D) employment training;
83	83	(E) appropriate treatment programs, including
84	84	substance abuse and mental health treatment programs; and
85	85	(F) parenting and relationship building classes;
86	86	and
87	87	(3) be designed to build for former offenders
88	88	post-release and post-discharge support from the community into
89	89	which an offender is released or discharged, including support from
90	90	agencies and organizations within that community.
91	91	(e) In developing the reentry and reintegration plan under
92	92	this section, the department shall ensure that the reentry program
93	93	for long-term inmates under Section 501.096 and the reintegration
94	94	services provided under Section 501.097 are incorporated into the
95	95	plan.
96	96	Sec. 501.098. REENTRY TASK FORCE. (a) The department shall
97	97	coordinate the work of the task force with the Office of Court
98	98	Administration, and by rule shall enter into a memorandum of
99	99	understanding with the following entities to establish a reentry
100	100	task force:
101	101	(1) the Texas Youth Commission;
102	102	(2) the Texas Workforce Commission;
103	103	(3) the Department of Public Safety;
104	104	(4) the Texas Department of Housing and Community
105	105	Affairs;
106	106	(5) the Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with
107	107	Medical or Mental Impairments;
108	108	(6) the Health and Human Services Commission;
109	109	(7) the Texas Judicial Council; and
110	110	(8) an organization selected by the department that
111	111	advocates for or provides reentry or reintegration services to
112	112	offenders following their release or discharge from a correctional
113	113	facility.
114	114	(b) The reentry task force established under Subsection (a)
115	115	may:
116	116	(1) identify gaps in services for offenders following
117	117	their release or discharge to rural or urban communities in the
118	118	areas of employment, housing, substance abuse treatment, medical
119	119	care, and any other areas in which the offenders need special
120	120	services; and
121	121	(2) coordinate with providers of existing local
122	122	reentry and reintegration programs, including programs operated by
123	123	a municipality or county, to make recommendations regarding the
124	124	provision of comprehensive services to offenders following their
125	125	release or discharge to rural or urban communities.
126	126	Sec. 501.099. FAMILY UNITY AND PARTICIPATION. (a) The
127	127	department shall adopt and implement policies that encourage family
128	128	unity while an offender is confined and family participation in an
129	129	offender's post-release or post-discharge transition to the
130	130	community. In adopting the policies, the department shall consider
131	131	the impact of department telephone, mail, and visitation policies
132	132	on the ability of an offender's child to maintain ongoing contact
133	133	with the offender.
134	134	(b) The department, when determining in which correctional
135	135	facility to house an offender, shall consider the best interest of
136	136	the offender's family and, if possible, house the offender in, or in
137	137	proximity to, the county in which the offender's family resides.
138	138	(c) The department shall conduct and coordinate research
139	139	that examines the impact of an offender's confinement on the
140	140	well-being of the offender's child.
141	141	Sec. 501.100. RECIDIVISM STUDY; REPORT. (a) The
142	142	department shall conduct and coordinate research to determine
143	143	whether the comprehensive reentry and reintegration plan developed
144	144	under Section 501.092 and the policies adopted under Section
145	145	501.099 to encourage family unity and participation reduce
146	146	recidivism rates.
147	147	(b) Not later than September 1 of each even-numbered year,
148	148	the department shall deliver a report of the results of research
149	149	conducted or coordinated under Subsection (a) to the lieutenant
150	150	governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the
151	151	standing committees of each house of the legislature with primary
152	152	jurisdiction over criminal justice and corrections.
153	153	SECTION 3. (a) As soon as practicable after the effective
154	154	date of this Act, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shall
155	155	enter into a memorandum of understanding as required by Section
156	156	501.098, Government Code, as added by this Act.
157	157	(b) Not later than January 1, 2010, the Texas Department of
158	158	Criminal Justice shall adopt and implement the policies required by
159	159	Section 501.099, Government Code, as added by this Act.
160	160	(c) Not later than January 1, 2010, the Texas Department of
161	161	Criminal Justice shall develop and implement the comprehensive
162	162	reentry and reintegration plan for offenders as required by Section
163	163	501.092, Government Code, as added by this Act.
164	164	SECTION 4. This Act does not make an appropriation. This
165	165	Act takes effect only if a specific appropriation for the
166	166	implementation of the Act is provided in a general appropriations
167	167	act of the 81st Legislature.
168	168	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
169	169	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
170	170	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
171	171	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
172	172	Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
173	173	______________________________ ______________________________
174	174	President of the Senate Speaker of the House
175	175	I certify that H.B. No. 1711 was passed by the House on April
176	176	24, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 101, Nays 38, 1 present, not
177	177	voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
178	178	No. 1711 on May 28, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 134, Nays 9,
179	179	1 present, not voting.
180	180	______________________________
181	181	Chief Clerk of the House
182	182	I certify that H.B. No. 1711 was passed by the Senate, with
183	183	amendments, on May 20, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 29, Nays
184	184	1.
185	185	______________________________
186	186	Secretary of the Senate
187	187	APPROVED: __________________
188	188	Date
189	189	__________________
190	190	Governor