81R753 HLT-D
By: Dutton H.B. No. 944
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to in-prison geriatric communities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 501, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 501.094 to read as follows:
Sec. 501.094. IN-PRISON GERIATRIC COMMUNITIES. (a) The
department shall establish a program to confine and treat in
in-prison geriatric communities inmates who are 60 years of age or
older.
(b) The department and the Department of Aging and
Disability Services shall jointly develop methods of screening and
assessing inmates to determine their needs as geriatric inmates.
The department shall screen for geriatric problems each inmate in
the custody of the department not later than the inmate's 58th
birthday.
(c) The program must consist of a treatment program of
indeterminate length that addresses the special problems of
geriatric inmates.
(d) The department shall separate inmates participating in
the program from the general population of the department and house
the inmates in discrete units or areas within units, except during
the diagnostic process or at other times determined to be necessary
by the department for medical or security purposes.
(e) The department shall employ or contract with qualified
professionals to implement the program. For purposes of this
subsection, a "qualified professional" is a person who has at least
two years of experience in geriatric counseling and is:
(1) a certified social worker or advanced clinical
practitioner;
(2) a licensed professional counselor, advanced
practice nurse, physician, or psychologist; or
(3) a registered nurse with a master's degree in
psychiatric or mental health nursing.
(f) The department shall adopt rules of conduct for inmates
participating in the program.
(g) If a qualified professional implementing the program
determines that an inmate is not complying with the rules of the
program, the qualified professional shall notify the department of
that fact and the department shall end the inmate's participation
in the program and transfer the inmate out of the program.
(h) The department shall provide at least 800 beds for
housing participants in the program. The department not less often
than every two years shall determine whether the department should
increase the number of beds provided by the department for the
program.
(i) If funding is available, the criminal justice division
of the governor's office, with the assistance of the department,
shall develop methods to evaluate the processes used by the
department in providing the program and the level of success
achieved by the program.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.