By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 35
(Rodriguez)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to transition and employment services for public school
students enrolled in special education programs.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 29.011, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 29.011. TRANSITION PLANNING. (a) The commissioner
shall by rule adopt procedures for compliance with federal
requirements relating to transition services for students who are
enrolled in special education programs under this subchapter. The
procedures must:
(1) provide that appropriate state transition
planning begins for a student not later than when the student
reaches 14 years of age; and
(2) specify the manner in which a student's admission,
review, and dismissal committee must consider, and if appropriate,
address the following issues in the student's individualized
education program:
(A) [(1)] appropriate student involvement in the
student's transition to life outside the public school system;
(B) [(2)] if the student is younger than 18 years
of age, appropriate parental involvement in the student's
transition;
(C) [(3)] if the student is at least 18 years of
age, appropriate parental involvement in the student's transition,
if the parent is invited to participate by the student or the school
district in which the student is enrolled;
(D) [(4)] any postsecondary education options;
(E) [(5)] a functional vocational evaluation;
(F) [(6)] employment goals and objectives;
(G) [(7)] if the student is at least 18 years of
age, the availability of age-appropriate instructional
environments;
(H) [(8)] independent living goals and
objectives; and
(I) [(9)] appropriate circumstances for
referring a student or the student's parents to a governmental
agency for services.
(b) The commissioner shall require each school district or
shared services arrangement to designate at least one employee to
serve as the district's or shared services arrangement's designee
on transition and employment services for students enrolled in
special education programs under this subchapter. The commissioner
shall develop minimum training guidelines for a district's or
shared services arrangement's designee. An individual designated
under this subsection must provide information and resources about
effective transition planning and services and interagency
coordination to ensure that local school staff communicate and
collaborate with:
(1) students enrolled in special education programs
under this subchapter and the parents of those students; and
(2) as appropriate, local and regional staff of the:
(A) Health and Human Services Commission;
(B) Department of Aging and Disability Services;
(C) Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative
Services;
(D) Department of State Health Services; and
(E) Department of Family and Protective
Services.
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 29, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 29.0111 to read as follows:
Sec. 29.0111. TRANSITION AND EMPLOYMENT GUIDE. (a) The
agency, with assistance from the Health and Human Services
Commission, shall develop a transition and employment guide for
students enrolled in special education programs and their parents
to provide information on statewide services and programs that
assist in the transition to life outside the public school system.
The agency may contract with a private entity to prepare the guide.
(b) The transition and employment guide must contain
information specific to this state regarding:
(1) transition services;
(2) employment and supported employment services;
(3) social security programs;
(4) community and long-term services and support;
(5) postsecondary educational programs and services;
(6) information sharing with health and human services
agencies and providers;
(7) guardianship and alternatives to guardianship;
(8) self-advocacy, person-directed planning, and
self-determination; and
(9) contact information for all relevant state
agencies.
(c) The transition and employment guide must be produced in
an electronic format and posted on the agency's website in a manner
that permits the guide to be easily identified and accessed.
(d) The agency must update the transition and employment
guide posted on the agency's website at least once every two years.
(e) A school district shall:
(1) post the transition and employment guide on the
district's website if the district maintains a website; and
(2) provide written information and, if necessary,
assistance to a parent regarding how to access the electronic
version of the guide at:
(A) the first meeting of the student's admission,
review, and dismissal committee at which transition is discussed;
or
(B) the first committee meeting that occurs after
the date the guide becomes available, if a student has already had
an admission, review, and dismissal committee meeting discussing
transition.
SECTION 3. The Texas Education Agency, with assistance from
the Health and Human Services Commission, shall complete
development of the guide required by Section 29.0111, Education
Code, as added by this Act, not later than September 1, 2012. A
school district shall comply with Subsection (e), Section 29.0111,
Education Code, as added by this Act, beginning on the date the
guide is available.
SECTION 4. Except as otherwise provided by this Act, this
Act applies beginning with the 2011-2012 school year.
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, 2011.