83R21033 EES-F
By: J. Davis of Harris, Burkett, H.B. No. 2887
Turner of Harris, Kolkhorst, Menendez,
et al.
Substitute the following for H.B.
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the establishment and expansion of community
collaboratives by entities to provide services to and coordinate
the care of persons who are homeless, persons with mental illness,
and persons with substance abuse problems.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle I, Title 4, Government Code, is amended
by adding Chapter 539 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 539. COMMUNITY COLLABORATIVES
Sec. 539.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Department" means the Department of State Health
Services.
(2) "Executive commissioner" means the executive
commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission.
Sec. 539.002. GRANTS FOR ESTABLISHMENT AND EXPANSION OF
COMMUNITY COLLABORATIVES. (a) To the extent funds are
appropriated to the department for that purpose, the department
shall make grants to entities, including local governmental
entities, nonprofit community organizations, and faith-based
community organizations, to establish or expand community
collaboratives that bring the public and private sectors together
to provide services to and coordinate the care of persons who are
homeless, persons with mental illness, and persons with substance
abuse problems.
(b) The amount of a grant made to an entity by the department
under this section may not exceed $7.5 million and, up to that
amount, shall be equal to the amount of money provided to the entity
from private funding sources for the establishment or expansion of
a community collaborative.
Sec. 539.003. ACCEPTABLE USES OF GRANT MONEY. An entity
shall use money received from a grant made by the department and
private funding sources for the establishment or expansion of a
community collaborative, provided that the collaborative must be
self-sustaining within seven years. Acceptable uses for the money
include:
(1) the development of the infrastructure of the
collaborative and the start-up costs of the collaborative;
(2) the establishment, operation, or maintenance of
other community service providers in the community served by the
collaborative, including intake centers, detoxification units,
sheltering centers for food, workforce training centers,
microbusinesses, and educational centers;
(3) the provision of clothing, hygiene products, and
medical services to and the arrangement of transitional and
permanent residential housing for persons served by the
collaborative;
(4) the provision of mental health services and
substance abuse treatment not readily available in the community
served by the collaborative;
(5) the provision of information, tools, and resource
referrals to assist persons served by the collaborative in
addressing the needs of their children; and
(6) the establishment and operation of coordinated
intake processes, including triage procedures, to protect the
public safety in the community served by the collaborative.
Sec. 539.004. ELEMENTS OF COMMUNITY COLLABORATIVES. (a)
If appropriate, an entity shall incorporate into the community
collaborative operated by the entity the use of the
department-operated Texas Electronic Registrar, transportation
plans, and case managers. An entity shall also consider
incorporating into a collaborative mentoring and volunteering
opportunities, strategies to assist homeless youth and homeless
families with children, strategies to reintegrate persons who were
recently incarcerated into the community, services for veterans,
and strategies for persons served by the collaborative to
participate in the planning, governance, and oversight of the
collaborative.
(b) The focus of a community collaborative shall be the
eventual successful transition of persons from receiving services
from the collaborative to becoming integrated into the community
served by the collaborative through community relationships and
family supports.
Sec. 539.005. OUTCOME MEASURES FOR COMMUNITY
COLLABORATIVES. Each entity that receives a grant from the
department to establish or expand a community collaborative shall
select at least four of the following outcome measures that the
entity will focus on meeting through the implementation and
operation of the collaborative:
(1) persons served by the collaborative will find
employment that results in those persons having incomes that are at
or above 100 percent of the federal poverty level;
(2) persons served by the collaborative will find
permanent housing;
(3) persons served by the collaborative will complete
alcohol or substance abuse programs;
(4) the collaborative will help start social
businesses in the community or engage in job creation, job
training, or other workforce development activities;
(5) there will be a decrease in the use of jail beds by
persons served by the collaborative;
(6) there will be a decrease in the need for emergency
care by persons served by the collaborative;
(7) there will be a decrease in the number of children
whose families lack adequate housing referred to the Department of
Family and Protective Services or a local entity responsible for
child welfare; and
(8) any other appropriate outcome measure that
measures whether a collaborative is meeting a specific need of the
community served by the collaborative and that is approved by the
department.
Sec. 539.006. ANNUAL REVIEW OF OUTCOME MEASURES. The
department shall contract with an independent third party to verify
annually whether a community collaborative is meeting the outcome
measures under Section 539.005 selected by the entity that operates
the collaborative.
Sec. 539.007. REDUCTION AND CESSATION OF FUNDING. The
department shall establish processes by which the department may
reduce or cease providing funding to an entity if the community
collaborative operated by the entity does not meet the outcome
measures selected by the entity for the collaborative under Section
539.005 or is not self-sustaining after seven years. The
department shall redistribute any funds withheld from an entity
under this section to other entities operating high-performing
collaboratives on a competitive basis.
Sec. 539.008. RULES. The executive commissioner shall
adopt any rules necessary to implement the community collaborative
grant program established under this chapter, including rules to
establish the requirements for an entity to be eligible to receive a
grant, the required elements of a community collaborative operated
by an entity, and permissible and prohibited uses of money received
by an entity from a grant made by the department under this chapter.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.