By: King of Taylor H.B. No. 19
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to mental health and preventive services programs for
veterans' and military families.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle E, Title 2, Human Resources Code, is
amended by adding Chapter 53 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 53. PREVENTION SERVICES FOR VETERANS' AND MILITARY
FAMILIES
Sec. 53.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Department" means the Department of Family and
Protective Services.
(2) "Veteran" means a person who has served in:
(A) the army, navy, air force, coast guard, or
marine corps of the United States;
(B) the state military forces as defined by
Section 431.001, Government Code; or
(C) an auxiliary service of one of those branches
of the armed forces.
Sec. 53.002. VETERANS' AND MILITARY FAMILIES PREVENTIVE
SERVICES PROGRAM. (a) The department shall develop and implement a
preventive services program to serve veterans' and military
families who have committed or experienced or who are at a high risk
of:
(1) family violence; or
(2) abuse or neglect.
(b) The program must:
(1) be designed to coordinate with community-based
organizations to provide prevention services;
(2) include a home-visiting program component;
(3) include a prevention component and an early
intervention component;
(4) include collaboration with services for child
welfare, early childhood education, and other child and family
services programs; and
(5) coordinate with the community collaboration
initiative developed under Subchapter I, Chapter 434, Government
Code, and committees formed by local communities as part of that
initiative.
(c) The program may be established initially as a pilot
program, at the discretion of the department, in areas of the state
in which the department considers the implementation practicable.
Sec. 53.003. INFORMATION COORDINATION. The department
shall undertake to automate and upgrade computerized research
systems and database systems for the purposes of prevention and
early intervention components of the program established under
Section 53.002, including coordination and data matching with the
Department of State Health Services.
SECTION 2. Chapter 434, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subchapters H and I to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER H. STATEWIDE COORDINATION OF THE MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAM
FOR VETERANS
Sec. 434.351. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Commission" means the Texas Veterans Commission.
(2) "Peer" means a person who is a veteran or a
veteran's family member.
(3) "Veteran" means a person who has served in:
(A) the army, navy, air force, coast guard, or
marine corps of the United States;
(B) the state military forces as defined by
Section 431.001; or
(C) an auxiliary service of one of those branches
of the armed forces.
(4) "Volunteer coordinator" means a person who
recruits and retains veterans, peers, and volunteers to participate
in the mental health program for veterans and related activities.
Sec. 434.352. DUTIES. (a) The commission and the
Department of State Health Services shall coordinate to administer
the mental health intervention program for veterans developed under
Chapter 1001, Health and Safety Code.
(b) For the mental health intervention program for
veterans, the commission shall:
(1) provide training to volunteer coordinators and
peers in accordance with Section 434.353;
(2) provide technical assistance to volunteer
coordinators and peers;
(3) recruit, train, and communicate with
community-based therapists, community-based organizations, and
faith-based organizations; and
(4) coordinate services for justice involved
veterans.
(c) The executive director of the commission shall appoint a
program director to administer the mental health program for
veterans.
(d) The commission shall provide appropriate facilities in
support of the mental health program for veterans to the extent
funding is available for that purpose.
Sec. 434.353. TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION. (a) The
commission shall develop and implement methods for providing
volunteer coordinator certification training to volunteer
coordinators, including providing training for initial
certification and recertification and providing continuing
education.
(b) The commission shall manage and coordinate the peer
training program to include initial training, advanced training,
certification, and continuing education for peers associated with
the mental health program for veterans.
SUBCHAPTER I. COMMUNITY COLLABORATION INITIATIVE
Sec. 434.401. COMMUNITY COLLABORATION. (a) The department
and the Department of State Health Services shall include as a part
of the mental health program for veterans described by 434.352(a)
an initiative to encourage local communities to conduct
cross-sector collaboration to synchronize locally accessible
resources available for veterans and military services members.
(b) The initiative must be designed to encourage local
communities to form a committee that is tasked with developing a
plan to identify and support the needs of veterans and military
services members residing in their community.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all 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, 2015.