By: Dutton (Senate Sponsor - Whitmire) H.B. No. 2372
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 6, 2015;
May 11, 2015, read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal
Justice; May 22, 2015, reported favorably by the following vote:
Yeas 6, Nays 0; May 22, 2015, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to training requirements for juvenile correctional
officers employed by the Texas Juvenile Justice Department.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 242.009(b), Human Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) The department shall provide competency-based training
to each juvenile correctional officer employed by the department,
which must include on-the-job training. Each officer must complete
at least 300 hours of training in the officer's first year of
employment, with at least 240 [300] hours of training [, which must
include on-the-job training,] before the officer independently
commences the officer's duties at the facility. The officer must
demonstrate competency in the trained subjects as required by the
department. The training must provide the officer with information
and instruction related to the officer's duties, including
information and instruction concerning:
(1) the juvenile justice system of this state,
including the juvenile correctional facility system;
(2) security procedures;
(3) the supervision of children committed to the
department;
(4) signs of suicide risks and suicide precautions;
(5) signs and symptoms of the abuse, assault, neglect,
and exploitation of a child, including sexual abuse, sexual
assault, and human trafficking, and the manner in which to report
the abuse, assault, neglect, or exploitation of a child;
(6) the neurological, physical, and psychological
development of adolescents;
(7) department rules and regulations, including
rules, regulations, and tactics concerning the use of force;
(8) appropriate restraint techniques;
(9) the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (42 U.S.C.
Section 15601, et seq.);
(10) the rights and responsibilities of children in
the custody of the department;
(11) interpersonal relationship skills;
(12) the social and cultural lifestyles of children in
the custody of the department;
(13) first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation;
(14) counseling techniques;
(15) conflict resolution and dispute mediation,
including de-escalation techniques;
(16) behavior management;
(17) mental health issues;
(18) employee rights, employment discrimination, and
sexual harassment; and
(19) trauma-informed care.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a juvenile correctional officer hired by the Texas Juvenile
Justice Department on or after the effective date of this Act. A
juvenile correctional officer hired before the effective date of
this Act is governed by the law in effect immediately before the
effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
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