Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas House Bill HB2992 Compare Versions

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1	1	84R10875 ADM-D
2	2	By: Turner of Harris H.B. No. 2992
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the functions of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Section 37.011, Education Code, is amended by
10	10	adding Subsection (r) to read as follows:
11	11	(r) The Texas Juvenile Justice Department shall ensure that
12	12	a program created subject to the approval of the department under
13	13	this section prioritizes reading at grade level and preparation for
14	14	the general education development test.
15	15	SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 37, Education Code, is
16	16	amended by adding Section 37.0121 to read as follows:
17	17	Sec. 37.0121. JUVENILE JUSTICE ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION
18	18	PROGRAM ACCOUNTABILITY. The Texas Juvenile Justice Department
19	19	shall ensure that a juvenile justice alternative education program
20	20	is held accountable for student academic and behavioral success and
21	21	shall submit a performance assessment report to the Legislative
22	22	Budget Board and the governor on or before May 1 of each
23	23	even-numbered year. The report shall include:
24	24	(1) an assessment of the degree to which each juvenile
25	25	justice alternative education program enhanced the academic
26	26	performance and behavioral improvement of attending students;
27	27	(2) a detailed discussion on the use of standard
28	28	measures used to compare program formats and to identify those
29	29	juvenile justice alternative education programs most successful
30	30	with attending students;
31	31	(3) student passage rates on the assessment
32	32	instruments administered under Section 39.023(a) in reading and
33	33	mathematics for students enrolled in the juvenile justice
34	34	alternative education program for a period of 90 days or more;
35	35	(4) standardized cost reports from each juvenile
36	36	justice alternative education program and its contracting
37	37	independent school district to determine differing cost factors and
38	38	actual costs per each juvenile justice alternative education
39	39	program by school year;
40	40	(5) average cost per student attendance day for
41	41	juvenile justice alternative education program students, including
42	42	an itemization of the costs of providing educational services
43	43	mandated in Section 37.011; and
44	44	(6) a comprehensive five-year strategic plan for the
45	45	continuing evaluation of juvenile justice alternative education
46	46	programs, which must include oversight guidelines to improve:
47	47	(A) school district compliance with minimum
48	48	program and accountability standards;
49	49	(B) attendance reporting;
50	50	(C) the consistency of collection of costs and
51	51	program data;
52	52	(D) training; and
53	53	(E) technical assistance.
54	54	SECTION 3. Section 203.012, Human Resources Code, is
55	55	amended to read as follows:
56	56	Sec. 203.012. ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORT. (a) The department
57	57	shall prepare annually a complete and detailed written report
58	58	accounting for all funds received and disbursed by the department
59	59	during the preceding fiscal year. The annual report must meet the
60	60	reporting requirements applicable to financial reporting provided
61	61	in the General Appropriations Act.
62	62	(b) The department shall maintain a specific accountability
63	63	system for tracking funds targeted at making a positive impact on
64	64	youth and shall implement a tracking and monitoring system so that
65	65	the use of all funds appropriated can be specifically identified
66	66	and reported to the Legislative Budget Board in the annual report to
67	67	be delivered not later than December 1 of each year.
68	68	(c) The report must include detailed monitoring, tracking,
69	69	utilization, and effectiveness information on all funds
70	70	appropriated. The report shall include information on the impact of
71	71	any new initiatives and all programs tracked by the department and
72	72	specifically include information on:
73	73	(1) prevention and intervention programs;
74	74	(2) residential placements;
75	75	(3) enhanced community-based services for serious and
76	76	chronic offenders, including sex offender treatment;
77	77	(4) intensive supervision and specialized
78	78	supervision;
79	79	(5) community-based services for misdemeanants no
80	80	longer eligible for commitment to the department; and
81	81	(6) the commitment diversion initiatives.
82	82	(d) The report shall include information on all training,
83	83	inspection, monitoring, investigation, and technical assistance
84	84	activities conducted using appropriated funds. Required elements
85	85	include training conferences held, practitioners trained,
86	86	facilities inspected, and investigations conducted.
87	87	(e) The report must:
88	88	(1) be accompanied by supporting documentation
89	89	detailing the sources and methodologies utilized to assess program
90	90	effectiveness and any other supporting material specified by the
91	91	Legislative Budget Board;
92	92	(2) contain a certification by the person submitting
93	93	the report that the information provided is true and correct based
94	94	upon information and belief together with supporting
95	95	documentation; and
96	96	(3) contain information on each program receiving
97	97	funds for prevention and intervention, including all outcome
98	98	measures reported by each program and information on how funds were
99	99	expended by each program.
100	100	(f) The report must provide an assessment of the
101	101	effectiveness of specialized treatment, emphasizing the rearrest
102	102	rate of offenders receiving treatment.
103	103	(g) In addition, the department shall report juvenile
104	104	probation population data as requested by the Legislative Budget
105	105	Board on a monthly basis for the most recent month available. The
106	106	department shall report to the Legislative Budget Board on all
107	107	populations specified by the Legislative Budget Board, including
108	108	additions, releases, and end-of-month populations. The department
109	109	shall submit end-of-fiscal-year data indicating each reporting
110	110	county to the Legislative Budget Board not later than two months
111	111	after the last day of each fiscal year. The department must use
112	112	Legislative Budget Board population projections for probation
113	113	supervision and state correctional populations when developing the
114	114	department's legislative appropriations requests.
115	115	(h) On request of the Legislative Budget Board, the
116	116	department shall report expenditure data by strategy, by program,
117	117	or in any other format requested.
118	118	SECTION 4. Chapter 203, Human Resources Code, is amended by
119	119	adding Sections 203.017 and 203.018 to read as follows:
120	120	Sec. 203.017. DIVERSION PROGRAMS FUNDS; REPORT. (a) The
121	121	department shall distribute grant funds for the purpose of
122	122	providing programs for the diversion of youth from the department.
123	123	(b) The department shall maintain a mechanism for tracking
124	124	youth served by the diversion programs to determine the long-term
125	125	success for diverting youth from state juvenile correctional
126	126	incarceration and the adult criminal justice system.
127	127	(c) A report on the programs' results shall be included in
128	128	the report that is required under Section 203.012 to be submitted to
129	129	the Legislative Budget Board on or before December 1 of each year.
130	130	Sec. 203.018. EDUCATIONAL PERFORMANCE REPORT. The
131	131	department shall submit a report containing statistical
132	132	information regarding the performance of students of the
133	133	department's educational programs on the Test of Adult Basic
134	134	Education to the Legislative Budget Board and the governor on or
135	135	before December 1 of each even-numbered year.
136	136	SECTION 5. Section 221.005, Human Resources Code, is
137	137	amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
138	138	(c) The department shall provide technical assistance on
139	139	program design and evaluation for programs operated by juvenile
140	140	probation departments, including:
141	141	(1) providing in-depth consultative technical
142	142	assistance on program design, implementation, and evaluation to
143	143	local juvenile probation departments;
144	144	(2) assisting juvenile probation departments in
145	145	developing logic models for all programs;
146	146	(3) developing recommended performance measures by
147	147	program type;
148	148	(4) facilitating partnerships with universities,
149	149	community colleges, or larger probation departments to assist
150	150	departments with statistical program evaluations where feasible;
151	151	(5) following current research on juvenile justice
152	152	program design, implementation, and evaluation; and
153	153	(6) disseminating best practices to juvenile
154	154	probation departments.
155	155	SECTION 6. Section 242.004, Human Resources Code, is
156	156	amended by adding Subsections (d), (e), and (f) to read as follows:
157	157	(d) The disciplinary and grievance procedures must be
158	158	substantially equivalent to the Texas Department of Criminal
159	159	Justice's employee disciplinary and grievance procedures.
160	160	(e) The department's disciplinary procedures must allow an
161	161	employee of the department to be represented by a designee of the
162	162	employee's selection who may participate in the hearing on behalf
163	163	of an employee charged with any type of disciplinary violation.
164	164	(f) The department's grievance procedures shall attempt to
165	165	solve problems through a process that recognizes the employee's
166	166	right to bring a grievance under the department's procedures. The
167	167	grievance procedures must include independent mediation or
168	168	independent, nonbinding arbitration of a dispute between the
169	169	employer and the employee if the disciplining authority recommends
170	170	that the employee be terminated or the employee is terminated.
171	171	SECTION 7. Subchapter B, Chapter 242, Human Resources Code,
172	172	is amended by adding Section 242.0585 to read as follows:
173	173	Sec. 242.0585. FEDERAL FUNDS FOR CERTAIN SERVICES. (a) The
174	174	department shall certify to the Department of Family and Protective
175	175	Services that federal financial participation can be claimed for
176	176	Title IV-E, Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Section 670 et seq.),
177	177	services provided to a child by a county.
178	178	(b) The department shall direct necessary general revenue
179	179	funding to ensure that the amount of federal funds received under
180	180	Title IV-E is maximized for use by participating counties. The
181	181	department shall use the federal funds received for the purpose of
182	182	reimbursing counties for services provided to eligible children.
183	183	(c) When reporting federal funds to the Legislative Budget
184	184	Board, the department must report funds expended in the fiscal year
185	185	that the funds are disbursed to counties, regardless of the year in
186	186	which the claim was made by the county, received by the department,
187	187	or certified by the department.
188	188	SECTION 8. Section 244.009, Human Resources Code, is
189	189	amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
190	190	(c) The department shall develop an approach to deliver
191	191	health care and psychiatric services at the best value possible.
192	192	SECTION 9. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
193	193	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
194	194	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
195	195	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
196	196	Act takes effect September 1, 2015.