85R12991 MK-D
By: Swanson H.B. No. 3555
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to an innovation grant program for community faith-based
programs that collaborate with the Department of Family and
Protective Services to improve foster care.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 264, Family Code, is
amended by adding Section 264.2042 to read as follows:
Sec. 264.2042. GRANTS FOR FAITH-BASED COMMUNITY
COLLABORATIVE PROGRAMS. (a) Subject to the availability of funds,
the department shall establish and administer an innovation grant
program, administered by the governor, to award grants to support
faith-based community programs that collaborate with the
department and the commission to improve foster care and the
placement of children in foster care.
(b) A faith-based community program is eligible for a grant
under this section if:
(1) the effectiveness of the program is supported by
empirical evidence; and
(2) the program has demonstrated the ability to build
connections between faith-based, secular, and government
stakeholders.
(c) The regional director for the department in the region
where a grant recipient program is located, or the regional
director's designee, shall serve as the liaison between the
department and the program for collaborative purposes. For a
program that operates in a larger region, the department may
designate a liaison in each county where the program is operating.
The department or the commission may not direct or manage the
operation of the program.
(d) The initial duration of a grant under this section is
two years. The department may renew a grant awarded to a program
under this section if the department determines that the program is
successful.
(e) The department may not award to a program grants under
this section totaling more than $300,000.
(f) The department and the governor shall adopt rules to
implement the grant program created under this section.
SECTION 2. As soon as practicable after the effective date
of this Act, the governor and the Department of Family and
Protective Services shall adopt rules for the implementation and
administration of the innovation grant program established under
Section 264.2042, Family Code, as added by this Act, and begin to
award grants under the program.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.