| 2 | + | (In the Senate - Filed March 8, 2019; March 21, 2019, read |
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| 3 | + | first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice; |
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| 4 | + | March 27, 2019, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 5, |
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| 5 | + | Nays 0; March 27, 2019, sent to printer.) |
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| 6 | + | Click here to see the committee vote |
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| 2 | 7 | | |
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| 3 | 8 | | |
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| 4 | 9 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 5 | 10 | | AN ACT |
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| 6 | 11 | | relating to the confinement of juveniles in certain facilities. |
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| 7 | 12 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 8 | 13 | | SECTION 1. Section 203.018, Human Resources Code, is |
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| 9 | 14 | | amended to read as follows: |
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| 10 | 15 | | Sec. 203.018. SPECIALIZED PROGRAMS AND SPECIAL PROJECTS. |
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| 11 | 16 | | (a) The department shall develop specialized programs for |
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| 12 | 17 | | children with a determinate sentence and children committed under |
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| 13 | 18 | | Section 54.04013, Family Code. The programs must ensure safety and |
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| 14 | 19 | | security for committed children and provide developmentally |
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| 15 | 20 | | appropriate program strategies. |
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| 16 | 21 | | (b) The department shall establish performance-based goals |
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| 17 | 22 | | related to improved outcomes that: |
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| 18 | 23 | | (1) must include measures to reduce recidivism; and |
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| 19 | 24 | | (2) shall include other well-being outcome measures. |
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| 20 | 25 | | (c) The department shall use case review strategies to |
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| 21 | 26 | | identify children in department facilities who can safely and |
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| 22 | 27 | | appropriately be transferred to alternative local placements or |
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| 23 | 28 | | halfway houses, placed on parole, or discharged from the |
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| 24 | 29 | | department. |
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| 25 | 30 | | (d) The department shall study and report to the board on |
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| 26 | 31 | | the potential for repurposing existing secure facilities for the |
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| 27 | 32 | | confinement of children with a determinate sentence or children |
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| 28 | 33 | | committed under Section 54.04013, Family Code, or for other |
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| 29 | 34 | | purposes. |
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| 30 | 35 | | [(e) The department or any local probation department may |
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| 31 | 36 | | not use or contract with a facility that was constructed or |
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| 32 | 37 | | previously used for the confinement of adult offenders.] |
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| 33 | 38 | | SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019. |
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