By: Hernandez, Coleman H.B. No. 2251
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to funding of entities through the community collaborative
grant program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 539.002(b), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), the department
shall require each entity awarded a grant under this section to:
(1) leverage additional funding or in-kind
contributions from private sources or local governmental sources in
an amount that is at least equal to the amount of the grant awarded
under this section;
(2) provide evidence of significant coordination and
collaboration between the entity, local mental health authorities,
municipalities, local law enforcement agencies, and other
community stakeholders in establishing or expanding a community
collaborative funded by a grant awarded under this section; and
(3) provide evidence of a local law enforcement policy
to divert appropriate persons from jails or other detention
facilities to an entity affiliated with a community collaborative
for the purpose of providing services to those persons.
SECTION 2. Section 539.003, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 539.003. ACCEPTABLE USES OF GRANT MONEY. An entity
shall use money received from a grant made by the department and
private funding sources for the establishment or expansion of a
community collaborative[, provided that the collaborative must be
self-sustaining within seven years]. Acceptable uses for the money
include:
(1) the development of the infrastructure of the
collaborative and the start-up costs of the collaborative;
(2) the establishment, operation, or maintenance of
other community service providers in the community served by the
collaborative, including intake centers, detoxification units,
sheltering centers for food, workforce training centers,
microbusinesses, and educational centers;
(3) the provision of clothing, hygiene products, and
medical services to and the arrangement of transitional and
permanent residential housing for persons served by the
collaborative;
(4) the provision of mental health services and
substance abuse treatment not readily available in the community
served by the collaborative;
(5) the provision of information, tools, and resource
referrals to assist persons served by the collaborative in
addressing the needs of their children; and
(6) the establishment and operation of coordinated
intake processes, including triage procedures, to protect the
public safety in the community served by the collaborative.
SECTION 3. Section 539.0051(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The governing body of a county shall develop and make
public a plan detailing:
(1) how local mental health authorities,
municipalities, local law enforcement agencies, and other
community stakeholders in the county could coordinate to establish
or expand a community collaborative to accomplish the goals of
Section 539.002;
(2) how entities in the county may leverage funding
from private sources or local governmental sources to accomplish
the goals of Section 539.002 through the formation or expansion of a
community collaborative; and
(3) how the formation or expansion of a community
collaborative could establish or support resources or services to
help local law enforcement agencies to divert persons who have been
arrested to appropriate mental health care or substance abuse
treatment.
SECTION 4. Section 539.007, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 539.007. REDUCTION AND CESSATION OF FUNDING. The
department shall establish processes by which the department may
reduce or cease providing funding to an entity if the community
collaborative operated by the entity does not meet the outcome
measures selected by the entity for the collaborative under Section
539.005 [or is not self-sustaining after seven years]. The
department shall redistribute any funds withheld from an entity
under this section to other entities operating high-performing
collaboratives on a competitive basis.
SECTION 5. The changes in law made by this Act apply to a
grant awarded on or after the effective date of this Act. A grant
awarded under a provision amended by this Act is governed by the law
in effect on the date the grant was awarded, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.