87R8773 MM-F
By: Cain H.B. No. 4446
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a program to provide certain children with character
development opportunities, career advancement assistance, and
access to certain extracurricular and wellness services.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle I, Title 4, Government Code, is amended
by adding Chapter 543 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 543. OPPORTUNITY AND ASSISTANCE PROGRAM FOR CERTAIN
CHILDREN
SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 543.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Commission" means the Health and Human Services
Commission.
(2) "Eligible child" means:
(A) a child receiving educational services under
the supervision of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department;
(B) a child in the managing conservatorship of
the Department of Family and Protective Services;
(C) a child who is eligible to participate in the
Head Start program as defined by Chapter 72, Human Resources Code;
(D) a student described by Section 29.916(a)(1),
Education Code;
(E) a child with an intellectual disability; and
(F) any other child to whom the executive
commissioner is able to extend program access after prioritizing
access for children described by Paragraphs (A)-(E).
(3) "Executive commissioner" means the executive
commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission.
(4) "Program" means the opportunity and assistance
program established under this chapter.
Sec. 543.002. GIFTS, GRANTS, AND DONATIONS. The commission
may solicit and accept gifts, grants, and donations from any public
or private source for the purposes of this chapter.
Sec. 543.003. REPORT TO GOVERNOR AND LEGISLATURE. Not
later than December 1 of each even-numbered year, the commission
shall submit a report to the governor and members of the legislature
regarding the program and activities of program participants.
Sec. 543.004. RULES. The executive commissioner may adopt
rules necessary to implement this chapter.
SUBCHAPTER B. PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION, OPPORTUNITIES, AND
ASSISTANCE
Sec. 543.051. PROGRAM ESTABLISHMENT. The executive
commissioner by rule shall establish and administer the opportunity
and assistance program to provide character development
opportunities, career advancement assistance, access to University
Interscholastic League sponsored activities, and counseling and
wellness services to eligible children.
Sec. 543.052. ADMINISTRATION OF PROGRAM. (a) The
executive commissioner shall:
(1) adopt rules as necessary to administer the
program; and
(2) work collaboratively with school districts, the
University Interscholastic League, and other local authorities as
necessary to fulfill the commission's duties under this chapter.
(b) In developing the program, the executive commissioner
may partner with online and local providers to offer program
participants the character development opportunities and career
advancement assistance described by Sections 543.053 and 543.054.
Sec. 543.053. CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES. The
program must include character development opportunities designed
to promote and assist program participants in developing the
character qualities of:
(1) courage;
(2) trustworthiness, including honesty, reliability,
punctuality, and loyalty;
(3) integrity;
(4) respect and courtesy;
(5) responsibility, including accountability,
diligence, perseverance, and self-control;
(6) fairness, including justice and freedom from
prejudice;
(7) caring, including kindness, empathy, compassion,
consideration, patience, generosity, and charity;
(8) good citizenship, including patriotism, concern
for the common good and the community, and respect for authority and
the law;
(9) gratitude; and
(10) teamwork, good sportsmanship, and perseverance
learned through participation in competitive or professional
extracurricular activities.
Sec. 543.054. CAREER ADVANCEMENT ASSISTANCE. The program
must include opportunities designed to assist program participants
in general career advancement. The opportunities must include:
(1) training and information on where program
participants can obtain affordable and local access to career and
technical skills courses; and
(2) instruction or access to instruction on general
skills including:
(A) constructing a resume;
(B) interviewing for a job;
(C) managing finances;
(D) constructing and following a realistic and
consistent schedule;
(E) managing finances, work, family, and mental
health in times of personal, community, or global crisis;
(F) finding and obtaining higher education
financial aid opportunities; and
(G) skills learned through participation in
competitive extracurricular activities that could be used as a
career path for the program participant or could be used to obtain
higher education financial aid opportunities for the program
participant.
Sec. 543.055. ACCESS TO UNIVERSITY INTERSCHOLASTIC LEAGUE
ACTIVITIES. (a) In order to maximize access to character
development opportunities and career advancement assistance
described by Sections 543.053 and 543.054, the executive
commissioner, in collaboration with school districts and the
University Interscholastic League, shall facilitate access to
University Interscholastic League activities for all program
participants described by Sections 543.001(2)(A)-(E) and for as
many program participants described by Section 543.001(2)(F) as can
reasonably be accommodated. A school district and the University
Interscholastic League may not prohibit a program participant who
is otherwise eligible to participate in a league activity from
participating in the activity in substantially the same manner as a
student enrolled at a school in the school district.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (g), a public school
that participates in an activity sponsored by the University
Interscholastic League shall provide a program participant
described by Section 543.001(2)(D) who otherwise meets league
eligibility standards to represent that school in a league activity
with the opportunity to participate in the activity on behalf of the
school in the same manner that the school provides the opportunity
to participate to students enrolled in the school.
(c) A program participant described by Section
543.001(2)(D) who seeks to participate or participates in a league
activity on behalf of a school is subject to the policies regarding
registration, age eligibility, fees, insurance, transportation,
physical condition, qualifications, responsibilities, event
schedules, standards of behavior, and performance that apply to
students enrolled in the school.
(d) The parent or person standing in parental relation to a
program participant described by Section 543.001(2)(D) is
responsible for oversight of academic standards relating to the
participant's participation in a league activity. As a condition
of eligibility to participate in a league activity during the first
six weeks of a school year, a program participant described by
Section 543.001(2)(D) must demonstrate grade-level academic
proficiency on any nationally recognized, norm-referenced
assessment instrument, such as the Iowa Test of Basic Skills,
Stanford Achievement Test, California Achievement Test, or
Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills. The program participant
demonstrates the required academic proficiency by achieving a
composite, core, or survey score that is within the average or
higher than average range of scores, as established by the
applicable testing service. For purposes of this subsection, a
school district shall accept assessment results administered or
reported by a third party.
(e) The demonstration of academic proficiency under
Subsection (d) of a program participant described by Section
543.001(2)(D) is sufficient for purposes of that subsection for the
school year in which the participant achieves the required score
and the subsequent school year.
(f) After the first six weeks of a school year, the parent or
person standing in parental relation to a program participant
described by Section 543.001(2)(D) participating in a league
activity on behalf of a public school must periodically, in
accordance with the school's grading calendar, provide written
verification to the school indicating that the participant is
receiving a passing grade in each course or subject being taught.
(g) A program participant described by Section
543.001(2)(D) is not authorized by this section to participate in a
league activity during the remainder of any school year during
which the participant was previously enrolled in a public school.
(h) The University Interscholastic League may not prohibit
a program participant described by Section 543.001(2)(D) from
participating in league activities in the manner authorized by this
section.
(i) With respect to the education program of a program
participant described by Section 543.001(2)(D), nothing in this
section shall be construed to permit an agency of this state, a
public school district, or any other governmental body to exercise
control, regulatory authority, or supervision over the participant
or a parent or person standing in parental relation to the
participant beyond the control, regulatory authority, or
supervision required to participate in a league activity.
(j) Subject only to eligibility requirements under this
section for a program participant described by Section
543.001(2)(D) to participate in a league activity:
(1) the curriculum or assessment requirements,
performance standards, practices, or creed of the education program
provided to a program participant described by Section
543.001(2)(D) may not be required to be changed in order for the
participant to participate in a league activity; and
(2) for a program participant described by Section
543.001(2)(D) participating in an education program on January 1,
2021, the education program provided to that participant may not be
required to comply with any state law or agency rule relating to
that education program unless the law or rule was in effect on
January 1, 2021.
Sec. 543.056. COUNSELING AND WELLNESS SERVICES. (a) The
executive commissioner shall develop partnerships with local and
online health care providers and counseling services providers to
provide voluntary counseling and health services to program
participants who are not otherwise eligible for those services
under Medicaid or the child health plan program.
(b) The services described by Subsection (a) must include:
(1) voluntary testing services made available to a
program participant's parent or managing conservator to screen the
participant for infection from common childhood diseases;
(2) general counseling services designed to help a
program participant process emotions brought on by unexpected and
destabilizing changes in the participant's family and community;
(3) services for the prevention and treatment of
intellectual disabilities; and
(4) services to treat physical injuries caused by
participation in organized extracurricular sports through the
University Interscholastic League.
SECTION 2. The executive commissioner of the Health and
Human Services Commission shall adopt the rules necessary to
establish the program under Chapter 543, Government Code, as added
by this Act, beginning in the 2021-2022 school year.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2021.