87R15914 LHC-F
By: Swanson H.B. No. 4544
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to providing children committed to the Texas Juvenile
Justice Department with state-issued identification on discharge
or release.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 245.0535(e), Human Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(e) The department may contract and coordinate with private
vendors, units of local government, or other entities to implement
the comprehensive reentry and reintegration plan developed under
this section, including contracting to:
(1) coordinate the supervision and services provided
to children during the time children are in the custody of the
department with any supervision or services provided children who
have been released under supervision or finally discharged from the
department;
(2) provide children awaiting release under
supervision or final discharge with documents that are necessary
after release or discharge, including identification papers that
include, if available, personal identification certificates
obtained under Section 245.0536, medical prescriptions, job
training certificates, and referrals to services; and
(3) provide housing and structured programs,
including programs for recovering substance abusers, through which
children are provided services immediately following release under
supervision or final discharge.
SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 245, Human Resources Code,
is amended by adding Section 245.0536 to read as follows:
Sec. 245.0536. PROVIDING RELEASED OR DISCHARGED CHILD WITH
STATE-ISSUED IDENTIFICATION. (a) Before releasing a child under
supervision or finally discharging a child, the department shall:
(1) determine whether the child has:
(A) a valid license issued under Chapter 521,
Transportation Code; or
(B) a valid personal identification certificate
issued under Chapter 521, Transportation Code; and
(2) if the child does not have a valid license or
certificate described by Subdivision (1), submit to the Department
of Public Safety on behalf of the child a request for the issuance
of a personal identification certificate under Chapter 521,
Transportation Code.
(b) The department shall submit a request under Subsection
(a)(2) as soon as is practicable to enable the department to receive
the personal identification certificate before the department
releases or discharges the child and to provide the child with the
personal identification certificate when the department releases
or discharges the child.
(c) The department, the Department of Public Safety, and the
vital statistics unit of the Department of State Health Services
shall adopt a memorandum of understanding that establishes their
respective responsibilities with respect to the issuance of a
personal identification certificate to a child, including
responsibilities related to verification of the child's identity.
The memorandum of understanding must require the Department of
State Health Services to electronically verify the birth record of
a child whose name and any other personal information is provided by
the department and to electronically report the recorded filing
information to the Department of Public Safety to validate the
identity of a child under this section.
(d) The department shall reimburse the Department of Public
Safety or the Department of State Health Services for the actual
costs incurred by those agencies in performing responsibilities
established under this section. The department may charge the
child's parent or guardian for the actual costs incurred under this
section or the fees required by Section 521.421, Transportation
Code.
(e) This section does not apply to a child who:
(1) is not legally present in the United States; or
(2) was not a resident of this state before the child
was placed in the custody of the department.
SECTION 3. Section 521.421(a-1), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a-1) The fee for a personal identification certificate
issued under Section 501.0165, Government Code, [or] Section
841.153, Health and Safety Code, or Section 245.0536, Human
Resources Code, is $5.
SECTION 4. Section 245.0536, Human Resources Code, as added
by this Act, applies only to the release under supervision or final
discharge of a child that occurs on or after December 1, 2021. A
release under supervision or final discharge that occurs before
that date is governed by the law in effect immediately before the
effective date of this Act, and the former law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.