88R1975 MM-D
By: J. Johnson of Harris H.B. No. 334
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to contracts to provide appropriate residential housing to
students in extended foster care who enroll at public institutions
of higher education.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter G, Chapter 263, Family Code, is
amended by adding Section 263.609 to read as follows:
Sec. 263.609. CONTRACTS WITH PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER
EDUCATION TO PROVIDE RESIDENTIAL HOUSING. (a) In this section,
"institution of higher education" has the meaning assigned by
Section 61.003, Education Code.
(b) The department and each institution of higher education
that provides residential housing to students enrolled at the
institution shall enter into a contract under which, for students
of the institution residing in that residential housing who are in
extended foster care, the institution agrees to serve as a
child-care institution, as defined by 42 U.S.C. Section 672(c), for
the purpose of providing housing in which those students are able to
live independently in a supervised setting in accordance with rules
adopted by the department pursuant to the Fostering Connections to
Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (Pub. L. No. 110-351).
SECTION 2. The Department of Family and Protective Services
shall enter into a contract with each public institution of higher
education subject to Section 263.609, Family Code, as added by this
Act, as soon as practicable after the effective date of this Act,
but not later than the 2024-2025 academic 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, 2023.