By: Talarico H.B. No. 4356
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the dissolution of the Texas Juvenile Justice
Department and the creation of the Office of Youth Safety and
Rehabilitation.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Subtitle A, Title 12, Human
Resources Code, is amended to read as follows:
SUBTITLE A. OFFICE OF YOUTH SAFETY AND REHABILITATION [TEXAS
JUVENILE JUSTICE BOARD AND TEXAS JUVENILE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT]
SECTION 2. Subtitle A, Title 12, Human Resources Code, is
amended by adding Chapter 201A to read as follows:
CHAPTER 201A. OFFICE OF YOUTH SAFETY AND REHABILITATION
Sec. 201A.001. DEFINITIONS. (a) In this chapter:
(1) "Board" means the Board of Youth Safety and
Rehabilitation.
(2) "Child" means an individual:
(A) 10 years of age or older and younger than 18
years of age who is under the jurisdiction of a juvenile court; or
(B) 10 years of age or older and younger than 19
years of age who is committed to the custody of the office under
Title 3, Family Code.
(3) "Office" means the Office of Youth Safety and
Rehabilitation.
(b) A reference in other law to the Texas Juvenile Justice
Department means the office.
Sec. 201A.002. OFFICE OF YOUTH SAFETY AND REHABILITATION.
The executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services
Commission shall maintain an Office of Youth Safety and
Rehabilitation within the commission with the goal of:
(1) promoting trauma-responsive and culturally
informed services for children engaging in delinquent conduct in a
manner that supports the child's successful transition to
adulthood; and
(2) ensuring children become responsible, thriving,
and engaged members of their communities.
Sec. 201A.003. RESPONSIBILITIES OF OFFICE. The office is
responsible for:
(1) managing and allocating recouped funding to
community-based service providers;
(2) providing technical assistance to develop and
expand local diversion opportunities to meet the various needs of
children who have engaged in delinquent conduct, including sex
offender, substance abuse, mental health treatment, and in-school
diversion and prevention programs;
(3) acting as a financial and administrative
intermediary entity between state and local organizations and
county agencies to distribute state and other grants and resources;
and
(4) overseeing the use of the funding described by
Subdivision (3) throughout this state to assist in the development
of infrastructure for local programs focusing on children.
Sec. 201A.004. ANNUAL REPORT REQUIRED. The office shall
annually submit a report to the governor and each member of the
legislature. The report must:
(1) describe outcomes achieved by the office in the
preceding year;
(2) detail the work completed by the office in the
preceding year, including any new services or programs offered by
the office;
(3) evaluate the efficacy of current programs offered
locally to children;
(4) identify and recommend policies for improved
outcomes and integrated programs and services to best support
children outside of detention facilities; and
(5) identify and disseminate best practices to help
inform restorative practices, including education, diversion,
reentry, religious, and victim services.
Sec. 201A.005. BOARD; FUNDING PRIORITIES. (a) The board is
the governing body of the office and is responsible for the
operations of the office.
(b) The board shall develop and implement policies that
clearly separate the policymaking responsibilities of the board and
the management responsibilities of the presiding officer and the
staff of the office.
(c) The board shall establish funding priorities for
services that support the goals of the office and that do not
provide incentives to detain children.
Sec. 201A.006. COMPOSITION OF BOARD; PRESIDING OFFICER.
(a) The board is composed of the following 19 members or their
designees:
(1) the executive commissioner of the Health and Human
Services Commission;
(2) the chief officer of the Medicaid and CHIP
services department of the Health and Human Services Commission;
(3) the deputy executive commissioner of the
Intellectual and Developmental Disability and Behavioral Health
Services Department;
(4) the director of the Early Childhood Education
Division at the Texas Education Agency;
(5) the following members appointed by the governor:
(A) a member of the judiciary;
(B) an attorney with experience in defending
civil rights cases;
(C) a member of the Texas Judicial Commission on
Mental Health;
(D) a faculty member from the medical school at
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio;
(E) a licensed trauma-informed youth counselor;
(F) an education advocate;
(G) two culturally responsive juvenile justice
advocates;
(H) a culturally responsive youth mental health
advocate;
(I) a harm reduction advocate; and
(J) a representative of the Texas Correctional
Office on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments; and
(6) the following members appointed by the governor
from recommendations made by the presiding officer:
(A) a child welfare advocate;
(B) two youth advocates; and
(C) two individuals formerly committed to a
juvenile detention facility who can serve as a credible messenger
for detained youth.
(b) Board members serve staggered six-year terms, with the
terms of six or seven members expiring on February 1 of each
odd-numbered year.
(c) The governor shall designate a member of the board as
the presiding officer to serve in that capacity at the pleasure of
the governor.
Sec. 201A.006. PLAN. (a) The office shall develop and
adopt a plan to improve the juvenile justice system under the
authority of the office.
(b) The plan must include a detailed list of procedures and
strategies to:
(1) not later than September 1, 2026:
(A) end commitments of children to any of the
five secure juvenile detention facilities operated by the Texas
Juvenile Justice Department;
(B) significantly reduce the population of
children currently committed to each of the five secure juvenile
detention facilities operated by the Texas Juvenile Justice
Department;
(C) establish infrastructure in each county in
this state to provide alternative services related to delinquency
prevention and intervention, including alternative evidence-based
safe, local, supportive placements for children who cannot stay at
home;
(D) establish secure placement options for
children in cases where the court finds that the offender presents a
serious security risk of harm to self or others;
(E) increase local, evidence-based delinquency
responses and interventions in communities and schools; and
(F) end racial and disability disparities for
children in the juvenile justice system; and
(2) not later than September 1, 2030, complete a
staggered closure of the five secure juvenile detention facilities
operated by the Texas Juvenile Justice Department.
(c) In developing the plan, the office shall consult with
experts and interested parties, including juvenile probation
departments.
(d) Not later than January 1, 2025, the office shall submit
a copy of the plan to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the
speaker of the house of representatives, and each member of the
legislature.
(e) This section expires September 1, 2030.
Sec. 201A.007. SUNSET PROVISION. The office is subject to
Chapter 325, Government Code (Texas Sunset Act). Unless continued
in existence as provided by that chapter, the board and office are
abolished September 1, 2030.
SECTION 3. (a) Chapters 201, 202, and 203, Human Resources
Code, are repealed.
SECTION 4. (a) The Texas Juvenile Justice Department is
abolished but continues in existence until September 1, 2030, for
the sole purpose of transferring obligations, property, rights,
powers, grants, and duties to the Office of Youth Safety and
Rehabilitation. The Office of Youth Safety and Rehabilitation
assumes any remaining obligations, property, rights, powers, and
duties of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department as they exist
immediately before September 1, 2030. All unexpended funds under
the management of the Texas Juvenile Justice Board of the Texas
Juvenile Justice Department as provided by Chapter 203, Human
Resources Code, as that chapter existed immediately before the
effective date of this Act, are transferred to the Office of Youth
Safety and Rehabilitation for the purpose of administering duties
under Chapter 201A, Human Resources Code, as added by this Act.
(b) The Texas Juvenile Justice Department and the Office of
Youth Safety and Rehabilitation shall, in consultation with
appropriate state entities, ensure that the transfer of the
obligations, property, rights, powers, and duties of the Texas
Juvenile Justice Department to the Office of Youth Safety and
Rehabilitation is completed not later than September 1, 2030.
(c) All rules of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department are
continued in effect as rules of the Office of Youth Safety and
Rehabilitation until superseded by a rule of the Office of Youth
Safety and Rehabilitation. An authorization issued by the Texas
Juvenile Justice Department is continued in effect as provided by
the law in effect immediately before the effective date of this Act.
An authorization pending on the effective date of this Act is
continued without change in status after the effective date of this
Act. A complaint, investigation, or other proceeding pending on
the effective date of this Act is continued without change in status
after the effective date of this Act.
(d) Unless the context indicates otherwise, a reference to
the Texas Juvenile Justice Department in a law or administrative
rule means the Office of Youth Safety and Rehabilitation.
SECTION 5. Not later than the 60th day after the effective
date of this Act, the governor shall appoint members to the Board of
Youth Safety and Rehabilitation in accordance with Section
201A.006, Human Resources Code, as added by this Act. In appointing
the initial members of the board under this section, the governor
shall designate six members for terms expiring February 1, 2025,
six members for terms expiring February 1, 2027, and seven members
for terms expiring February 1, 2029.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.