By: Bowers H.B. No. 2902
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the establishment of the Supported Independent Living
Program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 264, Family Code, is
amended by adding Section 264.133 to read as follows:
Sec. 264.133. SUPPORTED INDEPENDENT LIVING PROGRAM. The
department shall establish the supported independent living
program to assist young adults interested in transitioning to
voluntary extended foster care by:
(1) providing the young adult with an independent
living placement that includes case management and support services
with limited supervision; and
(2) assisting the young adult with becoming
self-sufficient through:
(A) achieving identified educational and
employment goals;
(B) accessing community resources;
(C) receiving training in life skills; and
(D) establishing important relationships.
SECTION 2. Section 264.121(i), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(i) The department shall ensure that the transition plan for
each youth 16 years of age or older includes provisions to assist
the youth in managing the youth's housing needs after the youth
leaves foster care, including provisions that:
(1) identify the cost of housing in relation to the
youth's sources of income, including any benefits or rental
assistance available to the youth;
(2) if the youth's housing goals include residing with
family or friends, state that the department has addressed the
following with the youth:
(A) the length of time the youth expects to stay
in the housing arrangement;
(B) expectations for the youth regarding paying
rent and meeting other household obligations;
(C) the youth's psychological and emotional
needs, as applicable; and
(D) any potential conflicts with other household
members, or any difficulties connected to the type of housing the
youth is seeking, that may arise based on the youth's psychological
and emotional needs;
(3) inform the youth about emergency shelters and
housing resources, including supported [supervised] independent
living and housing at colleges and universities, such as
dormitories;
(4) require the department to review a common rental
application with the youth and ensure that the youth possesses all
of the documentation required to obtain rental housing; and
(5) identify any individuals who are able to serve as
cosigners or references on the youth's applications for housing.
SECTION 3. Sections 264.1214(a) and (f), Family Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) For a youth who will voluntarily enter extended foster
care on the youth's 18th birthday, the youth's caseworker shall, not
later than six months before the youth's 18th birthday, complete
any necessary transitional living or supported [supervised]
independent living paperwork to ensure the youth has housing on the
date the youth enters extended foster care. Not later than the 90th
day before the youth's 18th birthday, the caseworker shall review
the qualifications and requirements for the youth's housing.
(f) The department shall assist a youth living in a
supported [supervised] independent living program arrangement to
develop a rental history by allowing the youth to cosign the lease
for the youth's housing provided the property owner does not
object.
SECTION 4. Section 411.114(a)(3), Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(3) In addition to the criminal history record
information the Department of Family and Protective Services or the
Health and Human Services Commission is required to obtain under
Subdivision (2), the Department of Family and Protective Services
or the Health and Human Services Commission, as applicable, is
entitled to obtain criminal history record information as provided
by Subdivision (4) that relates to a person who is:
(A) an applicant for a position with the
Department of Family and Protective Services or the Health and
Human Services Commission regardless of the duties of the position,
including a position described by Subdivision (2)(D);
(B) a Department of Family and Protective
Services employee or a Health and Human Services Commission
employee regardless of the duties of the employee's position,
including an employee described by Subdivision (2)(H);
(C) a volunteer or applicant volunteer with the
Department of Family and Protective Services or the Health and
Human Services Commission regardless of the duties to be performed,
including a registered volunteer;
(D) an employee of, an applicant for employment
with, or a volunteer or an applicant volunteer with an entity or
person who contracts with the Department of Family and Protective
Services or the Health and Human Services Commission, as
applicable, and has access to confidential information in that
department's or commission's records, if the employee, applicant,
volunteer, or applicant volunteer has or will have access to that
confidential information;
(E) a person living in the residence in which the
alleged victim of the report resides, including an alleged
perpetrator in a report described by Subdivision (2)(I);
(F) a person providing, at the request of the
child's parent, in-home care for a child who is the subject of a
report alleging the child has been abused or neglected;
(G) a person providing, at the request of the
child's parent, in-home care for a child only if the person gives
written consent to the release and disclosure of the information;
(H) a child who is related to the caretaker, as
determined under Section 42.002, Human Resources Code, or any other
person who resides in, is present in, or has unsupervised access to
a child in the care of a facility or family home;
(I) a relative of a child in the care of the
Department of Family and Protective Services or the Health and
Human Services Commission, as applicable, to the extent necessary
to comply with Section 162.007, Family Code;
(J) a person providing or applying to provide
in-home, adoptive, or foster care for children to the extent
necessary to comply with Subchapter B, Chapter 162, Family Code;
(K) a person who volunteers to supervise
visitation under Subchapter B, Chapter 263, Family Code;
(L) an employee of or volunteer at, or an
applicant for employment with or to be a volunteer at, an entity
that provides supported [supervised] independent living services
to a young adult receiving extended foster care services from the
Department of Family and Protective Services or the Health and
Human Services Commission, as applicable;
(M) a person 14 years of age or older who will be
regularly or frequently working or staying in a host home that is
providing supported [supervised] independent living services to a
young adult receiving extended foster care services from the
Department of Family and Protective Services or the Health and
Human Services Commission, as applicable;
(N) a volunteer or applicant volunteer with a
local affiliate in this state of Big Brothers Big Sisters of
America;
(O) a volunteer or applicant volunteer with an
organization that provides court-appointed volunteer advocates for
abused or neglected children; or
(P) an employee, volunteer, or applicant
volunteer of a children's advocacy center under Subchapter E,
Chapter 264, Family Code, including a member of the governing board
of a center.
SECTION 5. Section 40.081(a), Human Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) In furtherance of department duties under Section
40.002(d), the department shall to the greatest extent possible
develop capacity for placement settings that are eligible for
federal financial participation under 42 U.S.C. Section 672,
including settings:
(1) specializing in providing prenatal, postpartum,
or parenting support for youth;
(2) providing high-quality residential care and
supportive services to children and youth who this state has
reasonable cause to believe are, or who are at risk of being, sex
trafficking victims in accordance with 42 U.S.C. Section
671(a)(9)(C);
(3) providing supported [supervised] independent
living for young adults;
(4) offering residential family-based substance abuse
treatment as described by 42 U.S.C. Section 672(j); and
(5) serving as a qualified residential treatment
program.
SECTION 6. Not later than January 1, 2026, the Department of
Family and Protective Services shall change any informational
materials related to the supervised independent living program to
reflect the supported independent living program name.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.