Bill Text: TX HB314 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the functions of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-02-15 - Referred to Juvenile Justice & Family Issues [HB314 Detail]

Download: Texas-2017-HB314-Introduced.html

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By: Johnson of Harris H.B. No. 314

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the functions of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 37.011, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (r) to read as follows:
(r) The Texas Juvenile Justice Department shall ensure that
a program created subject to the approval of the department under
this section prioritizes reading at grade level and preparation for
the general education development test.
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 37, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 37.0121 to read as follows:
Sec. 37.0121. JUVENILE JUSTICE ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION
PROGRAM ACCOUNTABILITY. The Texas Juvenile Justice Department
shall ensure that a juvenile justice alternative education program
is held accountable for student academic and behavioral success and
shall submit a performance assessment report to the Legislative
Budget Board and the governor on or before May 1 of each
even-numbered year. The report shall include:
(1) an assessment of the degree to which each juvenile
justice alternative education program enhanced the academic
performance and behavioral improvement of attending students;
(2) a detailed discussion on the use of standard
measures used to compare program formats and to identify those
juvenile justice alternative education programs most successful
with attending students;
(3) student passage rates on the assessment
instruments administered under Section 39.023(a) in reading and
mathematics for students enrolled in the juvenile justice
alternative education program for a period of 90 days or more;
(4) standardized cost reports from each juvenile
justice alternative education program and its contracting
independent school district to determine differing cost factors and
actual costs per each juvenile justice alternative education
program by school year;
(5) average cost per student attendance day for
juvenile justice alternative education program students, including
an itemization of the costs of providing educational services
mandated in Section 37.011; and
(6) a comprehensive five-year strategic plan for the
continuing evaluation of juvenile justice alternative education
programs, which must include oversight guidelines to improve:
(A) school district compliance with minimum
program and accountability standards;
(B) attendance reporting;
(C) the consistency of collection of costs and
program data;
(D) training; and
(E) technical assistance.
SECTION 3. Section 203.012, Human Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 203.012. ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORT. (a) The department
shall prepare annually a complete and detailed written report
accounting for all funds received and disbursed by the department
during the preceding fiscal year. The annual report must meet the
reporting requirements applicable to financial reporting provided
in the General Appropriations Act.
(b) The department shall maintain a specific accountability
system for tracking funds targeted at making a positive impact on
youth and shall implement a tracking and monitoring system so that
the use of all funds appropriated can be specifically identified
and reported to the Legislative Budget Board in the annual report to
be delivered not later than December 1 of each year.
(c) The report must include detailed monitoring, tracking,
utilization, and effectiveness information on all funds
appropriated. The report shall include information on the impact of
any new initiatives and all programs tracked by the department and
specifically include information on:
(1) prevention and intervention programs;
(2) residential placements;
(3) enhanced community-based services for serious and
chronic offenders, including sex offender treatment;
(4) intensive supervision and specialized
supervision;
(5) community-based services for misdemeanants no
longer eligible for commitment to the department; and
(6) the commitment diversion initiatives.
(d) The report shall include information on all training,
inspection, monitoring, investigation, and technical assistance
activities conducted using appropriated funds. Required elements
include training conferences held, practitioners trained,
facilities inspected, and investigations conducted.
(e) The report must:
(1) be accompanied by supporting documentation
detailing the sources and methodologies utilized to assess program
effectiveness and any other supporting material specified by the
Legislative Budget Board;
(2) contain a certification by the person submitting
the report that the information provided is true and correct based
upon information and belief together with supporting
documentation; and
(3) contain information on each program receiving
funds for prevention and intervention, including all outcome
measures reported by each program and information on how funds were
expended by each program.
(f) The report must provide an assessment of the
effectiveness of specialized treatment, emphasizing the rearrest
rate of offenders receiving treatment.
(g) In addition, the department shall report juvenile
probation population data as requested by the Legislative Budget
Board on a monthly basis for the most recent month available. The
department shall report to the Legislative Budget Board on all
populations specified by the Legislative Budget Board, including
additions, releases, and end-of-month populations. The department
shall submit end-of-fiscal-year data indicating each reporting
county to the Legislative Budget Board not later than two months
after the last day of each fiscal year. The department must use
Legislative Budget Board population projections for probation
supervision and state correctional populations when developing the
department's legislative appropriations requests.
(h) On request of the Legislative Budget Board, the
department shall report expenditure data by strategy, by program,
or in any other format requested.
SECTION 4. Chapter 203, Human Resources Code, is amended by
adding Sections 203.017 and 203.018 to read as follows:
Sec. 203.017. DIVERSION PROGRAMS FUNDS; REPORT. (a) The
department shall distribute grant funds for the purpose of
providing programs for the diversion of youth from the department.
(b) The department shall maintain a mechanism for tracking
youth served by the diversion programs to determine the long-term
success for diverting youth from state juvenile correctional
incarceration and the adult criminal justice system.
(c) A report on the programs' results shall be included in
the report that is required under Section 203.012 to be submitted
to
the Legislative Budget Board on or before December 1 of each year.
Sec. 203.018. EDUCATIONAL PERFORMANCE REPORT. The
department shall submit a report containing statistical
information regarding the performance of students of the
department's educational programs on the Test of Adult Basic
Education to the Legislative Budget Board and the governor on or
before December 1 of each even-numbered year.
SECTION 5. Section 221.005, Human Resources Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(c) The department shall provide technical assistance on
program design and evaluation for programs operated by juvenile
probation departments, including:
(1) providing in-depth consultative technical
assistance on program design, implementation, and evaluation to
local juvenile probation departments;
(2) assisting juvenile probation departments in
developing logic models for all programs;
(3) developing recommended performance measures by
program type;
(4) facilitating partnerships with universities,
community colleges, or larger probation departments to assist
departments with statistical program evaluations where feasible;
(5) following current research on juvenile justice
program design, implementation, and evaluation; and
(6) disseminating best practices to juvenile
probation departments.
SECTION 6. Section 242.004, Human Resources Code, is
amended by adding Subsections (d), (e), and (f) to read as follows:
(d) The disciplinary and grievance procedures must be
substantially equivalent to the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice's employee disciplinary and grievance procedures.
(e) The department's disciplinary procedures must allow an
employee of the department to be represented by a designee of the
employee's selection who may participate in the hearing on behalf
of an employee charged with any type of disciplinary violation.
(f) The department's grievance procedures shall attempt to
solve problems through a process that recognizes the employee's
right to bring a grievance under the department's procedures. The
grievance procedures must include independent mediation or
independent, nonbinding arbitration of a dispute between the
employer and the employee if the disciplining authority recommends
that the employee be terminated or the employee is terminated.
SECTION 7. Subchapter B, Chapter 242, Human Resources Code,
is amended by adding Section 242.0585 to read as follows:
Sec. 242.0585. FEDERAL FUNDS FOR CERTAIN SERVICES. (a) The
department shall certify to the Department of Family and Protective
Services that federal financial participation can be claimed for
Title IV-E, Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Section 670 et seq.),
services provided to a child by a county.
(b) The department shall direct necessary general revenue
funding to ensure that the amount of federal funds received under
Title IV-E is maximized for use by participating counties. The
department shall use the federal funds received for the purpose of
reimbursing counties for services provided to eligible children.
(c) When reporting federal funds to the Legislative Budget
Board, the department must report funds expended in the fiscal year
that the funds are disbursed to counties, regardless of the year in
which the claim was made by the county, received by the department,
or certified by the department.
SECTION 8. Section 244.009, Human Resources Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(c) The department shall develop an approach to deliver
health care and psychiatric services at the best value possible.
SECTION 9. 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, 2017.