Bill Text: TX HB314 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the functions of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-02-15 - Referred to Juvenile Justice & Family Issues [HB314 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-HB314-Introduced.html
| By: Johnson of Harris | H.B. No. 314 | |
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| 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. | ||
