Bill Text: TX HB3815 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: Relating to transitional living services provided to foster youth transitioning to independent living.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-05-06 - Committee report sent to Calendars [HB3815 Detail]

Download: Texas-2021-HB3815-Comm_Sub.html

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87R19491 BDP-D
By: Hunter H.B. No. 3815
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 3815:
By: Noble C.S.H.B. No. 3815

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to transitional living services provided to foster youth
transitioning to independent living.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 264.121(a), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The department shall address the unique challenges
facing foster children in the conservatorship of the department who
must transition to independent living by:
(1) expanding efforts to improve transition planning
and increasing the availability of transitional family group
decision-making to all youth age 14 or older in the department's
permanent managing conservatorship, including enrolling the youth
in the Preparation for Adult Living Program before the age of 16;
(2) coordinating with the commission to obtain
authority, to the extent allowed by federal law, the state Medicaid
plan, the Title IV-E state plan, and any waiver or amendment to
either plan, necessary to:
(A) extend foster care eligibility and
transition services for youth up to age 23 [21] and develop policy
to permit eligible youth to return to foster care as necessary to
achieve the goals of the Transitional Living Services Program;
[and]
(B) extend Medicaid coverage for foster care
youth and former foster care youth up to age 26 to continue to
receive coverage under the STAR Health program and to allow foster
care youth to apply for coverage [21] with a single application at
the time the youth leaves foster care; and
(C) allow youth who are 14 years of age or older
but not more than 26 years of age to participate in the Education
and Training Voucher Program as long as the student is making
satisfactory progress toward completion of the program; and
(3) entering into cooperative agreements with the
Texas Workforce Commission and local workforce development boards
to further the objectives of the Preparation for Adult Living
Program. The department, the Texas Workforce Commission, and the
local workforce development boards shall ensure that services are
prioritized and targeted to meet the needs of foster care and former
foster care children and that such services will include, where
feasible, referrals for short-term stays for youth needing housing.
SECTION 2. Section 264.121(b)(3), Family Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(3) "Transitional Living Services Program" means a
program, administered by the department in accordance with
department rules and state and federal law, for youth who are age 14
or older but not more than 23 [21] years of age and are currently or
were formerly in foster care, that assists youth in transitioning
from foster care to independent living. The program provides
transitional living services, extended foster care, Preparation
for Adult Living Program services, and Education and Training
Voucher Program services.
SECTION 3. Section 264.121(c), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) At the time a child enters the Preparation for Adult
Living Program, the department shall provide an information booklet
to the child and the foster parent describing the program and the
benefits available to the child, including extended Medicaid
coverage until age 26 [21], priority status with the Texas
Workforce Commission, and the exemption from the payment of tuition
and fees at institutions of higher education as defined by Section
61.003, Education Code. The information booklet provided to the
child and the foster parent shall be provided in the primary
language spoken by that individual.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.