Bill Text: TX HB1796 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Relating to family violence center services for victims of family violence.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-05-03 - Comm. report sent to Local & Consent Calendar [HB1796 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HB1796-Comm_Sub.html
88R15793 AMF-F | |||
By: Howard, Hull, Rose | H.B. No. 1796 | ||
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1796: | |||
By: Ramos | C.S.H.B. No. 1796 |
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relating to family violence center services for victims of family | ||
violence. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 51.002, Human Resources Code, is amended | ||
by amending Subdivisions (1), (2), and (9) and adding Subdivisions | ||
(1-a), (1-b), and (8-a) to read as follows: | ||
(1) "Dating relationship" has the meaning assigned by | ||
Section 71.0021(b), Family Code. | ||
(1-a) "Dating violence" means an act, other than a | ||
defensive measure to protect oneself, by an individual against | ||
another individual with whom the actor has or has had a dating | ||
relationship and that is: | ||
(A) intended to result in physical harm, bodily | ||
injury, assault, or sexual assault; | ||
(B) a threat that reasonably places an individual | ||
in fear of imminent physical harm, bodily injury, assault, or | ||
sexual assault; or | ||
(C) intended to inflict emotional harm, | ||
including an act of emotional abuse. | ||
(1-b) "Family" has the meaning assigned by Section | ||
71.003, Family Code. | ||
(2) "Family violence" means: | ||
(A) an act by a member of a family or household | ||
against another member of the family or household that: | ||
(i) [ |
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harm, bodily injury, assault, or sexual assault or that is a threat | ||
that reasonably places the member in fear of imminent physical | ||
harm, bodily injury, assault, or sexual assault, but does not | ||
include defensive measures to protect oneself; or | ||
(ii) [ |
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harm, including an act of emotional abuse; or | ||
(B) dating violence. | ||
(8-a) "Trauma-informed" in regard to a service or | ||
service model means that the service or service model is provided in | ||
a manner that recognizes and responds to the signs and symptoms of | ||
trauma in, and the risks of trauma to, a victim of family violence | ||
to better support the victim and promote the victim's choice, | ||
trust, dignity, connection, and healing. | ||
(9) "Victim of family violence" means: | ||
(A) an adult member of a family or household who | ||
is subjected to an act of family violence; [ |
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(B) a member of the household of the adult | ||
described by Paragraph (A), other than the member of the household | ||
who commits the act of family violence, including an act of | ||
emotional abuse; or | ||
(C) an individual who is subjected to an act of | ||
dating violence. | ||
SECTION 2. Sections 51.004(a) and (b), Human Resources | ||
Code, are amended to read as follows: | ||
(a) To be eligible for a contract under Section 51.003(a), a | ||
family violence shelter center must: | ||
(1) provide temporary lodging and direct delivery of | ||
services for adults and their dependents; | ||
(2) have been in actual operation offering shelter | ||
services 24 hours a day with a capacity for not less than five | ||
persons for at least one year before the date on which the contract | ||
is awarded; | ||
(3) demonstrate that the center, through the services | ||
it provides, is addressing a need in the community consistent with | ||
the plan for family violence services under Section 51.0021; [ |
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(4) demonstrate that the center is using a voluntary | ||
and trauma-informed advocacy service model; and | ||
(5) submit a contract application on forms prescribed | ||
by the commission. | ||
(b) To be eligible for a contract under Section 51.003(a), a | ||
family violence nonresidential center must: | ||
(1) provide, as its primary purpose, direct delivery | ||
of services to adult victims of family violence; | ||
(2) demonstrate a system of referring victims of | ||
family violence to at least one family violence shelter center or | ||
other safe temporary lodging; | ||
(3) have been operating and providing comprehensive | ||
services, including the services described by Section | ||
51.005(b)(3), to victims of family violence for at least one year | ||
before the date on which the contract is awarded; | ||
(4) demonstrate that the center, through the services | ||
it provides, is addressing a need in the community consistent with | ||
the plan for family violence services under Section 51.0021; [ |
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(5) demonstrate that the center is using a voluntary | ||
and trauma-informed advocacy service model; and | ||
(6) submit a contract application on forms prescribed | ||
by the commission. | ||
SECTION 3. Section 51.005, Human Resources Code, is amended | ||
by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (b-1) to read as | ||
follows: | ||
(b) The contracts shall require the persons operating a | ||
family violence center to: | ||
(1) make a quarterly and an annual financial report on | ||
a form prescribed by the commission; | ||
(2) cooperate with inspections the commission makes to | ||
ensure services standards and fiscal responsibility; and | ||
(3) provide, as its primary purpose, voluntary and | ||
trauma-informed services to victims of family violence that | ||
include: | ||
(A) 24-hour-a-day shelter, except that a family | ||
violence nonresidential center may provide access to a | ||
24-hour-a-day shelter; | ||
(B) a 24-hour-a-day crisis hotline, except that a | ||
family violence nonresidential center may provide access to a | ||
24-hour-a-day crisis hotline operated by another organization | ||
located in the nonresidential center's service area; | ||
(C) access to emergency medical care; | ||
(D) crisis and intervention services, including | ||
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education, referrals, and other resource assistance; | ||
(E) access to emergency transportation; | ||
(F) advocacy focused on: | ||
(i) economic and housing stability; | ||
(ii) physical, behavioral, and mental | ||
health; | ||
(iii) the needs of children who are victims | ||
and the children of victims; and | ||
(iv) [ |
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criminal legal [ |
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(a) [ |
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needs, legal rights, and legal options; and | ||
(b) [ |
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accompaniment in pursuing those options; | ||
(G) ongoing safety planning services in | ||
collaboration with the self-stated priorities and needs of the | ||
victim of family violence [ |
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(H) community education regarding family | ||
violence and family violence prevention efforts [ |
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(I) counseling services [ |
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(J) peer support services led by victims of | ||
family violence, including activities and other efforts that | ||
facilitate connections and the creation of community among victims | ||
of family violence [ |
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(b-1) The contracts shall: | ||
(1) specify that participation in services by a victim | ||
of family violence is voluntary; and | ||
(2) prohibit the persons operating a family violence | ||
center from requiring a victim of family violence to participate in | ||
other services as a condition of receiving shelter. | ||
SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to | ||
a contract entered into or amended on or after the effective date of | ||
this Act. A contract entered into or amended before the effective | ||
date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the | ||
contract was entered into or amended, and the former law is | ||
continued in effect for that purpose. | ||
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2024. |