Bill Text: TX HB4356 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the dissolution of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department and the creation of the Office of Youth Safety and Rehabilitation.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-04-05 - Left pending in committee [HB4356 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HB4356-Introduced.html
By: Talarico | H.B. No. 4356 |
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relating to the dissolution of the Texas Juvenile Justice | ||
Department and the creation of the Office of Youth Safety and | ||
Rehabilitation. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. The heading to Subtitle A, Title 12, Human | ||
Resources Code, is amended to read as follows: | ||
SUBTITLE A. OFFICE OF YOUTH SAFETY AND REHABILITATION [ |
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SECTION 2. Subtitle A, Title 12, Human Resources Code, is | ||
amended by adding Chapter 201A to read as follows: | ||
CHAPTER 201A. OFFICE OF YOUTH SAFETY AND REHABILITATION | ||
Sec. 201A.001. DEFINITIONS. (a) In this chapter: | ||
(1) "Board" means the Board of Youth Safety and | ||
Rehabilitation. | ||
(2) "Child" means an individual: | ||
(A) 10 years of age or older and younger than 18 | ||
years of age who is under the jurisdiction of a juvenile court; or | ||
(B) 10 years of age or older and younger than 19 | ||
years of age who is committed to the custody of the office under | ||
Title 3, Family Code. | ||
(3) "Office" means the Office of Youth Safety and | ||
Rehabilitation. | ||
(b) A reference in other law to the Texas Juvenile Justice | ||
Department means the office. | ||
Sec. 201A.002. OFFICE OF YOUTH SAFETY AND REHABILITATION. | ||
The executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services | ||
Commission shall maintain an Office of Youth Safety and | ||
Rehabilitation within the commission with the goal of: | ||
(1) promoting trauma-responsive and culturally | ||
informed services for children engaging in delinquent conduct in a | ||
manner that supports the child's successful transition to | ||
adulthood; and | ||
(2) ensuring children become responsible, thriving, | ||
and engaged members of their communities. | ||
Sec. 201A.003. RESPONSIBILITIES OF OFFICE. The office is | ||
responsible for: | ||
(1) managing and allocating recouped funding to | ||
community-based service providers; | ||
(2) providing technical assistance to develop and | ||
expand local diversion opportunities to meet the various needs of | ||
children who have engaged in delinquent conduct, including sex | ||
offender, substance abuse, mental health treatment, and in-school | ||
diversion and prevention programs; | ||
(3) acting as a financial and administrative | ||
intermediary entity between state and local organizations and | ||
county agencies to distribute state and other grants and resources; | ||
and | ||
(4) overseeing the use of the funding described by | ||
Subdivision (3) throughout this state to assist in the development | ||
of infrastructure for local programs focusing on children. | ||
Sec. 201A.004. ANNUAL REPORT REQUIRED. The office shall | ||
annually submit a report to the governor and each member of the | ||
legislature. The report must: | ||
(1) describe outcomes achieved by the office in the | ||
preceding year; | ||
(2) detail the work completed by the office in the | ||
preceding year, including any new services or programs offered by | ||
the office; | ||
(3) evaluate the efficacy of current programs offered | ||
locally to children; | ||
(4) identify and recommend policies for improved | ||
outcomes and integrated programs and services to best support | ||
children outside of detention facilities; and | ||
(5) identify and disseminate best practices to help | ||
inform restorative practices, including education, diversion, | ||
reentry, religious, and victim services. | ||
Sec. 201A.005. BOARD; FUNDING PRIORITIES. (a) The board is | ||
the governing body of the office and is responsible for the | ||
operations of the office. | ||
(b) The board shall develop and implement policies that | ||
clearly separate the policymaking responsibilities of the board and | ||
the management responsibilities of the presiding officer and the | ||
staff of the office. | ||
(c) The board shall establish funding priorities for | ||
services that support the goals of the office and that do not | ||
provide incentives to detain children. | ||
Sec. 201A.006. COMPOSITION OF BOARD; PRESIDING OFFICER. | ||
(a) The board is composed of the following 19 members or their | ||
designees: | ||
(1) the executive commissioner of the Health and Human | ||
Services Commission; | ||
(2) the chief officer of the Medicaid and CHIP | ||
services department of the Health and Human Services Commission; | ||
(3) the deputy executive commissioner of the | ||
Intellectual and Developmental Disability and Behavioral Health | ||
Services Department; | ||
(4) the director of the Early Childhood Education | ||
Division at the Texas Education Agency; | ||
(5) the following members appointed by the governor: | ||
(A) a member of the judiciary; | ||
(B) an attorney with experience in defending | ||
civil rights cases; | ||
(C) a member of the Texas Judicial Commission on | ||
Mental Health; | ||
(D) a faculty member from the medical school at | ||
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio; | ||
(E) a licensed trauma-informed youth counselor; | ||
(F) an education advocate; | ||
(G) two culturally responsive juvenile justice | ||
advocates; | ||
(H) a culturally responsive youth mental health | ||
advocate; | ||
(I) a harm reduction advocate; and | ||
(J) a representative of the Texas Correctional | ||
Office on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments; and | ||
(6) the following members appointed by the governor | ||
from recommendations made by the presiding officer: | ||
(A) a child welfare advocate; | ||
(B) two youth advocates; and | ||
(C) two individuals formerly committed to a | ||
juvenile detention facility who can serve as a credible messenger | ||
for detained youth. | ||
(b) Board members serve staggered six-year terms, with the | ||
terms of six or seven members expiring on February 1 of each | ||
odd-numbered year. | ||
(c) The governor shall designate a member of the board as | ||
the presiding officer to serve in that capacity at the pleasure of | ||
the governor. | ||
Sec. 201A.006. PLAN. (a) The office shall develop and | ||
adopt a plan to improve the juvenile justice system under the | ||
authority of the office. | ||
(b) The plan must include a detailed list of procedures and | ||
strategies to: | ||
(1) not later than September 1, 2026: | ||
(A) end commitments of children to any of the | ||
five secure juvenile detention facilities operated by the Texas | ||
Juvenile Justice Department; | ||
(B) significantly reduce the population of | ||
children currently committed to each of the five secure juvenile | ||
detention facilities operated by the Texas Juvenile Justice | ||
Department; | ||
(C) establish infrastructure in each county in | ||
this state to provide alternative services related to delinquency | ||
prevention and intervention, including alternative evidence-based | ||
safe, local, supportive placements for children who cannot stay at | ||
home; | ||
(D) establish secure placement options for | ||
children in cases where the court finds that the offender presents a | ||
serious security risk of harm to self or others; | ||
(E) increase local, evidence-based delinquency | ||
responses and interventions in communities and schools; and | ||
(F) end racial and disability disparities for | ||
children in the juvenile justice system; and | ||
(2) not later than September 1, 2030, complete a | ||
staggered closure of the five secure juvenile detention facilities | ||
operated by the Texas Juvenile Justice Department. | ||
(c) In developing the plan, the office shall consult with | ||
experts and interested parties, including juvenile probation | ||
departments. | ||
(d) Not later than January 1, 2025, the office shall submit | ||
a copy of the plan to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the | ||
speaker of the house of representatives, and each member of the | ||
legislature. | ||
(e) This section expires September 1, 2030. | ||
Sec. 201A.007. SUNSET PROVISION. The office is subject to | ||
Chapter 325, Government Code (Texas Sunset Act). Unless continued | ||
in existence as provided by that chapter, the board and office are | ||
abolished September 1, 2030. | ||
SECTION 3. (a) Chapters 201, 202, and 203, Human Resources | ||
Code, are repealed. | ||
SECTION 4. (a) The Texas Juvenile Justice Department is | ||
abolished but continues in existence until September 1, 2030, for | ||
the sole purpose of transferring obligations, property, rights, | ||
powers, grants, and duties to the Office of Youth Safety and | ||
Rehabilitation. The Office of Youth Safety and Rehabilitation | ||
assumes any remaining obligations, property, rights, powers, and | ||
duties of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department as they exist | ||
immediately before September 1, 2030. All unexpended funds under | ||
the management of the Texas Juvenile Justice Board of the Texas | ||
Juvenile Justice Department as provided by Chapter 203, Human | ||
Resources Code, as that chapter existed immediately before the | ||
effective date of this Act, are transferred to the Office of Youth | ||
Safety and Rehabilitation for the purpose of administering duties | ||
under Chapter 201A, Human Resources Code, as added by this Act. | ||
(b) The Texas Juvenile Justice Department and the Office of | ||
Youth Safety and Rehabilitation shall, in consultation with | ||
appropriate state entities, ensure that the transfer of the | ||
obligations, property, rights, powers, and duties of the Texas | ||
Juvenile Justice Department to the Office of Youth Safety and | ||
Rehabilitation is completed not later than September 1, 2030. | ||
(c) All rules of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department are | ||
continued in effect as rules of the Office of Youth Safety and | ||
Rehabilitation until superseded by a rule of the Office of Youth | ||
Safety and Rehabilitation. An authorization issued by the Texas | ||
Juvenile Justice Department is continued in effect as provided by | ||
the law in effect immediately before the effective date of this Act. | ||
An authorization pending on the effective date of this Act is | ||
continued without change in status after the effective date of this | ||
Act. A complaint, investigation, or other proceeding pending on | ||
the effective date of this Act is continued without change in status | ||
after the effective date of this Act. | ||
(d) Unless the context indicates otherwise, a reference to | ||
the Texas Juvenile Justice Department in a law or administrative | ||
rule means the Office of Youth Safety and Rehabilitation. | ||
SECTION 5. Not later than the 60th day after the effective | ||
date of this Act, the governor shall appoint members to the Board of | ||
Youth Safety and Rehabilitation in accordance with Section | ||
201A.006, Human Resources Code, as added by this Act. In appointing | ||
the initial members of the board under this section, the governor | ||
shall designate six members for terms expiring February 1, 2025, | ||
six members for terms expiring February 1, 2027, and seven members | ||
for terms expiring February 1, 2029. | ||
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |