By Maxey                                        H.B. No. 1822

      75R6442 DAK-D                           

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-1                                   AN ACT

 1-2     relating to the release of certain children in need of treatment by

 1-3     the Texas Youth Commission.

 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-5           SECTION 1.  Section 61.0812, Human Resources Code, is amended

 1-6     to read as follows:

 1-7           Sec. 61.0812.  TREATMENT [FOR SUBSTANCE ABUSE].  The [Subject

 1-8     to an express appropriation to fund the treatment programs required

 1-9     by this section, the] commission may not release a child under

1-10     supervision or parole a child if:

1-11                 (1)  the child has been assessed by the commission to

1-12     have a need for:

1-13                       (A)  chemical dependency services as the result

1-14     of a substance abuse problem, including the use of a controlled

1-15     substance, hazardous inhalable substances, or alcohol habitually;

1-16                       (B)  sex offender services; or

1-17                       (C)  emotional disorder services; and

1-18                 (2)  the child has not completed a treatment program

1-19     providing the assessed services [for the problem].

1-20           SECTION 2.  Subchapter F, Chapter 61, Human Resources Code,

1-21     is amended by adding Section 61.0813 to read as follows:

1-22           Sec. 61.0813.  PRERELEASE EVALUATION OF CHILD'S HOME FOR

1-23     SUBSTANCE ABUSE PROBLEMS.  (a)  This section applies to a child

1-24     proposed to be released under supervision under the jurisdiction of

 2-1     the commission and placed in a home in which the child's parent

 2-2     resides.

 2-3           (b)  Before release of the child to the home, an evaluation

 2-4     of the home and interview with each of the child's parents who live

 2-5     in the home must be conducted to determine whether:

 2-6                 (1)  the parent admits to having a substance abuse

 2-7     problem;

 2-8                 (2)  circumstances observed during the evaluation allow

 2-9     a reasonable belief that the parent or any other person residing in

2-10     the home has a substance abuse problem; or

2-11                 (3)  the parent has been convicted of the possession or

2-12     sale of an illegal substance.

2-13           (c)  If the commission determines that a condition described

2-14     in Subsection (b) exists, the commission may not release a child to

2-15     a home in which the child's parent resides until the parent has

2-16     successfully completed a substance abuse recovery program approved

2-17     by the commission.

2-18           (d)  If a child was committed to the commission because the

2-19     child was adjudicated as having engaged in behavior involving the

2-20     possession or sale of an illegal substance, the commission may not

2-21     release a child to a home in which the child's parent resides until

2-22     the parent has successfully completed a program approved by the

2-23     commission designed to educate the parent on how best to help a

2-24     child recover from a substance abuse problem.

2-25           (e)  In this section, "substance abuse problem" means the

2-26     habitual use of a controlled substance, hazardous inhalable

2-27     substance, or alcohol.

 3-1           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997, and

 3-2     applies to the release of a child by the Texas Youth Commission on

 3-3     or after that date without regard to whether the child was

 3-4     committed to the commission before, on, or after that date.

 3-5           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the

 3-6     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

 3-7     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

 3-8     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

 3-9     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.