1-1     By:  Moncrief                                          S.B. No. 644
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed February 9, 2001; February 13, 2001,
 1-3     read first time and referred to Committee on Health and Human
 1-4     Services; March 19, 2001, reported favorably by the following vote:
 1-5     Yeas 8, Nays 0; March 19, 2001, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to continuity of care for offenders with mental
 1-9     impairments.
1-10           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11           SECTION 1.  Section 614.013, Health and Safety Code, is
1-12     amended by amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsections
1-13     (d) and (e) to read as follows:
1-14           (a)  The Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the Texas
1-15     Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, representatives
1-16     of local mental health or mental retardation authorities appointed
1-17     by the commissioner of the Texas Department of Mental Health and
1-18     Mental Retardation, and the directors of community supervision and
1-19     corrections departments [by rule] shall adopt a memorandum of
1-20     understanding that establishes their respective responsibilities to
1-21     institute a continuity of care and service program for offenders
1-22     with mental impairments in the criminal justice system.  The
1-23     council shall coordinate and monitor the development and
1-24     implementation of the memorandum of understanding.
1-25           (b)  The memorandum of understanding must establish methods
1-26     for:
1-27                 (1)  identifying offenders with mental impairments in
1-28     the criminal justice system and collecting and reporting prevalence
1-29     rate data to the council;
1-30                 (2)  developing interagency rules, policies, [and]
1-31     procedures, and standards for the coordination of care of and the
1-32     exchange of information on offenders with mental impairments by
1-33     local and state criminal justice agencies, the Texas Department of
1-34     Mental Health and Mental Retardation, [and] local mental health or
1-35     mental retardation authorities, the Commission on Jail
1-36     Standards,[;] and local jails;
1-37                 (3)  identifying the services needed by offenders with
1-38     mental impairments to reenter the community successfully; and
1-39                 (4)  establishing a process to report implementation
1-40     activities to the council.
1-41           (d)  Local and state criminal justice agencies shall,
1-42     whenever possible, contract with local mental health or mental
1-43     retardation authorities to maximize Medicaid funding and improve on
1-44     the continuity of care and service program for offenders with
1-45     mental impairments in the criminal justice system.
1-46           (e)  The council, in coordination with each state agency
1-47     identified in Subsection (b)(2), shall develop a standardized
1-48     process for collecting and reporting the memorandum of
1-49     understanding implementation outcomes by local and state criminal
1-50     justice agencies and local and state mental health or mental
1-51     retardation authorities.  The findings of these reports shall be
1-52     submitted to the council by September 1 of each even-numbered year
1-53     and shall be included in recommendations to the legislature in the
1-54     council's biennium report.
1-55           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
1-56                                  * * * * *