By: Allen of Dallas H.B. No. 2837
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the state's activities regarding the education,
vocational training, and reintegration of offenders.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 19.004(c), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) The district shall:
(1) develop educational and vocational training
programs specifically designed for persons eligible under Section
19.005. In the development of vocational training programs, the
district shall prioritize those that result in certification or
licensure, with consideration afforded to the impact that ex-felon
status has on the ability to secure such certification, licensure
and employment;
(2) ensure that education programs, such as GED and
ESL, are integrated with an applied vocational context leading to
employment; and
(3) [(2)] coordinate educational programs and
services in the department with those provided by other state
agencies, by political subdivisions, and by persons who provide
programs and services under contract.
SECTION 2. Chapter 19, Education Code, is amended by adding
Section 19.0041 as follows:
Sec. 19.0041. EVALUATION OF EFFECTIVENESS OF TRAINING
SERVICES. (a) To evaluate the effectiveness of training services,
the Windham School District shall contract with an outside
organization to compile and analyze information for each offender
who received training while incarcerated. This information shall
include:
(1) the types or training provided;
(2) the types of employment secured upon release;
(3) whether such employment was training related;
(4) the measurement of an offender's earnings change
at 12 months from the initial wages paid upon securing employment;
and
(5) the retention factors associated with such
employment.
(b) The department shall submit an annual report to the
Legislative Budget Board and the Governor evaluating the
effectiveness of training services. This report shall be produced
by the outside organization the district contracted with under
Subsection (a) based on its data compilation and analysis.
SECTION 3. Section 19.011, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) In order to achieve the goals stated in Section 19.003,
the district with the cooperation of the Health and Human Services
Commission, the Texas Workforce Investment Council, the Texas
Workforce Commission, the Governor's Economic Development and
Tourism Office, [the Texas Department of Economic Development,] and
the department shall provide persons confined or imprisoned in the
department:
(1) information from local workforce and development
boards on job training and employment referral services; and
(2) information on the tax refund voucher program
under Subchapter H, Chapter 301, Labor Code.
(b) The district shall [may] coordinate vocational
education and job training programs with a local workforce
development board authorized by the Texas Workforce Commission
[Investment Council] to ensure that district students are equipped
with the skills necessary to compete for current and emerging jobs.
SECTION 4. Section 306.001, Labor Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (2) and (3) and deleting Subsection (4) to
read as follows:
(1) "Department" means the Texas Department of
Criminal Justice.
(2) "Correctional institutions [Institutional]
division" means the correctional institutions [institutional]
division of the department.
(3) "Project RIO" means [the] project [for]
reintegration of offenders.
[(4) "State jail division" means the state jail
division of the department.]
SECTION 5. Section 306.002, Labor Code, is amended as
follows:
Sec. 306.002. PROJECT RIO. The project for reintegration
of offenders is a statewide employment referral program designed to
reintegrate into the labor force persons sentenced or committed to
[a state jail felony facility or the institutional division and
persons committed to] the correctional institutions division or the
Texas Youth Commission.
SECTION 6. Section 306.005, Labor Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (1) and (2) to read as follows:
(1) the correctional institutions [institutional]
division [and the state jail division] in ascertaining and
encouraging an inmate's chances for employment by:
(A) providing vocational and educational
assessment for the person while incarcerated;
(B) developing a skills enhancement program for
the person while incarcerated, in cooperation with other
governmental, educational, and private entities, using available
public or private financial resources authorized by statute; and
(C) referring the person on release to the
project through the person's parole officer or supervision officer;
(2) the community justice assistance division and the
parole [pardons and paroles] division of the department in:
(A) encouraging and referring persons to the
project; and
(B) ensuring that those persons participate in
the project and avail themselves of its services; and
SECTION 7. Section 306.007, Labor Code is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 306.007. PROVISION OF INFORMATION ON STATE SERVICES
FOR EX-OFFENDERS AND EMPLOYERS. (a) To assist in the reintegration
into the labor force of the persons formerly sentenced to the
correctional institutions [institutional] division or committed to
the Texas Youth Commission [state jail division], the commission
through Project RIO shall provide:
(1) to those persons:
(A) information from local workforce development
boards on job training and employment referral services;
(B) information from the Department of State
Health Services [Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse] on substance
abuse treatment services;
(C) information from the Texas Department of
Housing and Community Affairs on housing services;
(D) information from the Texas Veterans
Commission on services for veterans; and
(E) information on tax refund voucher programs
under Subchapter H, Chapter 301; and
(2) to the employers and potential employers of those
persons:
(A) information from the Governor's Economic
Development and Tourism Office [Texas Department of Economic
Development] on the enterprise zone program; and
(B) information from local workforce development
boards on services listed in Section 2308.304, Government Code.
(b) The commission shall adopt a memorandum of
understanding with each of the following agencies that establishes
the respective responsibilities of the commission and the agencies
in providing information described by Subsection (a) to persons
formerly sentenced to the institutional division or the state jail
division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, to employers
or potential employers of those persons, and to local workforce
development boards:
(1) the Department of State Health Services [Texas
Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse];
(2) the Texas Department of Housing and Community
Affairs;
(3) the Texas Veterans Commission; and
(4) the Health and Human Services Commission [Texas
Department of Human Services;]
[(5) the Texas Department of Economic Development;
and]
[(6) the Texas Workforce Investment Council.]
[(c) The commission shall coordinate the development of the
memoranda of understanding and shall prepare an annual report
describing the number of ex-offenders in the preceding year
receiving services under each memorandum. The commission shall
file a copy of the annual report with the governor's office.]
SECTION 8. Chapter 306, Labor Code, is amended by adding
Section 306.008 as follows:
Section 306.008. DATA SHARING. (a) To assist in the
reintegration into the labor force of persons formerly sentenced to
the correctional institutions division or those committed to Texas
Youth Commission facilities, the commission, the Texas Youth
Commission, and the department shall establish a data interface
that, at a minimum:
(1) provides the commission with information
detailing populations released from facilities who might benefit
from post release Project RIO service provision. Such information
shall include:
(A) Demographic and identifying information;
(B) Release or parole address;
(C) Comprehensive state offense history,
including date released from correctional facility, sentence
discharge date, and conditions of parole;
(D) Assessment information;
(E) Educational and work histories; and,
(F) Information related to participation in the
work against recidivism program operated by the department's
manufacturing and logistics division, under the Texas Correctional
Industries;
(G) Other services provided pre-release pursuant
to this title.
(2) provides the commission with referral information
from department and Texas Youth Commission parole operations,
necessary to implement the provision of post release employment
services;
(3) provides the parole officer with information on an
ex-offender's participation in employment services; and
(4) provides the parole officer with information about
an ex-offender's entry into employment.
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.