81R10095 HLT-F

By: Turner of Harris H.B. No. 1711

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to requiring the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to establish a comprehensive reentry and reintegration plan for offenders released or discharged from a correctional facility.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 495, Government Code, is amended by adding Section 495.028 to read as follows:

Sec. 495.028. CONTRACTS TO IMPLEMENT REENTRY AND REINTEGRATION PLAN. The department may contract with private vendors or other entities to implement the comprehensive reentry and reintegration plan developed under Section 501.092, including contracting to:

(1) coordinate the supervision and services provided to offenders in correctional facilities with any supervision or services provided to offenders who have been released or discharged from the correctional facility;

(2) provide offenders awaiting release or discharge with documents that are necessary after release or discharge, including identification papers, medical prescriptions, job training certificates, and referrals to services; and

(3) provide housing and structured programs, including group homes for recovering substance abusers, through which offenders are provided services immediately following release or discharge.

SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 501, Government Code, is amended by adding Sections 501.091, 501.092, and 501.098 to read as follows:

Sec. 501.091. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:

(1) "Correctional facility" means a facility operated by or under contract with the department.

(2) "Offender" means an inmate or state jail defendant confined in a correctional facility.

Sec. 501.092. COMPREHENSIVE REENTRY AND REINTEGRATION PLAN FOR OFFENDERS. (a) The department shall develop a comprehensive plan to reduce recidivism and ensure the successful reentry and reintegration of offenders into the community following an offender's release or discharge from a correctional facility.

(b) The reentry and reintegration plan developed under this section must provide for:

(1) an assessment of each offender entering a correctional facility to determine which skills the offender needs to develop to be successful in the community following release or discharge;

(2) programs that address the assessed needs of each offender; and

(3) a comprehensive network of transition programs to address the needs of offenders released or discharged from a correctional facility.

(c) The programs provided under Subsections (b)(2) and (3) must:

(1) be implemented by highly skilled staff who are experienced in working with inmate reentry and reintegration programs;

(2) provide offenders with:

(A) individualized case management and a full continuum of care;

(B) life-skills training, including information about budgeting, money management, nutrition, and exercise;

(C) education and, if an offender has a learning disability, special education;

(D) employment training;

(E) appropriate treatment programs, including substance abuse and mental health treatment programs; and

(F) parenting and relationship building classes; and

(3) be designed to build for former offenders post-release and post-discharge support from the community into which an offender is released or discharged, including support from agencies and organizations within that community.

(d) In developing the reentry and reintegration plan under this section, the department shall ensure that the reentry program for long-term inmates under Section 501.096 and the reintegration services provided under Section 501.097 are incorporated into the plan.

Sec. 501.098. FAMILY UNITY AND PARTICIPATION. (a) The department shall adopt and implement policies that encourage family unity while an offender is confined and family participation in an offender's post-release or post-discharge transition to the community. In adopting the policies, the department shall consider the impact of department telephone, mail, and visitation policies on the ability of an offender's child to maintain ongoing contact with the offender.

(b) The department, when determining in which correctional facility to house an offender, shall consider the best interest of the offender's family and, if possible, house the offender in, or in proximity to, the county in which the offender's family resides.

(c) The department shall conduct and coordinate research that examines the impact of an offender's confinement on the well-being of the offender's child.

SECTION 3. (a) Not later than January 1, 2010, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shall adopt and implement the policies required by Section 501.098, Government Code, as added by this Act.

(b) Not later than January 1, 2010, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shall develop and implement the comprehensive reentry and reintegration plan for offenders as required by Section 501.092, Government Code, as added by this Act.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2009.