BILL ANALYSIS |
C.S.H.B. 144 |
By: Raymond |
Corrections |
Committee Report (Substituted) |
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Currently, a judge may order the physical and mental examination of any juvenile in the juvenile justice system. If the expert conducting the exam finds that a juvenile has a mental illness or is mentally retarded, the youth must be referred to the appropriate mental health agency. Interested parties assert that this evaluation process is particularly critical in assessing a juvenile's condition when entering the system and in alerting the appropriate officials to any special needs a juvenile might have so that those involved in the juvenile's rehabilitation can treat the full extent of the juvenile's physical or mental problems.
Because of the unique challenges posed by a juvenile suffering from chemical dependency, these interested parties further assert that screening for chemical dependencies is equally important. C.S.H.B. 144 seeks to address this additional need by increasing the availability of mental examinations in the juvenile justice system.
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RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
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ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 144 amends the Family Code to clarify that a juvenile court is authorized to order a physical and mental examination for a child subject to the juvenile justice system when the child is initially detained in a pre-adjudication secure detention facility or a post-adjudication secure correctional facility, as well as at any other stage of the proceedings under provisions related to juvenile justice. The bill specifies that a juvenile court is authorized to so order the examination of a child at the court's discretion or at the request of the child's parent or guardian. The bill includes chemical dependency among the child's illnesses that are to be determined by the examination. The bill requires a probation department to refer to an appropriate and legally authorized agency or provider for evaluation and services a child whose examination indicates there is reason to believe the child suffers from chemical dependency or a child who has been determined to suffer from chemical dependency and who is not currently receiving treatment for chemical dependency while under deferred prosecution supervision or court-ordered probation. The bill requires a probation department to include such a referral among the referrals the probation department is required to report to the Texas Juvenile Justice Department.
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EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2013.
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COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE
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While C.S.H.B. 144 may differ from the original in nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and highlighted in a manner that indicates the substantive differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.
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