83R21033 EES-F

By: J. Davis of Harris, Burkett, H.B. No. 2887

Turner of Harris, Kolkhorst, Menendez,

et al.

Substitute the following for H.B.

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the establishment and expansion of community collaboratives by entities to provide services to and coordinate the care of persons who are homeless, persons with mental illness, and persons with substance abuse problems.

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

SECTION 1. Subtitle I, Title 4, Government Code, is amended by adding Chapter 539 to read as follows:

CHAPTER 539. COMMUNITY COLLABORATIVES

Sec. 539.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:

(1) "Department" means the Department of State Health Services.

(2) "Executive commissioner" means the executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission.

Sec. 539.002. GRANTS FOR ESTABLISHMENT AND EXPANSION OF COMMUNITY COLLABORATIVES. (a) To the extent funds are appropriated to the department for that purpose, the department shall make grants to entities, including local governmental entities, nonprofit community organizations, and faith-based community organizations, to establish or expand community collaboratives that bring the public and private sectors together to provide services to and coordinate the care of persons who are homeless, persons with mental illness, and persons with substance abuse problems.

(b) The amount of a grant made to an entity by the department under this section may not exceed $7.5 million and, up to that amount, shall be equal to the amount of money provided to the entity from private funding sources for the establishment or expansion of a community collaborative.

Sec. 539.003. ACCEPTABLE USES OF GRANT MONEY. An entity shall use money received from a grant made by the department and private funding sources for the establishment or expansion of a community collaborative, provided that the collaborative must be self-sustaining within seven years. Acceptable uses for the money include:

(1) the development of the infrastructure of the collaborative and the start-up costs of the collaborative;

(2) the establishment, operation, or maintenance of other community service providers in the community served by the collaborative, including intake centers, detoxification units, sheltering centers for food, workforce training centers, microbusinesses, and educational centers;

(3) the provision of clothing, hygiene products, and medical services to and the arrangement of transitional and permanent residential housing for persons served by the collaborative;

(4) the provision of mental health services and substance abuse treatment not readily available in the community served by the collaborative;

(5) the provision of information, tools, and resource referrals to assist persons served by the collaborative in addressing the needs of their children; and

(6) the establishment and operation of coordinated intake processes, including triage procedures, to protect the public safety in the community served by the collaborative.

Sec. 539.004. ELEMENTS OF COMMUNITY COLLABORATIVES. (a) If appropriate, an entity shall incorporate into the community collaborative operated by the entity the use of the department-operated Texas Electronic Registrar, transportation plans, and case managers. An entity shall also consider incorporating into a collaborative mentoring and volunteering opportunities, strategies to assist homeless youth and homeless families with children, strategies to reintegrate persons who were recently incarcerated into the community, services for veterans, and strategies for persons served by the collaborative to participate in the planning, governance, and oversight of the collaborative.

(b) The focus of a community collaborative shall be the eventual successful transition of persons from receiving services from the collaborative to becoming integrated into the community served by the collaborative through community relationships and family supports.

Sec. 539.005. OUTCOME MEASURES FOR COMMUNITY COLLABORATIVES. Each entity that receives a grant from the department to establish or expand a community collaborative shall select at least four of the following outcome measures that the entity will focus on meeting through the implementation and operation of the collaborative:

(1) persons served by the collaborative will find employment that results in those persons having incomes that are at or above 100 percent of the federal poverty level;

(2) persons served by the collaborative will find permanent housing;

(3) persons served by the collaborative will complete alcohol or substance abuse programs;

(4) the collaborative will help start social businesses in the community or engage in job creation, job training, or other workforce development activities;

(5) there will be a decrease in the use of jail beds by persons served by the collaborative;

(6) there will be a decrease in the need for emergency care by persons served by the collaborative;

(7) there will be a decrease in the number of children whose families lack adequate housing referred to the Department of Family and Protective Services or a local entity responsible for child welfare; and

(8) any other appropriate outcome measure that measures whether a collaborative is meeting a specific need of the community served by the collaborative and that is approved by the department.

Sec. 539.006. ANNUAL REVIEW OF OUTCOME MEASURES. The department shall contract with an independent third party to verify annually whether a community collaborative is meeting the outcome measures under Section 539.005 selected by the entity that operates the collaborative.

Sec. 539.007. REDUCTION AND CESSATION OF FUNDING. The department shall establish processes by which the department may reduce or cease providing funding to an entity if the community collaborative operated by the entity does not meet the outcome measures selected by the entity for the collaborative under Section 539.005 or is not self-sustaining after seven years. The department shall redistribute any funds withheld from an entity under this section to other entities operating high-performing collaboratives on a competitive basis.

Sec. 539.008. RULES. The executive commissioner shall adopt any rules necessary to implement the community collaborative grant program established under this chapter, including rules to establish the requirements for an entity to be eligible to receive a grant, the required elements of a community collaborative operated by an entity, and permissible and prohibited uses of money received by an entity from a grant made by the department under this chapter.

SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.