BILL ANALYSIS |
C.S.H.B. 3555 |
By: Swanson |
Human Services |
Committee Report (Substituted) |
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Interested parties contend that the foster care system in Texas often leaves the needs of abused or neglected children unaddressed while failing to adequately use the services and efforts of faith‑based community programs. C.S.H.B. 3555 seeks to address this issue by providing for an innovation grant program under which grants are awarded to faith-based community programs that collaborate with the state to improve foster care and the placement of children in foster care.
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
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RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the governor in SECTION 1 of this bill.
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ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 3555 amends the Family Code to require the governor, using available funds or private donations, to establish and administer an innovation grant program to award grants to support faith-based community programs that collaborate with the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) and the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) to improve foster care and the placement of children in foster care. The bill makes a faith-based community program eligible for such a grant if the effectiveness of the program is supported by empirical evidence and the program has demonstrated the ability to build connections between faith-based, secular, and government stakeholders. The bill requires the regional director for DFPS in the region where a faith-based grant recipient program is located, or the regional director's designee, to serve as the liaison between DFPS and the program for collaborative purposes. The bill authorizes DFPS, for a faith-based grant recipient program that operates in a larger region, to designate a liaison in each county where the program is operating. The bill prohibits DFPS or HHSC from directing or managing the operation of a faith-based grant recipient program. The bill establishes that the initial duration of a grant awarded under the innovation grant program is two years and authorizes the governor to renew a grant awarded to a faith‑based grant recipient program if funds are available and the governor determines that the program is successful. The bill caps the amount of a grant the governor may award to a faith-based community program under the innovation grant program at $300,000. The bill requires the governor to adopt rules to implement the innovation grant program. The bill requires the governor as soon as practicable after the bill's effective date to adopt rules for the implementation and administration of the innovation grant program and to begin awarding grants under the program.
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EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2017.
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COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.H.B. 3555 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and formatted in a manner that indicates the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.
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