Amend HB 2251 (house committee report) by adding the following appropriately numbered SECTIONS to the bill and renumbering the SECTIONS of the bill accordingly:

SECTION ____.  Section 539.003, Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

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.

SECTION ____.  Section 539.007, Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

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.

SECTION ____.  The changes in law made by this Act apply to a grant awarded on or after the effective date of this Act. A grant awarded under a provision amended by this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the grant was awarded, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.