By: Hernandez, Coleman H.B. No. 2251
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to funding of entities through the community collaborative
  grant program.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 539.002(b), Government Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (b)  Except as provided by Subsection (c), the department
  shall require each entity awarded a grant under this section to:
               (1)  leverage additional funding or in-kind
  contributions from private sources or local governmental sources in
  an amount that is at least equal to the amount of the grant awarded
  under this section;
               (2)  provide evidence of significant coordination and
  collaboration between the entity, local mental health authorities,
  municipalities, local law enforcement agencies, and other
  community stakeholders in establishing or expanding a community
  collaborative funded by a grant awarded under this section; and
               (3)  provide evidence of a local law enforcement policy
  to divert appropriate persons from jails or other detention
  facilities to an entity affiliated with a community collaborative
  for the purpose of providing services to those persons.
         SECTION 2.  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 3.  Section 539.0051(a), Government Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (a)  The governing body of a county shall develop and make
  public a plan detailing:
               (1)  how local mental health authorities,
  municipalities, local law enforcement agencies, and other
  community stakeholders in the county could coordinate to establish
  or expand a community collaborative to accomplish the goals of
  Section 539.002;
               (2)  how entities in the county may leverage funding
  from private sources or local governmental sources to accomplish
  the goals of Section 539.002 through the formation or expansion of a
  community collaborative; and
               (3)  how the formation or expansion of a community
  collaborative could establish or support resources or services to
  help local law enforcement agencies to divert persons who have been
  arrested to appropriate mental health care or substance abuse
  treatment.
         SECTION 4.  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 5.  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.
         SECTION 6.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.