The House Committee on Juvenile Justice & Family Issues

87th Legislature

August 9, 2022

10:00 a.m.

E2.014

Pursuant to a notice posted on July 20, 2022, the House Committee on Juvenile Justice & Family Issues met in a public hearing and was called to order by the chair, Representative Neave, at 10:04 a.m.

The initial quorum call was answered as follows: Representatives Neave; Swanson; Cook; Wu; Talarico; and Vasut.

(Representatives Leach and Ramos participating virtually, pursuant to Rule 4, Section 16A.)

A quorum was present.

The Committee heard testimony on Interim Charge 1:

Interim Charge #1: Monitor the agencies and programs under the Committee’s jurisdiction and oversee the implementation of relevant legislation passed by the 87th Legislature. Conduct active oversight of all associated rulemaking and other governmental actions taken to ensure the intended legislative outcome of all legislation, including the following: 

·       HB 4544, relating to providing children committed to the Texas Juvenile Justice Department with certain documents on discharge or release, authorizing a fee.

Testimony taken/registration recorded.  (See attached witness list.)

The Committee heard testimony on Interim Charges 4 and 5:

Interim Charge #4: Explore ways to modernize the juvenile justice system for youth on probation and incarcerated youth. Review statewide resource allocation, including available staffing, and identify potential geographic limitations. Investigate the best practices of smaller specialized facilities for youth committed to the Texas Juvenile Justice Department while leveraging the Department's current facilities and staff. Analyze the current gaps in county-level services and funding and make recommendations to address those gaps.

Interim Charge #5: Examine workforce issues at state and local juvenile correctional facilities and consider the state's incentives to recruit quality staff. Consider the geographic areas where specialty providers are concentrated and the viability of opening specialized facilities for the state's youth with the highest therapeutic need to relieve the state's current rural facilities struggling with staffing. Consider consistent investments the state can make in local probation to encourage their facilities to divert youth from the juvenile justice system.

Testimony taken/registration recorded.  (See attached witness list.)

At 4:40 p.m., on the motion of the chair and without objection, the meeting was adjourned subject to the call of the chair.

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Rep. Neave, Chair

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Julie Young, Clerk