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H.B. No. 2837
AN ACT
relating to the state's activities regarding education, vocational
training, and reintegration of offenders.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 19.004(c), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) The district shall:
(1) develop educational [and vocational training]
programs specifically designed for persons eligible under Section
19.005 and ensure that those programs, such as GED and ESL, are
integrated with an applied vocational context leading to
employment;
(1-a) develop vocational training programs
specifically designed for persons eligible under Section 19.005 and
prioritize the programs that result in certification or licensure,
considering the impact that a previous felony conviction has on the
ability to secure certification, licensure, and employment; and
(2) coordinate educational programs and services in
the department with those provided by other state agencies, by
political subdivisions, and by persons who provide programs and
services under contract.
SECTION 2. Chapter 19, Education Code, is amended by adding
Section 19.0041 to read as follows:
Sec. 19.0041. EVALUATION OF TRAINING SERVICES. (a) To
evaluate the effectiveness of training services provided to persons
confined or imprisoned in the department, the Windham School
District shall consult with the Legislative Budget Board to compile
and analyze information for each person who receives the training
services. This information shall include an evaluation of:
(1) the kind of training services provided;
(2) the kind of employment the person obtains on
release;
(3) whether the employment was related to training;
(4) the difference between the amount of the person's
earnings on the date employment is obtained following release and
the amount of those earnings on the first anniversary of that date;
and
(5) the retention factors associated with the
employment.
(b) The Legislative Budget Board shall submit an annual
report to the legislature and the governor's office based on data
compiled and analyzed under Subsection (a).
SECTION 3. Section 19.011, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 19.011. COORDINATION WITH OTHER STATE AGENCIES. (a)
In order to achieve the goals stated in Section 19.003, the district
with the cooperation of the Health and Human Services Commission,
the Texas Workforce Investment Council, the Texas Workforce
Commission, the Texas [Department of] Economic Development and
Tourism Office, and the department shall provide persons confined
or imprisoned in the department:
(1) information from local workforce and development
boards on job training and employment referral services; and
(2) information on the tax refund voucher program
under Subchapter H, Chapter 301, Labor Code.
(b) The district shall [may] coordinate vocational
education and job training programs with a local workforce
development board authorized by the Texas Workforce Commission to
ensure that district students are equipped with the skills
necessary to compete for current and emerging jobs [Investment
Council].
SECTION 4. Sections 306.001(2) and (4), Labor Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(2) "Correctional institutions [Institutional]
division" means the correctional institutions [institutional]
division of the department.
[(4) "State jail division" means the state jail
division of the department.]
SECTION 5. Section 306.002, Labor Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 306.002. PROJECT RIO. The project for reintegration
of offenders is a statewide employment referral program designed to
reintegrate into the labor force persons sentenced to [a state jail
felony facility or] the correctional institutions [institutional]
division or [and persons] committed to the Texas Youth Commission.
SECTION 6. Section 306.005(a), Labor Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The memorandum of understanding between the department
and the commission must establish the role of:
(1) the correctional institutions [institutional]
division [and the state jail division] in ascertaining and
encouraging an inmate's chances for employment by:
(A) providing vocational and educational
assessment for the person while incarcerated;
(B) developing a skills enhancement program for
the person while incarcerated, in cooperation with other
governmental, educational, and private entities, using available
public or private financial resources authorized by statute; and
(C) referring the person on release to the
project through the person's parole officer or supervision officer;
(2) the community justice assistance division and the
parole [pardons and paroles] division of the department in:
(A) encouraging and referring persons to the
project; and
(B) ensuring that those persons participate in
the project and avail themselves of its services; and
(3) the commission in developing and maintaining a
statewide network for finding positions of employment that require
the skills possessed by project participants and in helping those
participants to secure employment.
SECTION 7. Section 306.007, Labor Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 306.007. PROVISION OF INFORMATION ON STATE SERVICES
FOR EX-OFFENDERS AND EMPLOYERS. (a) To assist in the reintegration
into the labor force of persons formerly sentenced to the
correctional institutions [institutional] division or committed to
the Texas Youth Commission [state jail division], the commission
through Project RIO shall provide:
(1) to those persons:
(A) information from local workforce development
boards on job training and employment referral services;
(B) information from the Department of State
Health Services [Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse] on
substance abuse treatment services;
(C) information from the Texas Department of
Housing and Community Affairs on housing services;
(D) information from the Texas Veterans
Commission on services for veterans; and
(E) information on tax refund voucher programs
under Subchapter H, Chapter 301; and
(2) to the employers and potential employers of those
persons:
(A) information from the Texas [Department of]
Economic Development and Tourism Office on the enterprise zone
program; and
(B) information from local workforce development
boards on services listed in Section 2308.304, Government Code.
(b) The commission shall adopt a memorandum of
understanding with each of the following agencies that establishes
the respective responsibilities of the commission and the agencies
in providing information described by Subsection (a) to persons
formerly sentenced to the institutional division or the state jail
division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, to employers
or potential employers of those persons, and to local workforce
development boards:
(1) the Department of State Health Services [Texas
Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse];
(2) the Texas Department of Housing and Community
Affairs;
(3) the Texas Veterans Commission; and
(4) the Health and [Texas Department of] Human
Services Commission[;
[(5) the Texas Department of Economic Development;
and
[(6) the Texas Workforce Investment Council.
[(c) The commission shall coordinate the development of the
memoranda of understanding and shall prepare an annual report
describing the number of ex-offenders in the preceding year
receiving services under each memorandum. The commission shall
file a copy of the annual report with the governor's office].
SECTION 8. Chapter 306, Labor Code, is amended by adding
Section 306.008 to read as follows:
Sec. 306.008. DATA SHARING. (a) To assist in the
reintegration into the labor force of persons formerly sentenced to
the correctional institutions division or committed to the Texas
Youth Commission, the commission, the Texas Youth Commission, and
the department shall establish a data interface that, at a minimum,
provides to the commission:
(1) detailed information about persons released from a
correctional facility who might benefit from post-release Project
RIO services, including:
(A) demographic and identifying information;
(B) the person's address on release;
(C) a comprehensive state offense history,
including the date of release from the correctional facility,
sentence discharge date, and conditions of parole;
(D) assessment information;
(E) educational and work history;
(F) information related to participation in the
work against recidivism program operated by the department's
manufacturing and logistics division under the Texas Correctional
Industries office; and
(G) other services provided under this title
before release from the correctional facility; and
(2) referral information from the department and the
Texas Youth Commission necessary to implement the provision of
post-release employment services.
(b) The data interface established under Subsection (a)
must be designed to provide to a person's supervising officer on
release information about the person's participation in employment
services and entry into the workforce.
(c) Information received from the Texas Youth Commission
under this section is confidential and is not subject to disclosure
under Chapter 552, Government Code.
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2837 was passed by the House on May
10, 2005, by a non-record vote.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2837 was passed by the Senate on May
25, 2005, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor