Bill Text: TX SB661 | 2025-2026 | 89th Legislature | Introduced

Texas Senate Bill 661

Introduced

Bill Title: Relating to the creation of the Office of Youth Health and Safety.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-12-19 - Filed [SB661 Detail]

Download: Texas-2025-SB661-Introduced.html

	89R2663 MCF-F

	By: West	S.B. No. 661



	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to the creation of the Office of Youth Health and Safety.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1. Chapter 523, Government Code, is amended by
	adding Subchapter I to read as follows:
	SUBCHAPTER I. OFFICE OF YOUTH HEALTH AND SAFETY
	Sec. 523.0401. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
	(1) "Board" means the Board of Youth Health and
	Safety.
	(2) "Child" means an individual 10 years of age or
	older and younger than 18 years of age who is under the jurisdiction
	of a juvenile court.
	(3) "Office" means the Office of Youth Health and
	Safety.
	Sec. 523.0402. OFFICE OF YOUTH HEALTH AND SAFETY. The
	executive commissioner shall maintain an office of youth health and
	safety within the commission's Office of Forensic Coordination with
	the goal of:
	(1) promoting trauma-responsive and culturally
	informed services for children engaging in delinquent conduct in a
	manner that supports the child's successful transition to
	adulthood; and
	(2) ensuring children become responsible, thriving,
	and engaged members of their communities.
	Sec. 523.0403. COMPOSITION OF BOARD; PRESIDING OFFICER.
	(a) The board is the governing body of the office.
	(b) The board is composed of the following 21 members or
	their designees:
	(1) the executive commissioner;
	(2) the chief officer of the commission's Medicaid and
	CHIP services division;
	(3) the deputy executive commissioner of the
	Intellectual and Developmental Disability and Behavioral Health
	Services Department;
	(4) the director of the Early Childhood Education
	Division at the Texas Education Agency;
	(5) the following members appointed by the executive
	commissioner:
	(A) a member of the judiciary;
	(B) an attorney with experience in defending
	civil rights cases;
	(C) a member of the Texas Judicial Commission on
	Mental Health;
	(D) a faculty member from the medical school at
	The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio;
	(E) a licensed trauma-informed youth counselor;
	(F) an education advocate;
	(G) two culturally responsive juvenile justice
	advocates;
	(H) a culturally responsive youth mental health
	advocate;
	(I) a harm reduction advocate; and
	(J) a representative of the Texas Correctional
	Office on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments; and
	(6) the following members appointed by the executive
	commissioner from recommendations made by the presiding officer:
	(A) a child welfare advocate;
	(B) two youth advocates;
	(C) two individuals formerly committed to a
	juvenile secure correctional facility who are able to serve as
	credible messengers for detained youth; and
	(D) a mitigation specialist.
	(c) Board members appointed under Subsections (b)(5) and
	(6) serve staggered six-year terms, with the terms of five or six
	members expiring on February 1 of each odd-numbered year.
	(d) The executive commissioner shall designate a member of
	the board as the presiding officer to serve in that capacity at the
	pleasure of the executive commissioner.
	Sec. 523.0404. PLAN. (a) The office shall develop a plan to
	improve the juvenile justice system under the authority of the
	office.
	(b) The plan must include a detailed list of procedures and
	strategies to:
	(1) not later than September 1, 2028:
	(A) end commitments of children to
	post-adjudication secure correctional facilities operated by the
	Texas Juvenile Justice Department;
	(B) significantly reduce the population of
	children currently committed to post-adjudication secure
	correctional facilities operated by the Texas Juvenile Justice
	Department;
	(C) establish infrastructure in each county in
	this state to provide alternative services related to delinquency
	prevention and intervention, including alternative evidence-based
	safe, local, and supportive placements for children who are not
	able to stay at home;
	(D) establish secure placement options for
	children who are determined by a court to present a serious risk of
	harm to self or others;
	(E) increase local, evidence-based delinquency
	responses and interventions in communities and schools; and
	(F) end racial and disability disparities for
	children in the juvenile justice system; and
	(2) conduct a study on the feasibility of a staggered
	closure of all post-adjudication secure correctional facilities
	operated by the Texas Juvenile Justice Department.
	(c) In developing the plan, the office shall consult with
	experts and interested parties, including juvenile probation
	departments.
	(d) Not later than January 1, 2027, the office shall submit
	a copy of the plan to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the
	speaker of the house of representatives, and each member of the
	legislature.
	(e) This section expires September 1, 2032.
	SECTION 2. Not later than the 60th day after the effective
	date of this Act, the executive commissioner of the Health and Human
	Services Commission shall appoint members to the Board of Youth
	Health and Safety in accordance with Section 523.0403, Government
	Code, as added by this Act. In appointing the initial members of
	the board under this section, the executive commissioner shall
	designate six members for terms expiring February 1, 2027, six
	members for terms expiring February 1, 2029, and five members for
	terms expiring February 1, 2031.
	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.