The department must identify organizations, work with them to prepare and distribute a reentry resource guide, and give inmates county-specific information packets before release in specified timeframes.
Sec. 501.0971. PROVISION OF REENTRY AND REINTEGRATION INFORMATION TO INMATES. (a) The department shall identify organizations that provide reentry and reintegration resource guides and shall collaborate with those organizations to prepare a resource guide that is to be made available to all inmates. At a minimum, the department shall collaborate with: (1) nonprofit entities that specialize in criminal justice issues; (2) faith-based organizations; and (3) organizations that: (A) offer pro bono legal services to inmates; or (B) are composed of the families and friends of inmates. (b) The department shall make the resource guide available in the Windham School District libraries and in each of the following areas of a correctional facility: (1) peer educator classrooms; (2) chapels; (3) reintegration specialist offices; and (4) any area or classroom that is used by the department for the purpose of providing information about reentry to inmates. (c) The department shall make available a sufficient number of copies of the resource guide to ensure that each inmate is able to access the resource guide in a timely manner. (d) The department shall identify organizations described by Subsection (a) that provide information described by Subsection (e) and shall collaborate with those organizations to compile county-specific information packets for inmates. The department shall, within the 180-day period preceding the date an inmate will discharge the inmate's sentence or is released on parole, mandatory supervision, or conditional pardon, provide the inmate with a county-specific information packet for the county that the inmate designates as the inmate's intended residence. (e) At the minimum, a county-specific packet described by Subsection (d) must include, for the applicable county: (1) contact information, including telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, physical locations, and mailing addresses, as applicable, of: (A) workforce offices, housing options, places of worship, support groups, peer-to-peer counseling groups, and other relevant organizations or agencies as determined by the department and the collaborating organization; (B) agencies and organizations that offer emergency assistance, such as food and clothing banks, temporary bus passes, low-cost medical assistance, and overnight and temporary housing; and (C) agencies and organizations that offer mental health counseling; and (2) information necessary for the inmate to apply for governmental assistance or benefits, including Medicaid, social security benefits, or nutritional assistance programs under Chapter 33, Human Resources Code. Added by Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 112 (S.B. 578), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2015.