Text of section as amended by Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 678 (H.B. 1211), Sec. 3
For text of section as amended by Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 705 (H.B. 2100), Sec. 1, see other Sec. 61.603.
For text of section as amended by Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1069 (S.B. 532), Sec. 2, see other Sec. 61.603.
Sec. 61.603.  ELIGIBILITY.  (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (b), to be eligible to receive repayment assistance under this subchapter, a mental health professional must:
(1)  apply to the board;
(2)  have completed one, two, three, four, or five consecutive years of practice in a mental health professional shortage area designated by the Department of State Health Services; and
(3)  provide mental health services in this state to:
(A)  recipients under the medical assistance program authorized by Chapter 32, Human Resources Code;
(B)  enrollees under the child health plan program authorized by Chapter 62, Health and Safety Code; or
(C)  persons committed to a secure correctional facility operated by or under contract with the Texas Juvenile Justice Department or persons confined in a secure correctional facility operated by or under contract with any division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
(b)  To be eligible to receive repayment assistance under this subchapter, a mental health professional described by Section 61.601(6) must:
(1)  apply to the board;
(2)  be employed by:
(A)  a school district all or part of which is located in a federally designated mental health care health professional shortage area;
(B)  an open-enrollment charter school that is located in a shortage area described by Paragraph (A); or
(C)  a public school that receives federal funding under Title I, Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. Section 6301 et seq.);
(3)  provide mental health services to students enrolled in that district or school, as applicable; and
(4)  have completed one, two, three, four, or five consecutive years of practice in this state as described by Subdivisions (2) and (3).
(c)  In addition to satisfying the requirements under Subsection (a), for a licensed physician to be eligible to receive repayment assistance under this subchapter after the physician's third consecutive year of practice described under Subsection (a)(2), the physician must be certified in psychiatry by:
(1)  the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology; or
(2)  the American Osteopathic Board of Neurology and Psychiatry.
Added by Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 322 (S.B. 239), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2015.
Amended by: 
Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 678 (H.B. 1211), Sec. 3, eff. September 1, 2023.