SECTION 23.97. Selection of Eligible Applicants and Limitations

(a) Each fiscal year an application deadline will be posted on the program web page.

(b) Not more than 10 percent of the number of repayment assistance grants paid under this subchapter each year may be awarded to mental health professionals providing mental health services to 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. Applications from these professionals will be selected on a first-come-first-served basis.

(c) Not more than 30 percent of the number of repayment assistance grants paid under this subchapter each fiscal year may be awarded to mental health professionals in any one of the eligible practice specialties, unless excess funds remain available after the 30 percent maximum has been met.

(d) For practice specialties outlined in §23.95(1) - (7) of this subchapter (relating to Eligible Practice Specialties), applications will be ranked in order of the following priorities:

(1) providers who benefitted from awards the previous year;

(2) providers who sign SLRP contracts;

(3) providers whose employers are located in areas having MHPSA scores that reflect the highest degrees of shortage. If a provider works for an agency located in an MHPSA that has satellite clinics and the provider works in more than one of the clinics, the highest MHPSA score where the provider works shall apply. If a provider travels to make home visits, the provider's agency base location and its MHPSA score shall apply. If a provider works for different employers in multiple MHPSAs having different degrees of shortage, the location having the highest MHPSA score shall apply;

(4) providers in state hospitals;

(5) providers whose employers are located in rural areas, if, in the case of providers serving at multiple sites, at least 75% of their work hours are spent serving in those areas; and

(6) providers whose applications were received on the earliest dates.

(e) If funds remain available after loan repayment awards have been reserved for applicants selected according to the criteria stated in subsection (d) of this section, applications for practice specialties outlined in §23.95(1) - (7) of this subchapter will be ranked in order of the following priorities, regardless of the applicant's practice specialty:

(1) providers whose employers are located in areas having MHPSA scores that reflect the highest degrees of shortage. If a provider works for an agency located in an MHPSA that has satellite clinics and the provider works in more than one of the clinics, the highest MHPSA score where the provider works shall apply. If a provider travels to make home visits, the provider's agency base location and its MHPSA score shall apply. If a provider works for different employers in multiple MHPSAs having different degrees of shortage, the location having the highest MHPSA score shall apply;

(2) providers whose employers are located in rural areas, if, in the case of providers serving at multiple sites, at least 75% of their work hours are spent serving in those areas; and

(3) providers whose applications were received on the earliest dates; and

(4) providers eligible under subsection in §23.95(8) of this subchapter.

(f) If funds remain available after loan repayment awards have been reserved for applicants selected according to the criteria stated in subsection (e) of this section, applications for practice specialties outlined in §23.95(8) of this subchapter, will be ranked in order of the providers whose applications were received on the earliest dates.

(g) If state funds are not sufficient to allow for maximum award amounts stated in §23.100 of this subchapter (relating to Amount of Repayment Assistance) for all eligible applicants, the Board staff may adjust in an equitable manner the state-funded distribution amounts for a fiscal year, in accordance with TEC 61.607(d).

Source Note: The provisions of this §23.97 adopted to be effective November 12, 2015, 40 TexReg 7818; amended to be effective February 22, 2016, 41 TexReg 1232; transferred effective December 15, 2016, as published in the Texas Register November 25, 2016, 41 TexReg 9341; amended to be effective February 28, 2018, 43 TexReg 1088; amended to be effective May 22, 2019, 44 TexReg 2456; amended to be effective February 15, 2024, 49 TexReg 692