To be eligible for the Board to reserve loan repayment funds, a mental health professional must:

1. (1) ensure that the Board has received the completed application by the established deadline, which will be posted on the program web page;
2. (2) be a U.S. citizen or a Legal Permanent Resident and have no license restrictions;
3. (3) not be currently fulfilling another obligation to provide mental health services as part of a scholarship agreement, a student loan agreement, or another student loan repayment agreement;
4. (4) agree to provide five consecutive years of eligible service in a Mental Health Professional Shortage Area, with the understanding that the professional will be released from the agreement if funding for continued loan repayment is not appropriated; and

5. (5) agree to provide mental health services to:

   1. (A) Individuals enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP or both; or
   2. (B) 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.

Source Note:The provisions of this §23.96 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 May 22, 2019, 44 TexReg 2456; amended to be effective November 16, 2022, 47 TexReg 7556.