Bill Text: TX HB1884 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Comm Sub
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Relating to the information provided to relative and other designated caregivers of children in the conservatorship of the Department of Family and Protective Services.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-1)
Status: (Passed) 2019-06-02 - Effective on 9/1/19 [HB1884 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-HB1884-Comm_Sub.html
Bill Title: Relating to the information provided to relative and other designated caregivers of children in the conservatorship of the Department of Family and Protective Services.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-1)
Status: (Passed) 2019-06-02 - Effective on 9/1/19 [HB1884 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-HB1884-Comm_Sub.html
By: Minjarez, Miller (Senate Sponsor - Alvarado) | H.B. No. 1884 | |
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 6, 2019; | ||
May 7, 2019, read first time and referred to Committee on Health & | ||
Human Services; May 17, 2019, reported favorably by the following | ||
vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; May 17, 2019, sent to printer.) | ||
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relating to the information provided to relative and other | ||
designated caregivers of children in the conservatorship of the | ||
Department of Family and Protective Services. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 261.3071(c), Family Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
(c) Information provided in the manuals must be in both | ||
English and Spanish and must include, as appropriate: | ||
(1) useful indexes of information such as telephone | ||
numbers; | ||
(2) the information required to be provided under | ||
Section 261.307(a)(1); | ||
(3) information describing the rights and duties of a | ||
relative or designated caregiver; | ||
(4) information regarding: | ||
(A) the relative and other designated caregiver | ||
program under Subchapter I, Chapter 264, and the option for the | ||
relative or other designated caregiver to become verified by a | ||
licensed child-placing agency to operate an agency foster home, if | ||
applicable; and | ||
(B) the permanency care assistance program under | ||
Subchapter K, Chapter 264; and | ||
(5) information regarding the role of a voluntary | ||
caregiver, including information on how to obtain any documentation | ||
necessary to provide for a child's needs. | ||
SECTION 2. Section 262.201, Family Code, is amended by | ||
adding Subsection (n-1) to read as follows: | ||
(n-1) For a child placed with a relative of the child, the | ||
court shall inform the relative of: | ||
(1) the option to become verified by a licensed | ||
child-placing agency to operate an agency foster home, if | ||
applicable; and | ||
(2) the permanency care assistance program under | ||
Subchapter K, Chapter 264. | ||
SECTION 3. Section 263.202, Family Code, is amended by | ||
adding Subsection (i) to read as follows: | ||
(i) For a child placed with a relative of the child, the | ||
court shall inform the relative of: | ||
(1) the option to become verified by a licensed | ||
child-placing agency to operate an agency foster home, if | ||
applicable; and | ||
(2) the permanency care assistance program under | ||
Subchapter K, Chapter 264. | ||
SECTION 4. Section 263.306(c), Family Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
(c) In addition to the requirements of Subsection (a-1), at | ||
each permanency hearing before a final order is rendered the court | ||
shall review the department's efforts to: | ||
(1) ensure that the child has regular, ongoing | ||
opportunities to engage in age-appropriate normalcy activities, | ||
including activities not listed in the child's service plan; and | ||
(2) for a child placed with a relative of the child or | ||
other designated caregiver, inform the caregiver of: | ||
(A) the option to become verified by a licensed | ||
child-placing agency to operate an agency foster home, if | ||
applicable; and | ||
(B) the permanency care assistance program under | ||
Subchapter K, Chapter 264. | ||
SECTION 5. Section 263.5031, Family Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
Sec. 263.5031. PERMANENCY HEARINGS FOLLOWING FINAL | ||
ORDER. At each permanency hearing after the court renders a final | ||
order, the court shall: | ||
(1) identify all persons and parties present at the | ||
hearing; | ||
(2) review the efforts of the department or other | ||
agency in notifying persons entitled to notice under Section | ||
263.0021; [ |
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(3) for a child placed with a relative of the child or | ||
other designated caregiver, review the efforts of the department to | ||
inform the caregiver of: | ||
(A) the option to become verified by a licensed | ||
child-placing agency to operate an agency foster home, if | ||
applicable; and | ||
(B) the permanency care assistance program under | ||
Subchapter K, Chapter 264; and | ||
(4) review the permanency progress report to | ||
determine: | ||
(A) the safety and well-being of the child and | ||
whether the child's needs, including any medical or special needs, | ||
are being adequately addressed; | ||
(B) whether the department placed the child with | ||
a relative or other designated caregiver and the continuing | ||
necessity and appropriateness of the placement of the child, | ||
including with respect to a child who has been placed outside of | ||
this state, whether the placement continues to be in the best | ||
interest of the child; | ||
(C) if the child is placed in institutional care, | ||
whether efforts have been made to ensure that the child is placed in | ||
the least restrictive environment consistent with the child's best | ||
interest and special needs; | ||
(D) the appropriateness of the primary and | ||
alternative permanency goals for the child, whether the department | ||
has made reasonable efforts to finalize the permanency plan, | ||
including the concurrent permanency goals, in effect for the child, | ||
and whether: | ||
(i) the department has exercised due | ||
diligence in attempting to place the child for adoption if parental | ||
rights to the child have been terminated and the child is eligible | ||
for adoption; or | ||
(ii) another permanent placement, | ||
including appointing a relative as permanent managing conservator | ||
or returning the child to a parent, is appropriate for the child; | ||
(E) for a child whose permanency goal is another | ||
planned permanent living arrangement: | ||
(i) the desired permanency outcome for the | ||
child, by asking the child; | ||
(ii) whether, as of the date of the hearing, | ||
another planned permanent living arrangement is the best permanency | ||
plan for the child and, if so, provide compelling reasons why it | ||
continues to not be in the best interest of the child to: | ||
(a) return home; | ||
(b) be placed for adoption; | ||
(c) be placed with a legal guardian; | ||
or | ||
(d) be placed with a fit and willing | ||
relative; | ||
(iii) whether the department has conducted | ||
an independent living skills assessment under Section | ||
264.121(a-3); | ||
(iv) whether the department has addressed | ||
the goals identified in the child's permanency plan, including the | ||
child's housing plan, and the results of the independent living | ||
skills assessment; | ||
(v) if the youth is 16 years of age or | ||
older, whether there is evidence that the department has provided | ||
the youth with the documents and information listed in Section | ||
264.121(e); and | ||
(vi) if the youth is 18 years of age or | ||
older or has had the disabilities of minority removed, whether | ||
there is evidence that the department has provided the youth with | ||
the documents and information listed in Section 264.121(e-1); | ||
(F) if the child is 14 years of age or older, | ||
whether services that are needed to assist the child in | ||
transitioning from substitute care to independent living are | ||
available in the child's community; | ||
(G) whether the child is receiving appropriate | ||
medical care and has been provided the opportunity, in a | ||
developmentally appropriate manner, to express the child's opinion | ||
on any medical care provided; | ||
(H) for a child receiving psychotropic | ||
medication, whether the child: | ||
(i) has been provided appropriate | ||
nonpharmacological interventions, therapies, or strategies to meet | ||
the child's needs; or | ||
(ii) has been seen by the prescribing | ||
physician, physician assistant, or advanced practice nurse at least | ||
once every 90 days; | ||
(I) whether an education decision-maker for the | ||
child has been identified, the child's education needs and goals | ||
have been identified and addressed, and there are major changes in | ||
the child's school performance or there have been serious | ||
disciplinary events; | ||
(J) for a child for whom the department has been | ||
named managing conservator in a final order that does not include | ||
termination of parental rights, whether to order the department to | ||
provide services to a parent for not more than six months after the | ||
date of the permanency hearing if: | ||
(i) the child has not been placed with a | ||
relative or other individual, including a foster parent, who is | ||
seeking permanent managing conservatorship of the child; and | ||
(ii) the court determines that further | ||
efforts at reunification with a parent are: | ||
(a) in the best interest of the child; | ||
and | ||
(b) likely to result in the child's | ||
safe return to the child's parent; and | ||
(K) whether the department has identified a | ||
family or other caring adult who has made a permanent commitment to | ||
the child. | ||
SECTION 6. Section 264.7541, Family Code, is amended by | ||
adding Subsection (c) to read as follows: | ||
(c) Once a child is placed with a relative or other | ||
designated caregiver, the department shall inform the caregiver of: | ||
(1) the option to become verified by a licensed | ||
child-placing agency to operate an agency foster home, if | ||
applicable; and | ||
(2) the permanency care assistance program under | ||
Subchapter K. | ||
SECTION 7. Section 264.755, Family Code, is amended by | ||
adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows: | ||
(a-1) When a relative or other designated caregiver enters | ||
into a caregiver assistance agreement under Subsection (a), the | ||
department shall inform the caregiver of: | ||
(1) the option to become verified by a licensed | ||
child-placing agency to operate an agency foster home, if | ||
applicable; and | ||
(2) the permanency care assistance program under | ||
Subchapter K. | ||
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019. | ||
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