Bill Text: TX HB2536 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Comm Sub
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Relating to neglect of a child and the grounds for termination of the parent-child relationship and possession of a child by the Department of Family and Protective Services.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 15-3)
Status: (Passed) 2021-05-15 - Effective immediately [HB2536 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-HB2536-Comm_Sub.html
Bill Title: Relating to neglect of a child and the grounds for termination of the parent-child relationship and possession of a child by the Department of Family and Protective Services.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 15-3)
Status: (Passed) 2021-05-15 - Effective immediately [HB2536 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-HB2536-Comm_Sub.html
By: Krause, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Buckingham) | H.B. No. 2536 | |
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 13, 2021; | ||
April 13, 2021, read first time and referred to Committee on State | ||
Affairs; April 21, 2021, reported favorably by the following vote: | ||
Yeas 9, Nays 0; April 21, 2021, sent to printer.) | ||
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relating to neglect of a child and the grounds for termination of | ||
the parent-child relationship and possession of a child by the | ||
Department of Family and Protective Services. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 161.001(c), Family Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
(c) A court may not make a finding under Subsection (b) and | ||
order termination of the parent-child relationship based on | ||
evidence that the parent: | ||
(1) homeschooled the child; | ||
(2) is economically disadvantaged; | ||
(3) has been charged with a nonviolent misdemeanor | ||
offense other than: | ||
(A) an offense under Title 5, Penal Code; | ||
(B) an offense under Title 6, Penal Code; or | ||
(C) an offense that involves family violence, as | ||
defined by Section 71.004 of this code; | ||
(4) provided or administered low-THC cannabis to a | ||
child for whom the low-THC cannabis was prescribed under Chapter | ||
169, Occupations Code; [ |
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(5) declined immunization for the child for reasons of | ||
conscience, including a religious belief; or | ||
(6) sought an opinion from more than one medical | ||
provider relating to the child's medical care, transferred the | ||
child's medical care to a new medical provider, or transferred the | ||
child to another health care facility. | ||
SECTION 2. Section 261.001(4), Family Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
(4) "Neglect": | ||
(A) includes: | ||
(i) the leaving of a child in a situation | ||
where the child would be exposed to a substantial risk of physical | ||
or mental harm, without arranging for necessary care for the child, | ||
and the demonstration of an intent not to return by a parent, | ||
guardian, or managing or possessory conservator of the child; | ||
(ii) the following acts or omissions by a | ||
person: | ||
(a) placing a child in or failing to | ||
remove a child from a situation that a reasonable person would | ||
realize requires judgment or actions beyond the child's level of | ||
maturity, physical condition, or mental abilities and that results | ||
in bodily injury or a substantial risk of immediate harm to the | ||
child; | ||
(b) failing to seek, obtain, or follow | ||
through with medical care for a child, with the failure resulting in | ||
or presenting a substantial risk of death, disfigurement, or bodily | ||
injury or with the failure resulting in an observable and material | ||
impairment to the growth, development, or functioning of the child; | ||
(c) the failure to provide a child | ||
with food, clothing, or shelter necessary to sustain the life or | ||
health of the child, excluding failure caused primarily by | ||
financial inability unless relief services had been offered and | ||
refused; | ||
(d) placing a child in or failing to | ||
remove the child from a situation in which the child would be | ||
exposed to a substantial risk of sexual conduct harmful to the | ||
child; or | ||
(e) placing a child in or failing to | ||
remove the child from a situation in which the child would be | ||
exposed to acts or omissions that constitute abuse under | ||
Subdivision (1)(E), (F), (G), (H), or (K) committed against another | ||
child; | ||
(iii) the failure by the person responsible | ||
for a child's care, custody, or welfare to permit the child to | ||
return to the child's home without arranging for the necessary care | ||
for the child after the child has been absent from the home for any | ||
reason, including having been in residential placement or having | ||
run away; or | ||
(iv) a negligent act or omission by an | ||
employee, volunteer, or other individual working under the auspices | ||
of a facility or program, including failure to comply with an | ||
individual treatment plan, plan of care, or individualized service | ||
plan, that causes or may cause substantial emotional harm or | ||
physical injury to, or the death of, a child served by the facility | ||
or program as further described by rule or policy; and | ||
(B) does not include: | ||
(i) the refusal by a person responsible for | ||
a child's care, custody, or welfare to permit the child to remain in | ||
or return to the child's home resulting in the placement of the | ||
child in the conservatorship of the department if: | ||
(a) [ |
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emotional disturbance; | ||
(b) [ |
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based solely on the person's inability to obtain mental health | ||
services necessary to protect the safety and well-being of the | ||
child; and | ||
(c) [ |
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all reasonable means available to the person to obtain the mental | ||
health services described by Sub-subparagraph (b); or | ||
(ii) a decision by a person responsible for | ||
a child's care, custody, or welfare to: | ||
(a) obtain an opinion from more than | ||
one medical provider relating to the child's medical care; | ||
(b) transfer the child's medical care | ||
to a new medical provider; or | ||
(c) transfer the child to another | ||
health care facility [ |
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SECTION 3. Section 262.116(a), Family Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
(a) The Department of Family and Protective Services may not | ||
take possession of a child under this subchapter based on evidence | ||
that the parent: | ||
(1) homeschooled the child; | ||
(2) is economically disadvantaged; | ||
(3) has been charged with a nonviolent misdemeanor | ||
offense other than: | ||
(A) an offense under Title 5, Penal Code; | ||
(B) an offense under Title 6, Penal Code; or | ||
(C) an offense that involves family violence, as | ||
defined by Section 71.004 of this code; | ||
(4) provided or administered low-THC cannabis to a | ||
child for whom the low-THC cannabis was prescribed under Chapter | ||
169, Occupations Code; [ |
||
(5) declined immunization for the child for reasons of | ||
conscience, including a religious belief; or | ||
(6) sought an opinion from more than one medical | ||
provider relating to the child's medical care, transferred the | ||
child's medical care to a new medical provider, or transferred the | ||
child to another health care facility. | ||
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives | ||
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as | ||
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this | ||
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this | ||
Act takes effect September 1, 2021. | ||
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