Bill Text: TX SB1575 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Relating to assessment and oversight of children placed by the Department of Family and Protective Services in a qualified residential treatment program and a study regarding residential treatment center placements.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2021-06-14 - Effective on 9/1/21 [SB1575 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-SB1575-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Relating to assessment and oversight of children placed by the Department of Family and Protective Services in a qualified residential treatment program and a study regarding residential treatment center placements.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2021-06-14 - Effective on 9/1/21 [SB1575 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-SB1575-Introduced.html
87R6365 MM-F | ||
By: Kolkhorst | S.B. No. 1575 |
|
||
|
||
relating to assessment and oversight of children placed by the | ||
Department of Family and Protective Services in a residential | ||
treatment center. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 263, Family Code, is | ||
amended by adding Section 263.00201 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 263.00201. REVIEW OF PLACEMENT IN RESIDENTIAL | ||
TREATMENT CENTER. (a) Not later than the 60th day after the date | ||
the department places a child in a residential treatment center, a | ||
court shall: | ||
(1) consider the assessment, determination, and | ||
documentation made by a qualified individual under Section | ||
264.1077(b) regarding the child's placement; | ||
(2) determine whether the child's needs can be met | ||
through placement in a cottage family home or an agency foster home | ||
and, if not, whether: | ||
(A) placing the child in a residential treatment | ||
center provides the most effective and appropriate level of care | ||
for the child in the least restrictive environment; and | ||
(B) placement in a residential treatment | ||
facility is consistent with the short-term and long-term goals for | ||
the child, as specified in the child's permanency plan; and | ||
(3) approve or disapprove the placement. | ||
(b) The written documentation prepared by a qualified | ||
individual under Sections 264.1077(e) and (f) and any documentation | ||
regarding the determination and approval or disapproval of the | ||
placement in a residential treatment center by the court under | ||
Subsection (a) shall be included in and made part of the child's | ||
permanency plan. | ||
(c) As long as a child remains in a residential treatment | ||
center, the department shall submit evidence at each status review | ||
and each permanency hearing held with respect to the child: | ||
(1) demonstrating that: | ||
(A) ongoing assessment of the strengths and needs | ||
of the child continues to support the determination that the needs | ||
of the child cannot be met through placement in a cottage family | ||
home or an agency foster home; | ||
(B) placement in a residential treatment center | ||
provides the most effective and appropriate level of care for the | ||
child in the least restrictive environment; and | ||
(C) the placement is consistent with the | ||
short-term and long-term goals for the child, as specified in the | ||
child's permanency plan; | ||
(2) documenting the specific treatment or service | ||
needs that will be met for the child in the placement and the length | ||
of time the child is expected to need the treatment or services; and | ||
(3) documenting the efforts made by the department to | ||
prepare the child to return home or to be placed in a cottage family | ||
home or an agency foster home or with a fit and willing relative, | ||
legal guardian, or adoptive parent. | ||
(d) For a child who is at least 13 years of age and is placed | ||
in a residential treatment center for more than 12 consecutive | ||
months or 18 nonconsecutive months and for a child who is younger | ||
than 13 years of age and is placed in a residential treatment center | ||
for more than 6 consecutive or nonconsecutive months, the | ||
department shall submit to the Administration for Children and | ||
Families of the United States Department of Health and Human | ||
Services: | ||
(1) the most recent version of the evidence and | ||
documentation described by Subsection (c); and | ||
(2) the signed approval of the commissioner for the | ||
continued placement of the child in that setting. | ||
SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 264, Family Code, is | ||
amended by adding Section 264.1077 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 264.1077. RESIDENTIAL CARE PLACEMENT: ASSESSMENT. (a) | ||
In this section, "qualified individual" means a licensed health | ||
care or mental health professional who is not an employee of the | ||
department and who is not connected to, or affiliated with, any | ||
facility in which a child may be placed by the department. | ||
(b) Not later than the 30th day after the date the | ||
department places a child in a residential treatment center, a | ||
qualified individual, in collaboration with the child's family and | ||
permanency team, shall: | ||
(1) assess the strengths and needs of the child using | ||
an age-appropriate, evidence-based, validated, and functional | ||
assessment tool approved by the Administration for Children and | ||
Families of the United States Department of Health and Human | ||
Services; | ||
(2) determine whether the needs of the child can be met | ||
by the child's family members or through placement in a cottage | ||
family home or an agency foster home; | ||
(3) if the child's needs cannot be met under | ||
Subdivision (2), determine whether one of the following settings | ||
would provide the most effective and appropriate level of care for | ||
the child in the least restrictive environment and be consistent | ||
with the short-term and long-term goals for the child, as specified | ||
in the permanency plan for the child: | ||
(A) a qualified residential treatment program as | ||
defined in the federal Family First Prevention Services Act (Title | ||
VII, Div. E, Pub. L. No. 115-123); | ||
(B) a setting specializing in providing | ||
prenatal, postpartum, or parenting support for foster youth; | ||
(C) for a child who is at least 18 years of age, a | ||
supervised setting in which the child lives independently; or | ||
(D) a setting providing high-quality residential | ||
care and supportive services to children and youth who have been | ||
found to be, or are at risk of becoming, sex trafficking victims; | ||
and | ||
(4) develop a list of specific short-term and | ||
long-term mental and behavioral health goals for the child. | ||
(c) The department shall assemble a family and permanency | ||
team for the child that consists of appropriate biological family | ||
members, other relatives of the child, individuals who have a | ||
long-standing and significant relationship with a child or the | ||
child's family, and, as appropriate, professionals who are a | ||
resource to the child's family, including teachers, medical or | ||
mental health providers who have treated the child, and clergy. A | ||
child who is 14 years of age or older may recommend individuals to | ||
serve on the child's family and permanency team. | ||
(d) The department shall document in the child's permanency | ||
plan: | ||
(1) the reasonable and good faith effort of the | ||
department to identify and include on the child's family and | ||
permanency team the individuals described in Subsection (c); | ||
(2) the contact information for members of the child's | ||
family and permanency team, as well as contact information for | ||
other family members and individuals who have a long-standing and | ||
significant relationship with a child or the child's family who are | ||
not part of the family and permanency team; | ||
(3) evidence that meetings of the child's family and | ||
permanency team, including meetings relating to the assessment | ||
required under Subsection (b), are held at a time and place | ||
convenient for the child's family; | ||
(4) if reunification is the goal for the child, | ||
evidence demonstrating that the parent from whom the child was | ||
removed provided input regarding the members of the child's family | ||
and permanency team; | ||
(5) evidence that the results of the assessment | ||
required under Subsection (b) are determined in collaboration with | ||
the child's family and permanency team; | ||
(6) the child's family and permanency team's placement | ||
preferences relative to the assessment that recognizes that | ||
children should be placed with their siblings unless a court finds | ||
that such a placement is contrary to the child's best interest; and | ||
(7) if the placement preferences of the child's family | ||
and permanency team and the child are not the placement setting | ||
recommended by the qualified individual conducting the assessment | ||
under Subsection (b), the reason that the preferences of the team | ||
and of the child were not recommended. | ||
(e) If the qualified individual conducting the assessment | ||
under Subsection (b) determines the child should not be placed in a | ||
cottage family home or an agency foster home, the qualified | ||
individual shall specify in writing the reasons that the needs of | ||
the child cannot be met by the child's family or in a cottage family | ||
home or an agency foster home. The qualified individual may not cite | ||
a shortage or lack of cottage family homes or an agency foster homes | ||
as an acceptable reason for determining that the needs of the child | ||
cannot be met in a cottage family home or an agency foster home. | ||
(f) If the qualified individual conducting the assessment | ||
under Subsection (b) determines the child should be placed in a | ||
residential treatment center, the qualified individual shall | ||
specify in writing the reasons that the recommended placement in a | ||
residential treatment center is the setting that will provide the | ||
child with the most effective and appropriate level of care in the | ||
least restrictive environment and how that placement is consistent | ||
with the short-term and long-term goals for the child, as specified | ||
in the child's permanency plan. | ||
(g) The department may submit a request to the | ||
Administration for Children and Families of the United States | ||
Department of Health and Human Services to allow the department to | ||
appoint department employees or persons connected to, or affiliated | ||
with, a facility as qualified individuals to perform the | ||
assessments described by Subsection (b). The request must certify | ||
that the department will require the person appointed to perform an | ||
assessment to maintain objectivity with respect to determining the | ||
most effective and appropriate placement for a child. | ||
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021. |