86R4921 MCK-D
	By: Zaffirini	S.B. No. 1660

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to age-appropriate normalcy activities for children in the
	managing conservatorship of the state.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 263.5031, Family Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	Sec. 263.5031.  PERMANENCY HEARINGS FOLLOWING FINAL ORDER.
	(a)  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; and
	(3)  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.
	(b)  In addition to the requirements of Subsection (a), at
	each permanency hearing after the court renders a final order, the
	court shall review the department's efforts to ensure the child has
	regular, ongoing opportunities to engage in age-appropriate
	normalcy activities, including activities not listed in the child's
	service plan.
	SECTION 2.  Section 263.503(c), Family Code, is repealed.
	SECTION 3.  The changes in law made by this Act to Section
	263.5031, Family Code, apply only to a permanency hearing conducted
	under Chapter 263, Family Code, on or after the effective date of
	this Act. A permanency hearing conducted before the effective date
	of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the hearing
	was conducted, and the former law is continued in effect for that
	purpose.
	SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.