| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
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; [or] |
|
|
(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) [(i)] the child has a severe |
|
|
emotional disturbance; |
|
|
(b) [(ii)] the person's refusal is |
|
|
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) [(iii)] the person has exhausted |
|
|
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 [Subparagraph (ii)]. |
|
|
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; [or] |
|
|
(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. |