| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to information provided to an individual identified as a |
|
|
potential relative or designated caregiver of a child 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 262.1095(b), Family Code, is amended to |
|
|
read as follows: |
|
|
(b) The information provided under Subsection (a) must: |
|
|
(1) state that the child has been removed from the |
|
|
child's home and is in the temporary managing conservatorship of |
|
|
the department; |
|
|
(2) explain the options available to the individual to |
|
|
participate in the care and placement of the child and the support |
|
|
of the child's family, the methods by which the individual may |
|
|
exercise those options, and any requirements the individual must |
|
|
satisfy to exercise those options, including: |
|
|
(A) the requirement that the individual be |
|
|
evaluated by the Department of Family and Protective Services under |
|
|
Section 262.114 before the individual may serve as a substitute |
|
|
caregiver and an explanation of the minimum living standards used |
|
|
to evaluate the individual's home under the home study required by |
|
|
Section 262.114(a), including: |
|
|
(i) requirements regarding appropriate |
|
|
sleeping arrangements for the child; |
|
|
(ii) spatial requirements for the home, |
|
|
including any play spaces; and |
|
|
(iii) any exceptions to the minimum living |
|
|
standards that may be made based on the child's age, the child's |
|
|
needs, or the individual's capacity to reasonably comply; and |
|
|
(B) the deadlines before which the individual |
|
|
must respond to exercise those options; |
|
|
(3) identify the options available to the individual |
|
|
that may be lost if the individual fails to respond in a timely |
|
|
manner; |
|
|
(4) include, if applicable, the date, time, and |
|
|
location of the hearing under Subchapter C, Chapter 263; and |
|
|
(5) include information regarding the procedures and |
|
|
timeline for a suit affecting the parent-child relationship under |
|
|
this chapter. |
|
|
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |