Enrolled Bill Summary

            House Bill 1566 amends the Family Code to require an affidavit supporting a Department of Protective and Regulatory Services suit for emergency custody to affirm that reasonable efforts, consistent with the circumstances and providing for the child's safety, have been made to prevent or eliminate the need to remove the child. The bill expands the circumstances that would bar the child's return to include a court finding that the continuation of the child in the home would be contrary to the child's welfare and that reasonable efforts, consistent with the circumstances and providing for the safety of the child, were made to prevent or eliminate the need for removal of the child.

            House Bill 1566 adds a preadoptive parent and a relative of the child providing care to the list of people entitled to at least 10 days' notice of a permanency hearing or a placement review hearing. The bill also provides that in a permanency or placement review hearing the court is required to determine whether the child's current placement is necessary, safe, and appropriate; whether a current out-of-state placement continues to be in the child's best interest; and whether the department has made reasonable efforts to finalize the current permanency plan.