Enrolled Bill Summary

            House Bill 2249 amends provisions of the Family Code relating to the involuntary termination of the parent-child relationship and the review of the placement of children under the care of the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services. The bill makes various changes in the law to ensure prompt action in foster care cases in order to minimize the time that children spend in temporary care. The bill provides tools to enforce deadlines, such as authorizing the termination of a parent-child relationship in a suit filed by the department if the agency had been the temporary conservator of the child for at least six months preceding the date of the hearing, prohibiting parties to a suit from extending the deadlines set by the court, and allowing the court to delay the trial to await the resolution of criminal charges against a parent only if it finds the delay to be in the best interest of the child. The bill also provides for the acceleration of the appeals process in foster care cases by establishing deadlines for motions and hearings for appeals and prohibiting a court from extending the deadline for filing a record or appellate brief except for good cause.