73R8738 DAK-D
By Granoff H.B. No. 1731
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1731:
By Turner of Harris C.S.H.B. No. 1731
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the disposition, placement, and treatment of certain
1-3 children.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Chapter 15, Family Code, is amended by adding
1-6 Section 15.025 to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 15.025. INVOLUNTARY TERMINATION: BEHAVIOR OF PARENT
1-8 FOLLOWING PLACEMENT OF CHILD. A petition by the Department of
1-9 Protective and Regulatory Services requesting termination of the
1-10 parent-child relationship with respect to a parent who is not the
1-11 petitioner may be granted if the court finds that:
1-12 (1) the department has been the permanent managing
1-13 conservator of the child for at least 12 months preceding the
1-14 filing of the petition;
1-15 (2) the child has been placed by the department in
1-16 foster home care, group home care, or institutional care;
1-17 (3) after the child was placed by the department in
1-18 foster home care, group home care, or institutional care, the
1-19 parent:
1-20 (A) failed to:
1-21 (i) maintain contact with the child, other
1-22 than incidental contact; or
1-23 (ii) provide for or substantially plan for
1-24 the future of the child; or
2-1 (B) neglected, abused, or failed to care for
2-2 another child of the parent; and
2-3 (4) the termination is in the best interest of the
2-4 child.
2-5 SECTION 2. Section 54.04, Family Code, is amended by
2-6 amending Subsections (c), (d), and (i) and adding Subsection (l) to
2-7 read as follows:
2-8 (c) No disposition may be made under this section unless the
2-9 child is in need of rehabilitation or the protection of the public
2-10 or the child requires that disposition be made. If the court or
2-11 jury does not so find, the court shall dismiss the child and enter
2-12 a final judgment without any disposition. No disposition placing
2-13 the child on probation outside the child's home may be made under
2-14 this section unless the court or jury finds that the child, in the
2-15 child's home, cannot be provided the quality of care and level of
2-16 support and supervision that the child needs to meet the conditions
2-17 of the probation.
2-18 (d) If the court or jury makes the finding specified in
2-19 Subsection (c) of this section allowing the court to make a
2-20 disposition in the case:
2-21 (1) the court or jury may, in addition to any order
2-22 required or authorized under Section 54.041 or 54.042 of this code,
2-23 place the child on probation on such reasonable and lawful terms as
2-24 the court may determine <for a period not to exceed one year,
2-25 subject to extensions not to exceed one year each>:
2-26 (A) in his own home or in the custody of a
2-27 relative or other fit person; or
3-1 (B) subject to the finding under Subsection (c)
3-2 of this section on the placement of the child outside the child's
3-3 home, in:
3-4 (i) a suitable foster home; or
3-5 (ii) <(C) in> a suitable public or private
3-6 institution or agency, except the Texas Youth Commission;
3-7 (2) if the court or jury found at the conclusion of
3-8 the adjudication hearing that the child engaged in delinquent
3-9 conduct and if the petition was not approved by the grand jury
3-10 under Section 53.045 of this code, the court may commit the child
3-11 to the Texas Youth Commission without a determinate sentence; or
3-12 (3) if the court or jury found at the conclusion of
3-13 the adjudication hearing that the child engaged in delinquent
3-14 conduct that included a violation of a penal law listed in Section
3-15 53.045(a) of this code and if the petition was approved by the
3-16 grand jury under Section 53.045 of this code, the court or jury may
3-17 sentence the child to commitment in the Texas Youth Commission with
3-18 a transfer to the institutional division of the Texas Department of
3-19 Criminal Justice for any term of years not to exceed 40 years.
3-20 (i) If the court places the child on probation outside the
3-21 child's <his> home or commits the child to the Texas Youth
3-22 Commission, the court shall include in its order its determination
3-23 that <whether>:
3-24 (1) it is in the child's best interests to be placed
3-25 outside the child's <his> home; <and>
3-26 (2) reasonable efforts were made to prevent or
3-27 eliminate the need for the child's removal from the home and to
4-1 make it possible for the child to return to the child's <his> home;
4-2 and
4-3 (3) the child, in the child's home, cannot be provided
4-4 the quality of care and level of support and supervision that the
4-5 child needs to meet the conditions of probation.
4-6 (l) A court or jury may place a child on probation under
4-7 Subsection (d)(1) of this section for any period, except that
4-8 probation may not continue on or after the child's 18th birthday.
4-9 The court may, before the period of probation ends, extend the
4-10 probation for any period, except that the probation may not extend
4-11 to or after the child's 18th birthday.
4-12 SECTION 3. Chapter 54, Family Code, is amended by adding
4-13 Sections 54.043 and 54.044 to read as follows:
4-14 Sec. 54.043. PROBATION. The juvenile probation department
4-15 shall make every reasonable effort to supervise a child placed on
4-16 probation under Section 54.04(d)(1) of this code in a manner that
4-17 allows the child to remain in the home.
4-18 Sec. 54.044. COMMITMENT TO THE TEXAS YOUTH COMMISSION;
4-19 INFORMATION. (a) The juvenile probation department shall provide
4-20 information to the Texas Youth Commission on any child committed to
4-21 the commission under Section 54.04 or 54.05 of this code as
4-22 provided by this section.
4-23 (b) The information must be sufficient to allow the Texas
4-24 Youth Commission to determine the initial placement of the child in
4-25 the commission's programs.
4-26 (c) A juvenile court that commits a child to the Texas Youth
4-27 Commission may order the child detained until the commission
5-1 receives the information required by this section.
5-2 (d) A child committed to the Texas Youth Commission may not
5-3 be transferred to the commission unless the commission has received
5-4 the information required by this section.
5-5 SECTION 4. Section 54.06, Family Code, is amended to read as
5-6 follows:
5-7 Sec. 54.06. Judgments for Support. (a) At any stage of the
5-8 proceeding, when a child has been placed outside the child's <his>
5-9 home, the juvenile court, after giving the parent or other person
5-10 responsible for the child's support a reasonable opportunity to be
5-11 heard, shall order the parent or other person to pay in a manner
5-12 directed by the court a reasonable sum for the support in whole or
5-13 in part of the child or the court shall waive the payment by order.
5-14 The court shall order that the payment for support be made to the
5-15 local juvenile probation department to be used only for residential
5-16 care and other support for the child unless the child has been
5-17 committed to the Texas Youth Commission, in which case the court
5-18 shall order that the payment be made to the Texas Youth Commission
5-19 for deposit in a special account in the general revenue fund that
5-20 may be appropriated only for the care of children committed to the
5-21 commission <to the General Revenue Fund>.
5-22 (b) At any stage of the proceeding, when a child has been
5-23 placed outside the child's home and the parent of the child is
5-24 obligated to pay support for the child under a court order under
5-25 Title 2 of this code, the juvenile court shall order that the
5-26 person entitled to receive the support assign the person's right to
5-27 support for the child placed outside the child's home to the local
6-1 juvenile probation department to be used for residential care and
6-2 other support for the child unless the child has been committed to
6-3 the Texas Youth Commission, in which event the court shall order
6-4 that the assignment be made to the Texas Youth Commission.
6-5 (c) Orders for support may be enforced as provided in
6-6 Section 54.07 of this code.
6-7 SECTION 5. Subchapter C, Chapter 61, Human Resources Code,
6-8 is amended by adding Sections 61.0385 and 61.0395 to read as
6-9 follows:
6-10 Sec. 61.0385. CRISIS INTERVENTION AND ASSESSMENT CENTERS.
6-11 The commission may establish a children's crisis intervention and
6-12 assessment center at a facility owned or operated by the
6-13 commission. The commission may contract with another entity for
6-14 the provision or use of services at the center.
6-15 Sec. 61.0395. SERVICES FOR CHILDREN NOT COMMITTED TO THE
6-16 COMMISSION. The commission may provide services to a child not
6-17 committed to the commission if the commission contracts with a
6-18 local juvenile probation department, the Texas Department of Human
6-19 Services, or the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services
6-20 to provide services to the child.
6-21 SECTION 6. Section 61.071, Human Resources Code, is amended
6-22 to read as follows:
6-23 Sec. 61.071. Initial Examination. The commission shall
6-24 examine and make a study of each child committed to it as soon as
6-25 possible after commitment <the arrival of the child>. The study
6-26 shall be made according to rules established by the commission and
6-27 shall include long-term planning for the child, including a
7-1 determination of whether the child will <an investigation of all
7-2 pertinent circumstances of the life and behavior of the child. One
7-3 objective of the study shall be to identify recidivists or other
7-4 children who may> need long-term residential care.
7-5 SECTION 7. Section 61.0811, Family Code, is amended to read
7-6 as follows:
7-7 Sec. 61.0811. PAROLE MANAGEMENT. The commission shall
7-8 develop a management system for parole services that objectively
7-9 measures and provides for:
7-10 (1) the systematic examination of children's needs and
7-11 the development of treatment plans to address those needs;
7-12 (2) the evaluation of <children's> homes, foster
7-13 homes, and public and private institutions as constructive parole
7-14 placements;
7-15 (3) the classification of children based on the level
7-16 of children's needs and the degree of risk presented to the public;
7-17 (4) the objective measurement of parole officer
7-18 workloads; and
7-19 (5) the gathering and analysis of information related
7-20 to the effectiveness of parole services and to future parole
7-21 requirements.
7-22 SECTION 8. Subtitle A, Title 3, Human Resources Code, is
7-23 amended by adding Chapter 64 to read as follows:
7-24 CHAPTER 64. NONPROFIT PLACEMENTS
7-25 Sec. 64.001. APPLICABILITY. This chapter applies to any
7-26 state or local governmental entity that contracts for the placement
7-27 of children, including a local juvenile probation department or
8-1 the:
8-2 (1) Central Education Agency;
8-3 (2) Department of Protective and Regulatory Services;
8-4 (3) Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse;
8-5 (4) Texas Department of Human Services;
8-6 (5) Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental
8-7 Retardation;
8-8 (6) Texas Juvenile Probation Commission; and
8-9 (7) Texas Youth Commission.
8-10 Sec. 64.002. CERTAIN NONPROFIT PLACEMENTS REQUIRED. A
8-11 governmental entity may contract with a private institution for the
8-12 placement of more than 24 children in a single facility at a single
8-13 location only if the institution is a nonprofit entity.
8-14 SECTION 9. Subchapter C, Chapter 141, Human Resources Code,
8-15 is amended by adding Section 141.0476 to read as follows:
8-16 Sec. 141.0476. MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING ON CERTAIN ABUSED
8-17 OR NEGLECTED CHILDREN. (a) The commission, the Texas Youth
8-18 Commission, and the Department of Protective and Regulatory
8-19 Services shall maintain a joint memorandum of understanding
8-20 relating to children who are abused or neglected or who are at risk
8-21 of abuse or neglect. The memorandum must:
8-22 (1) establish guidelines for the referral of children
8-23 under the supervision of the Texas Youth Commission or a juvenile
8-24 probation department who are abused or neglected or who are at risk
8-25 of abuse or neglect to the Department of Protective and Regulatory
8-26 Services; and
8-27 (2) establish procedures by which the Department of
9-1 Protective and Regulatory Services may intervene in the treatment
9-2 of the children and, when appropriate, allow the children to return
9-3 to the supervision of the juvenile probation department.
9-4 (b) The commission shall act as the lead agency in
9-5 coordinating the development and implementation of the memorandum.
9-6 (c) Not later than the last month of each state fiscal year,
9-7 the commission, the Texas Youth Commission, and the Department of
9-8 Protective and Regulatory Services shall review and revise the
9-9 memorandum.
9-10 (d) Each agency must adopt the memorandum and any revision
9-11 to the memorandum by rule.
9-12 (e) In this section, "abuse" and "neglect" have the meaning
9-13 assigned by Section 34.012, Family Code.
9-14 SECTION 10. Section 61.063, Human Resources Code, is
9-15 repealed.
9-16 SECTION 11. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
9-17 (b) The Texas Juvenile Probation Commission, the Texas Youth
9-18 Commission, and the Department of Protective and Regulatory
9-19 Services must complete the memorandum of understanding required by
9-20 Section 141.0476, Human Resources Code, as added by this Act, on or
9-21 before October 31, 1993.
9-22 (c) Section 1 of this Act applies to a petition by the
9-23 Department of Protective and Regulatory Services requesting
9-24 termination of the parent-child relationship if the department has
9-25 been the permanent managing conservator of the child for at least
9-26 12 months preceding the filing of the petition, regardless of
9-27 whether the department was appointed conservator before or is
10-1 appointed conservator on or after the effective date of this Act.
10-2 (d) Section 4 of this Act applies to the placement of a
10-3 child outside the child's home under Title 3, Family Code, without
10-4 regard to whether the proceedings relating to the child under that
10-5 title began before, on, or after the effective date of this Act.
10-6 SECTION 12. The importance of this legislation and the
10-7 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
10-8 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
10-9 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
10-10 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.