By Luna                                         H.B. No. 2190

      75R7570 JMM-D                           

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-1                                   AN ACT

 1-2     relating to the involuntary termination of the parent-child

 1-3     relationship.

 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-5           SECTION 1.  Section 161.001, Family Code, is amended to read

 1-6     as follows:

 1-7           Sec. 161.001.  INVOLUNTARY TERMINATION OF PARENT-CHILD

 1-8     RELATIONSHIP.  The court may order termination of the parent-child

 1-9     relationship if the court finds by clear and convincing evidence:

1-10                 (1)  that the parent has:

1-11                       (A)  voluntarily left the child alone or in the

1-12     possession of another not the parent and expressed an intent not to

1-13     return;

1-14                       (B)  voluntarily left the child alone or in the

1-15     possession of another not the parent without expressing an intent

1-16     to return, without providing for the adequate support of the child,

1-17     and remained away for a period of at least three months;

1-18                       (C)  voluntarily left the child alone or in the

1-19     possession of another without providing adequate support of the

1-20     child and remained away for a period of at least six months;

1-21                       (D)  knowingly placed or knowingly allowed the

1-22     child to remain in conditions or surroundings which endanger the

1-23     physical or emotional well-being of the child;

1-24                       (E)  engaged in conduct or knowingly placed the

 2-1     child with persons who engaged in conduct which endangers the

 2-2     physical or emotional well-being of the child;

 2-3                       (F)  failed to support the child in accordance

 2-4     with his ability during a period of one year ending within six

 2-5     months of the date of the filing of the petition;

 2-6                       (G)  abandoned the child without identifying the

 2-7     child or furnishing means of identification, and the child's

 2-8     identity cannot be ascertained by the exercise of reasonable

 2-9     diligence;

2-10                       (H)  voluntarily, and with knowledge of the

2-11     pregnancy, abandoned the mother of the child beginning at a time

2-12     during her pregnancy with the child and continuing through the

2-13     birth, failed to provide adequate support or medical care for the

2-14     mother during the period of abandonment before the birth of the

2-15     child, and remained apart from the child or failed to support the

2-16     child since the birth;

2-17                       (I)  contumaciously refused to submit to a

2-18     reasonable and lawful order of a court under Chapter 264;

2-19                       (J)  been the major cause of:

2-20                             (i)  the failure of the child to be

2-21     enrolled in school as required by the Education Code;  or

2-22                             (ii)  the child's absence from the child's

2-23     home without the consent of the parents or guardian for a

2-24     substantial length of time or without the intent to return;

2-25                       (K)  executed before or after the suit is filed

2-26     an unrevoked or irrevocable affidavit of relinquishment of parental

2-27     rights as provided by this chapter;

 3-1                       (L)  been adjudicated to be criminally

 3-2     responsible for the death or serious injury of a child;

 3-3                       (M)  had his or her parent-child relationship

 3-4     terminated with respect to another child based on a finding that

 3-5     the parent's conduct was in violation of Paragraph (D) or (E); [or]

 3-6                       (N)  constructively abandoned the child who has

 3-7     been in the permanent or temporary managing conservatorship of the

 3-8     Department of Protective and Regulatory Services or an authorized

 3-9     agency for not less than one year, and:

3-10                             (i)  the department or authorized agency

3-11     has made reasonable efforts to return the child to the parent;

3-12                             (ii)  the parent has not visited or

3-13     maintained contact with the child; and

3-14                             (iii)  the parent has demonstrated an

3-15     inability to provide the child with a safe environment; or

3-16                       (O)  failed after three review hearings under

3-17     Chapter 263 to comply with the provisions of a service plan that

3-18     specifically established the actions necessary for the parent to

3-19     obtain the return of the child who has been in the permanent or

3-20     temporary managing conservatorship of the Department of Protective

3-21     and Regulatory Services; and

3-22                 (2)  that termination is in the best interest of the

3-23     child.

3-24           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997, and

3-25     applies only to a suit affecting the parent-child relationship

3-26     filed on or after that date.  A suit affecting the parent-child

3-27     relationship filed before the effective date of this Act is

 4-1     governed by the law in effect on the date the suit was filed, and

 4-2     the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

 4-3           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the

 4-4     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

 4-5     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

 4-6     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

 4-7     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.