By: Harris S.B. No. 345
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to suits and investigations concerning the parent-child
1-2 relationship that involve children born addicted to certain
1-3 substances.
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;
2-1 (E) engaged in conduct or knowingly placed the
2-2 child with persons who engaged in conduct which endangers the
2-3 physical or emotional well-being of the child;
2-4 (F) failed to support the child in accordance
2-5 with his ability during a period of one year ending within six
2-6 months of the date of the filing of the petition;
2-7 (G) abandoned the child without identifying the
2-8 child or furnishing means of identification, and the child's
2-9 identity cannot be ascertained by the exercise of reasonable
2-10 diligence;
2-11 (H) voluntarily, and with knowledge of the
2-12 pregnancy, abandoned the mother of the child beginning at a time
2-13 during her pregnancy with the child and continuing through the
2-14 birth, failed to provide adequate support or medical care for the
2-15 mother during the period of abandonment before the birth of the
2-16 child, and remained apart from the child or failed to support the
2-17 child since the birth;
2-18 (I) contumaciously refused to submit to a
2-19 reasonable and lawful order of a court under Chapter 264;
2-20 (J) been the major cause of:
2-21 (i) the failure of the child to be
2-22 enrolled in school as required by the Education Code; or
2-23 (ii) the child's absence from the child's
2-24 home without the consent of the parents or guardian for a
2-25 substantial length of time or without the intent to return;
3-1 (K) executed before or after the suit is filed
3-2 an unrevoked or irrevocable affidavit of relinquishment of parental
3-3 rights as provided by this chapter;
3-4 (L) been adjudicated to be criminally
3-5 responsible for the death or serious injury of a child;
3-6 (M) had his or her parent-child relationship
3-7 terminated with respect to another child based on a finding that
3-8 the parent's conduct was in violation of Paragraph (D) or (E); [or]
3-9 (N) constructively abandoned the child who has
3-10 been in the permanent or temporary managing conservatorship of the
3-11 Department of Protective and Regulatory Services or an authorized
3-12 agency for not less than one year, and:
3-13 (i) the department or authorized agency
3-14 has made reasonable efforts to return the child to the parent;
3-15 (ii) the parent has not visited or
3-16 maintained contact with the child; and
3-17 (iii) the parent has demonstrated an
3-18 inability to provide the child with a safe environment; or
3-19 (O) been the cause of the child being born
3-20 addicted, as provided by Section 261.001(7), to alcohol or a
3-21 controlled substance as defined by Chapter 481, Health and Safety
3-22 Code, other than a controlled substance legally obtained by
3-23 prescription; and
3-24 (2) that termination is in the best interest of the
3-25 child.
4-1 SECTION 2. Section 261.001, Family Code, is amended by
4-2 adding Subdivision (7) to read as follows:
4-3 (7) "Child born addicted" means a child who, as a
4-4 result of the mother's use of alcohol or a controlled substance as
4-5 defined by Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, exhibits:
4-6 (A) observable and harmful effects from alcohol
4-7 or the substance in the child's physical appearance or functioning
4-8 immediately following birth or at a subsequent time;
4-9 (B) observable and harmful effects of withdrawal
4-10 from alcohol or the substance in the child's physical appearance or
4-11 functioning during the period following birth; or
4-12 (C) a demonstrable presence of alcohol or a
4-13 controlled substance in the child's bodily fluids during the period
4-14 immediately following birth.
4-15 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997, and
4-16 applies only to a child born on or after that date.
4-17 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
4-18 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-19 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-20 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-21 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.