1-1 By: Harris S.B. No. 345
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed January 29, 1997; February 3, 1997,
1-3 read first time and referred to Committee on Jurisprudence;
1-4 March 19, 1997, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
1-5 Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0; March 19, 1997,
1-6 sent to printer.)
1-7 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 345 By: Harris
1-8 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-9 AN ACT
1-10 relating to suits and investigations concerning the parent-child
1-11 relationship that involve children born addicted to certain
1-12 substances.
1-13 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-14 SECTION 1. Section 161.001, Family Code, is amended to read
1-15 as follows:
1-16 Sec. 161.001. INVOLUNTARY TERMINATION OF PARENT-CHILD
1-17 RELATIONSHIP. The court may order termination of the parent-child
1-18 relationship if the court finds by clear and convincing evidence:
1-19 (1) that the parent has:
1-20 (A) voluntarily left the child alone or in the
1-21 possession of another not the parent and expressed an intent not to
1-22 return;
1-23 (B) voluntarily left the child alone or in the
1-24 possession of another not the parent without expressing an intent
1-25 to return, without providing for the adequate support of the child,
1-26 and remained away for a period of at least three months;
1-27 (C) voluntarily left the child alone or in the
1-28 possession of another without providing adequate support of the
1-29 child and remained away for a period of at least six months;
1-30 (D) knowingly placed or knowingly allowed the
1-31 child to remain in conditions or surroundings which endanger the
1-32 physical or emotional well-being of the child;
1-33 (E) engaged in conduct or knowingly placed the
1-34 child with persons who engaged in conduct which endangers the
1-35 physical or emotional well-being of the child;
1-36 (F) failed to support the child in accordance
1-37 with his ability during a period of one year ending within six
1-38 months of the date of the filing of the petition;
1-39 (G) abandoned the child without identifying the
1-40 child or furnishing means of identification, and the child's
1-41 identity cannot be ascertained by the exercise of reasonable
1-42 diligence;
1-43 (H) voluntarily, and with knowledge of the
1-44 pregnancy, abandoned the mother of the child beginning at a time
1-45 during her pregnancy with the child and continuing through the
1-46 birth, failed to provide adequate support or medical care for the
1-47 mother during the period of abandonment before the birth of the
1-48 child, and remained apart from the child or failed to support the
1-49 child since the birth;
1-50 (I) contumaciously refused to submit to a
1-51 reasonable and lawful order of a court under Chapter 264;
1-52 (J) been the major cause of:
1-53 (i) the failure of the child to be
1-54 enrolled in school as required by the Education Code; or
1-55 (ii) the child's absence from the child's
1-56 home without the consent of the parents or guardian for a
1-57 substantial length of time or without the intent to return;
1-58 (K) executed before or after the suit is filed
1-59 an unrevoked or irrevocable affidavit of relinquishment of parental
1-60 rights as provided by this chapter;
1-61 (L) been adjudicated to be criminally
1-62 responsible for the death or serious injury of a child;
1-63 (M) had his or her parent-child relationship
1-64 terminated with respect to another child based on a finding that
2-1 the parent's conduct was in violation of Paragraph (D) or (E); [or]
2-2 (N) constructively abandoned the child who has
2-3 been in the permanent or temporary managing conservatorship of the
2-4 Department of Protective and Regulatory Services or an authorized
2-5 agency for not less than one year, and:
2-6 (i) the department or authorized agency
2-7 has made reasonable efforts to return the child to the parent;
2-8 (ii) the parent has not visited or
2-9 maintained contact with the child; and
2-10 (iii) the parent has demonstrated an
2-11 inability to provide the child with a safe environment; or
2-12 (O) been the cause of the child being born
2-13 addicted, as provided by Section 261.001(7), to alcohol or a
2-14 controlled substance as defined by Chapter 481, Health and Safety
2-15 Code, other than a controlled substance legally obtained by
2-16 prescription; and
2-17 (2) that termination is in the best interest of the
2-18 child.
2-19 SECTION 2. Section 261.001, Family Code, is amended by
2-20 adding Subdivision (7) to read as follows:
2-21 (7) "Child born addicted" means a child who, as a
2-22 result of the mother's use of alcohol or a controlled substance as
2-23 defined by Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, exhibits:
2-24 (A) observable and harmful effects from alcohol
2-25 or the substance in the child's physical appearance or functioning
2-26 immediately following birth or at a subsequent time;
2-27 (B) observable and harmful effects of withdrawal
2-28 from alcohol or the substance in the child's physical appearance or
2-29 functioning during the period following birth; or
2-30 (C) a demonstrable presence of alcohol or a
2-31 controlled substance in the child's bodily fluids during the period
2-32 immediately following birth.
2-33 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997, and
2-34 applies only to a child born on or after that date.
2-35 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
2-36 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-37 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-38 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-39 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
2-40 * * * * *