By Goodman H.B. No. 592
77R1235 KLA-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the abuse or neglect of a child.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Sections 261.001(1) and (4), Family Code, are
1-5 amended to read as follows:
1-6 (1) "Abuse" includes the following acts or omissions
1-7 by a person:
1-8 (A) mental or emotional injury to a child that
1-9 impairs or results in a substantial risk of [an observable and
1-10 material] impairment in the child's growth, development, or
1-11 psychological functioning;
1-12 (B) causing or permitting the child to be in a
1-13 situation in which the child sustains a mental or emotional injury
1-14 that impairs or results in a substantial risk of [an observable and
1-15 material] impairment in the child's growth, development, or
1-16 psychological functioning;
1-17 (C) physical injury that results in substantial
1-18 harm to the child, or the genuine threat of substantial harm from
1-19 physical injury to the child, including an injury that is at
1-20 variance with the history or explanation given and excluding an
1-21 accident or reasonable discipline by a parent, guardian, or
1-22 managing or possessory conservator that does not expose the child
1-23 to a substantial risk of harm;
1-24 (D) failure to make a reasonable effort to
2-1 prevent an action by another person that results in physical injury
2-2 that results in substantial harm to the child;
2-3 (E) sexual conduct harmful to a child's mental,
2-4 emotional, or physical welfare;
2-5 (F) failure to make a reasonable effort to
2-6 prevent sexual conduct harmful to a child;
2-7 (G) compelling or encouraging the child to
2-8 engage in sexual conduct as defined by Section 43.01, Penal Code;
2-9 (H) causing, permitting, encouraging, engaging
2-10 in, or allowing the photographing, filming, or depicting of the
2-11 child if the person knew or should have known that the resulting
2-12 photograph, film, or depiction of the child is obscene as defined
2-13 by Section 43.21, Penal Code, or pornographic;
2-14 (I) the current use by a person of a controlled
2-15 substance as defined by Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, in a
2-16 manner or to the extent that the use results in physical, mental,
2-17 or emotional injury to a child; or
2-18 (J) causing, expressly permitting, or
2-19 encouraging a child to use a controlled substance as defined by
2-20 Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code.
2-21 (4) "Neglect" includes:
2-22 (A) the leaving of a child in a situation where
2-23 the child would be exposed to a substantial risk of physical or
2-24 mental harm, without arranging for necessary care for the child,
2-25 and the demonstration of an intent not to return by a parent,
2-26 guardian, or managing or possessory conservator of the child;
2-27 (B) the following acts or omissions by a person:
3-1 (i) placing a child in or failing to
3-2 remove a child from a situation that a reasonable person would
3-3 realize requires judgment or actions beyond the child's level of
3-4 maturity, physical condition, or mental abilities and that results
3-5 in bodily injury or a substantial risk of immediate harm to the
3-6 child;
3-7 (ii) failing to seek, obtain, or follow
3-8 through with medical care for a child, with the failure resulting
3-9 in or presenting a substantial risk of death, disfigurement, or
3-10 bodily injury or with the failure resulting in or presenting a
3-11 substantial risk of [an observable and material] impairment to the
3-12 growth, development, or functioning of the child;
3-13 (iii) the failure to provide a child with
3-14 food, clothing, or shelter necessary to sustain the life or health
3-15 of the child, excluding failure caused primarily by financial
3-16 inability unless relief services had been offered and refused; or
3-17 (iv) placing a child in or failing to
3-18 remove the child from a situation in which the child would be
3-19 exposed to a substantial risk of sexual conduct harmful to the
3-20 child; or
3-21 (C) the failure by the person responsible for a
3-22 child's care, custody, or welfare to permit the child to return to
3-23 the child's home without arranging for the necessary care for the
3-24 child after the child has been absent from the home for any reason,
3-25 including having been in residential placement or having run away.
3-26 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
3-27 a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
4-1 provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
4-2 Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
4-3 Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
4-4 SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies to:
4-5 (1) a proceeding in which an investigation of the
4-6 abuse or neglect of a child is pending on or after the effective
4-7 date of this Act; and
4-8 (2) a suit affecting the parent-child relationship
4-9 commenced on or after the effective date of this Act.