1-1     By:  Menendez (Senate Sponsor - Van de Putte)         H.B. No. 1377
 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House May 11, 2001;
 1-3     May 11, 2001, read first time and referred to Committee on
 1-4     Jurisprudence; May 11, 2001, reported favorably by the following
 1-5     vote:  Yeas 6, Nays 0; May 11, 2001, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to the requirements for a suit filed by the Department of
 1-9     Protective and Regulatory Services to terminate the parent-child
1-10     relationship.
1-11           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-12           SECTION 1. Section 161.003(a), Family Code, is amended to
1-13     read as follows:
1-14           (a)  The court may order termination of the parent-child
1-15     relationship in a suit filed by the Department of Protective and
1-16     Regulatory Services if the court finds that:
1-17                 (1)  the parent has a mental or emotional illness or a
1-18     mental deficiency that renders the parent unable to provide for the
1-19     physical, emotional, and mental needs of the child;
1-20                 (2)  the illness or deficiency, in all reasonable
1-21     probability, proved by clear and convincing evidence, will continue
1-22     to render the parent unable to provide for the child's needs until
1-23     the 18th birthday of the child;
1-24                 (3)  the department has been the temporary or sole
1-25     managing conservator of the child of the parent for at least [the]
1-26     six months preceding the date of the hearing on the termination
1-27     held in accordance with Subsection (c) [filing of the petition];
1-28                 (4)  the department has made reasonable efforts to
1-29     return the child to the parent; and
1-30                 (5)  the termination is in the best interest of the
1-31     child.
1-32           SECTION 2. (a)  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
1-33           (b)  The change in law made by this Act applies to a suit to
1-34     terminate the parent-child relationship filed by the Department of
1-35     Protective and Regulatory Services on or after the effective date
1-36     of this Act.  A suit filed before the effective date of this Act is
1-37     governed by the law in effect on the date the suit was filed, and
1-38     the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
1-39                                  * * * * *