By: Puente (Senate Sponsor - Zaffirini) H.B. No. 614
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 25, 2005;
April 26, 2005, read first time and referred to Committee on Health
and Human Services; May 5, 2005, reported favorably by the
following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; May 5, 2005, sent to printer.)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to foster care payments for certain children.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 264.101, Family Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (a-1) and amending Subsection (d) to read as
follows:
(a-1) The department shall continue to pay the cost of
foster care for a child for whom the department provides care,
including medical care, until the later of:
(1) the date the child attains the age of 18; or
(2) the date the child graduates from high school or
ceases to be enrolled in a secondary school in a program leading
toward a high school diploma.
(d) The executive commissioner of the Health and Human
Services Commission [Board of Protective and Regulatory Services]
may adopt rules that establish criteria and guidelines for the
payment of foster care, including medical care, for a child and for
providing care for a child after the child becomes 18 years of age
if the child is regularly attending [high school,] an institution
of higher education[,] or a vocational or technical program.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a child who is in foster care on or after the effective date of
this Act.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2005.
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