79R3281 JMM-F
By: Dutton H.B. No. 1014
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to investigations and other procedures with respect to
allegations of child abuse or neglect.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 261.302, Family Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a) and (e) and adding Subsections (f), (g),
and (h) to read as follows:
(a) The investigation may include:
(1) a visit to the child's home, unless the alleged
abuse or neglect can be confirmed or [clearly] ruled out without a
home visit; and
(2) an interview with and examination of the subject
child, unless the investigating agency suspects or has reason to
suspect the child has been psychologically, emotionally, or
sexually abused [which may include a medical, psychological, or
psychiatric examination].
(e) An interview with a child conducted by the department or
another person under the direction of the department, other than a
law enforcement agency investigator, [alleged to be a victim of
physical abuse or sexual abuse] shall be audiotaped or videotaped
during the investigative stage [unless the investigating agency
determines that good cause exists for not audiotaping or
videotaping the interview in accordance with rules of the agency.
Good cause may include, but is not limited to, such considerations
as the age of the child and the nature and seriousness of the
allegations under investigation. Nothing in this subsection shall
be construed as prohibiting the investigating agency from
audiotaping or videotaping an interview of a child on any case for
which such audiotaping or videotaping is not required under this
subsection]. The department or other entity shall preserve a
recording of each initial telephone call by a person reporting
abuse or neglect of a child. The department shall record and
preserve all interviews and documents pertaining to an
investigation, including original notes. The fact that the
investigating agency failed to audiotape or videotape an interview
is admissible at the trial of the offense that is the subject of the
interview.
(f) Except as provided by Subsection (g), an investigation
that includes an examination of the subject child as authorized by
Subsection (a)(2) may not include a medical, psychological, or
psychiatric examination of the child unless:
(1) the child's parent, conservator, or legal guardian
consents in writing to the examination; or
(2) a court orders the examination.
(g) If during the investigation a representative of a law
enforcement agency is not present and the department investigator
believes that a child needs emergency medical attention before a
law enforcement agency representative could arrive, the
investigator may call for assistance from emergency medical
services personnel, as defined by Section 773.003, Health and
Safety Code. Emergency medical services personnel may examine and
provide emergency medical services to the child, but the department
may not conduct any other medical, psychological, or psychiatric
examination of the child, unless the examination is permitted under
Subsection (f).
(h) This section may not be construed to limit the authority
of a law enforcement agency to perform the agency's duties under any
other law.
SECTION 2. Sections 261.310(a) and (d), Family Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) The department shall by rule develop and adopt
[voluntary] standards for persons who investigate suspected child
abuse or neglect at the state or local level. The standards shall
encourage professionalism and consistency in the investigation of
suspected child abuse or neglect.
(d) The standards shall [recommend]:
(1) recommend that videotaped and audiotaped
interviews [with a suspected victim] be uninterrupted;
(2) recommend a maximum number of interviews with and
examinations of a suspected victim;
(3) provide procedures to preserve evidence,
including the intake telephone calls, original notes, videotapes,
and audiotapes, for one year from the later of the date the evidence
is created or the date of a final judgment in a suit filed in a case
for which the evidence is created; and
(4) provide that an investigator of suspected child
abuse or neglect make a reasonable effort to locate and inform each
parent of a child of any report of abuse or neglect relating to the
child.
SECTION 3. Subchapter B, Chapter 262, Family Code, is
amended by adding Sections 262.1001 and 262.1002 to read as
follows:
Sec. 262.1001. DESIGNATION OF ALTERNATIVE PLACEMENT OF
CHILD. (a) Because placing a child in the care of a person
designated by the child's parent, conservator, or legal guardian is
in the child's best interest, a governmental entity that determines
after an investigation that a child should be removed from the
child's home and that a suit affecting the parent-child
relationship has been or will be filed by the entity as provided by
this chapter with regard to the child, shall:
(1) inform the child's parent, conservator, or legal
guardian that the person may designate another person to care for
the child preceding the filing of and during the pendency of a suit
affecting the parent-child relationship; and
(2) if a designation is made under Subdivision (1),
place the child in the care of the person designated by the parent,
conservator, or legal guardian within a four-hour period after the
designation is made, a criminal history background check is
received by the entity that shows that the person is an acceptable
placement, and the person agrees to the terms of the placement,
except as provided by Section 262.1002.
(b) If the parent, conservator, or legal guardian of the
child designates a person to care for the child under Subsection
(a)(1), the department shall assume custody of the child during the
time in which the qualifications of the designated person are
determined. If the parent, conservator, or legal guardian of the
child is unable or unwilling to designate a person under Subsection
(a)(1), or if the designated person is unqualified under Section
262.1002, the department shall assume custody of the child.
(c) The right of the parent, conservator, or legal guardian
of the child to designate the person with whom the child is placed
preceding the filing of and during the pendency of a suit affecting
the parent-child relationship continues until the court terminates
the person's parent-child relationship with respect to the child,
appoints a permanent managing conservator of the child, or orders
that the child be returned to the child's home. The parent,
conservator, or legal guardian may make a subsequent designation in
accordance with this section, and the department shall place the
child with the person subsequently designated, if the child is
removed from the care of a person who was previously designated.
(d) A governmental entity that places a child with a person
designated by the child's parent, conservator, or legal guardian as
provided by this section shall:
(1) develop a written child protection plan for the
child as provided by Subsection (e);
(2) provide to the person designated by the child's
parent, conservator, or legal guardian a copy of the child
protection plan in a language understandable by the person and
explain the plan to the person in that language; and
(3) if the child is being regularly breast-fed, to the
extent possible, provide to the child's mother scheduled visitation
periods at appropriate intervals to allow the mother to continue
breast-feeding the child, unless the court finds after a hearing
that the mother is not fit for these visitation periods.
(e) The child protection plan required by Subsection (d)
must include reasonable restrictions on contacts with the child and
other terms designed to reasonably ensure the safety of the child.
The plan must be signed by the department, the designated person,
and each member of the designated person's household who is at least
18 years of age. Each person who signs the plan must agree that if
there is an alleged violation of the plan, all parties will attend
an emergency court hearing to be held not later than the 30th day
after the date a motion alleging the violation is filed. At the
conclusion of the hearing, the court shall determine whether a
violation of the plan has occurred and issue necessary orders to
restore compliance with the plan or place the child in the custody
of the department. The child protection plan is not a service plan
under Chapter 263.
(f) At each hearing conducted under this chapter or in a
suit affecting the parent-child relationship filed under this
chapter, the court shall inform the child's parent, conservator, or
legal guardian orally and in writing of that person's right under
this section to designate the person with whom the child is placed.
Sec. 262.1002. LIMITATION ON PLACEMENT WITH DESIGNATED
PERSON. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (c), the department
may not place a child with a person designated by the child's
parent, conservator, or legal guardian under Section 262.1001 if
the department determines that the designated person or another
person in the designated person's household:
(1) is registered in the department's statewide
central registry system with a finding that the department
confirmed, had reason to believe, or could not determine that the
parent abused or neglected a child;
(2) is the subject of a report of abuse or neglect of a
child being investigated by the department;
(3) has been found to have committed family violence
and is or has been the subject of a protective order rendered under
Title 4;
(4) has been convicted of a felony, is under
indictment for or charged with an offense punishable as a felony, or
is under investigation by a state or federal law enforcement agency
for an offense punishable as a felony; or
(5) has previously voluntarily relinquished parental
rights as the result of an allegation of child abuse or neglect.
(b) The department may request a law enforcement agency to
conduct a criminal background check on the designated person or any
other person in the designated person's household.
(c) The department may place a child with a designated
person prohibited from placement under Subsection (a) if the
department determines that placement of the child with the
designated person will not endanger the child. The child
protection plan under Section 262.1001(e) must address any issues
with regard to the placement of the child under this subsection.
(d) If the department determines that the designated person
under Section 262.1001 is not an appropriate placement for the
child, the parent, conservator, or legal guardian of the child may
request a hearing to be held not later than the 30th day after the
date the department provides the parent, conservator, or legal
guardian with written notice stating the department's objections to
the placement.
SECTION 4. Sections 262.112(a) and (b), Family Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) The Department of Protective and Regulatory Services
and the parent, conservator, or legal guardian are [is] entitled to
an expedited hearing under this chapter in any proceeding in which a
hearing is required if the department determines that a child
should be removed from the child's home because of an immediate
danger to the physical health or safety of the child.
(b) In any proceeding in which an expedited hearing is held
under Subsection (a), the department, parent, conservator,
guardian, or other party to the proceeding is entitled to an
expedited appeal on a ruling by a court that the child may or may not
be removed from the child's home.
SECTION 5. Sections 263.103(a) and (d), Family Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) Before the service plan is signed, the child's parents
and the representative of the department or other agency shall
discuss each term and condition of the plan. The representative
shall inform the parents that before a service plan may be required,
a suit affecting the parent-child relationship must be filed and
the department must obtain court authorization.
(d) The plan takes effect when[:
[(1)] the child's parents and the appropriate
representative of the department or other authorized agency sign
the plan. If the child's parents refuse to sign the plan, a motion
may be filed by any party for a hearing at which the court shall
either accept the plan or modify the plan based on the testimony of
the parties[; or
[(2) the department or other authorized agency files
the plan without the parents' signatures]. If the court's
determination under this subsection is not accepted by all parties,
the parties are entitled to an expedited appeal of the court's
order.
SECTION 6. Sections 261.302 and 262.112, Family Code, as
amended by this Act, apply only to an investigation of an allegation
of child abuse or neglect initiated on or after the effective date
of this Act. An investigation of an allegation of child abuse or
neglect initiated before the effective date of this Act is governed
by the law in effect on the date the investigation was initiated,
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 7. Sections 262.1001 and 262.1002, Family Code, as
added by this Act, apply only to the removal of a child from the
child's residence that occurs on or after the effective date of this
Act. The removal of a child from the child's residence that
occurred before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
law in effect on the date the child was removed, and the former law
is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 8. Section 263.103, Family Code, as amended by this
Act, applies only to a suit affecting the parent-child relationship
filed on or after the effective date of this Act. A suit filed
before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
effect on the date the suit was filed, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.