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79R8100 KLA-D
By: Rodriguez H.B. No. 2579
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to procedures to ensure the involvement of parents or
guardians of children placed in certain institutions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter D-1, Chapter 531, Government Code, is
amended by adding Sections 531.1521, 531.1532, 531.1591, and
531.164-531.166 to read as follows:
Sec. 531.1521. PREADMISSION INFORMATION. (a) The
executive commissioner by rule shall develop and implement a system
by which the Department of Aging and Disability Services ensures
that, for each child with respect to whom the department receives a
request for placement in an institution, the child's parent or
guardian is fully informed before the child is placed in the
institution of all community-based services and any other service
and support options available to the child. The system must be
designed to ensure that the department provides the information
through:
(1) a local mental retardation authority; or
(2) any private entity that has knowledge and
expertise regarding the needs of and full spectrum of care options
available to children with disabilities as well as the philosophy
and purpose of permanency planning.
(b) Information required to be provided under Subsection
(a) may not be provided by the institution in which the child's
parent or guardian is considering placing the child.
(c) The Department of Aging and Disability Services shall
develop comprehensive information consistent with the policy
stated in Section 531.152 to explain to a parent or guardian
considering placing a child in an institution:
(1) options for community-based services;
(2) the benefits to the child of living in a family or
community setting;
(3) that the placement of the child in an institution
is considered temporary in accordance with Section 531.159; and
(4) that an ongoing permanency planning process is
required under this subchapter and other state law.
(d) Except as otherwise provided by this subsection and
Subsection (e), the Department of Aging and Disability Services
shall ensure that, not later than the seventh day after the date the
department receives a request for the placement of a child in an
institution, the child's parent or guardian is provided the
information described by Subsections (a) and (c). The department
may provide the information after the seventh day after the
department receives the request if the child's parent or guardian
waives the requirement that the information be provided within the
period otherwise required by this subsection.
(e) The requirements of this section do not apply to a
request for the placement of a child in an institution if the child
is involved in an emergency situation, as defined by rules adopted
by the executive commissioner.
Sec. 531.1532. REQUIREMENTS ON ADMISSIONS OF CHILDREN TO
CERTAIN INSTITUTIONS. On the admission of a child to an institution
described by Section 531.151(3)(A), (B), or (D), the Department of
Aging and Disability Services shall require the child's parent or
guardian to submit:
(1) an admission form that includes:
(A) the parent's or guardian's:
(i) name, address, and telephone number;
(ii) social security number;
(iii) driver's license number and state of
issuance or personal identification card number issued by the
Department of Public Safety; and
(iv) place of employment and the employer's
address and telephone number;
(B) the name and address of a close relative of
the child and a statement indicating the relation between the
relative and the child; and
(C) the name, address, and telephone number of a
person whom the department or institution may contact in an
emergency, a statement indicating the relation between that person
and the child, and at the parent's or guardian's option, that
person's:
(i) driver's license number and state of
issuance or personal identification card number issued by the
Department of Public Safety; and
(ii) the name, address, and telephone
number of that person's employer; and
(2) a signed acknowledgment of responsibility stating
that the parent or guardian agrees to:
(A) notify the institution in which the child is
placed of any changes to the information submitted under
Subdivision (1)(A); and
(B) make every effort to participate in the
permanency planning process for the child.
Sec. 531.1591. ANNUAL REAUTHORIZATION OF PLANS OF CARE FOR
CERTAIN CHILDREN. (a) The executive commissioner shall adopt
rules under which the Department of Aging and Disability Services
requires a nursing facility in which a child resides to obtain from
the child's parent or guardian a reauthorization of the child's plan
of care that is developed by the facility.
(b) The rules adopted under this section must require that
the reauthorization be obtained annually in writing.
Sec. 531.164. DUTIES OF CERTAIN INSTITUTIONS. (a) This
section applies only to an institution described by Section
531.151(3)(A), (B), or (D).
(b) An institution must make reasonable accommodations to
promote the participation of the parent or guardian of a child
residing in the institution in all planning and decision-making
regarding the child's care, including participation in:
(1) the initial development of the child's permanency
plan and periodic review of the plan;
(2) an annual review and reauthorization of the
child's service plan;
(3) decision-making regarding the child's medical
care;
(4) routine interdisciplinary team meetings; and
(5) decision-making and other activities involving
the child's health, safety, and quality of life.
(c) Reasonable accommodations that an institution must make
under this section include:
(1) conducting a meeting in person or by telephone, as
mutually agreed upon by the institution and the parent or guardian;
(2) conducting a meeting at a time and, if the meeting
is in person, at a location that is mutually agreed upon by the
institution and the parent or guardian;
(3) if a parent or guardian has a disability,
providing reasonable accommodations in accordance with the
Americans with Disabilities Act (42 U.S.C. Section 12101 et seq.),
including providing an accessible meeting location or a sign
interpreter, as applicable; and
(4) providing a language interpreter, if applicable.
(d) Except as otherwise provided by Subsection (e):
(1) an ICF-MR facility must:
(A) notify the parent or guardian of a child who
resides in the facility in writing of a periodic permanency
planning meeting or annual service plan review and reauthorization
meeting not later than the 21st day before the date the meeting is
scheduled to be held; and
(B) request a response from the parent or
guardian; and
(2) a nursing facility must:
(A) notify the parent or guardian of a child who
resides in the facility in writing of an annual service plan review
and reauthorization meeting not later than the 21st day before the
date the meeting is scheduled to be held; and
(B) request a response from the parent or
guardian.
(e) If a permanency planning meeting or service plan review
and reauthorization meeting is scheduled in response to an
emergency situation, an ICF-MR facility or nursing facility in
which the child who is the subject of the meeting resides must:
(1) notify the child's parent or guardian of the
meeting as soon as possible; and
(2) request a response from the parent or guardian.
(f) If a child's parent or guardian does not respond to a
notice under Subsection (d) or (e), the ICF-MR facility or nursing
facility, as applicable, must attempt to locate the parent or
guardian by contacting another person whose information was
provided by the parent or guardian under Section 531.1532(1)(B) or
(C).
(g) Not later than the 30th day after the date an ICF-MR
facility or nursing facility determines that it is unable to locate
a child's parent or guardian for participation in activities listed
under Subsection (b), the ICF-MR facility or nursing facility must
notify the Department of Aging and Disability Services of that
determination and request that the department initiate a reasonable
search for the child's parent or guardian.
Sec. 531.165. SEARCH FOR PARENT OR GUARDIAN OF A CHILD. (a)
The Department of Aging and Disability Services shall develop and
implement a process by which the department, on receipt of
notification under Section 531.164(g) that a child's parent or
guardian cannot be located, conducts a reasonable search for the
parent or guardian. If, on the first anniversary of the date the
ICF-MR facility or nursing facility in which the child resides made
its initial attempt to contact the parent or guardian, the
department has been unsuccessful in locating the parent or
guardian, the department shall refer the case to:
(1) the child protective services division of the
Department of Family and Protective Services if the child is 17
years of age or younger; or
(2) the adult protective services division of the
Department of Family and Protective Services if the child is 18
years of age or older.
(b) On receipt of a referral under Subsection (a)(1), the
child protective services division of the Department of Family and
Protective Services shall exercise intense due diligence in
attempting to locate the child's parent or guardian. If the
division is unable to locate the child's parent or guardian, the
department shall file a suit affecting the parent-child
relationship requesting an order appointing the department as the
child's temporary managing conservator.
(c) A child is considered abandoned for purposes of the
Family Code if the child's parent or guardian cannot be located
following the exercise of intense due diligence in attempting to
locate the parent or guardian by the Department of Family and
Protective Services under Subsection (b).
(d) On receipt of a referral under Subsection (a)(2), the
adult protective services division of the Department of Family and
Protective Services shall notify the court that appointed the
child's guardian that the guardian cannot be located.
Sec. 531.166. TRANSFER OF CHILD BETWEEN INSTITUTIONS OR
PROGRAMS. (a) This section applies only to an institution
described by Section 531.151(3)(A), (B), or (D) in which a child
resides.
(b) Before transferring a child who is 17 years of age or
younger, or a child who is at least 18 years of age and for whom a
guardian has been appointed, from one institution to another
institution, the institution in which the child resides must obtain
consent for the transfer from the child's parent or guardian unless
the transfer is in response to an emergency situation, as defined by
rules adopted by the executive commissioner.
SECTION 2. Not later than September 1, 2006:
(1) the executive commissioner of the Health and Human
Services Commission shall adopt the rules required by Sections
531.1521(a) and (e) and 531.166(b), Government Code, as added by
this Act; and
(2) the Department of Aging and Disability Services
shall:
(A) develop the information required by Section
531.1521(c), Government Code, as added by this Act; and
(B) develop and implement the process for
conducting a reasonable search for a child's parent or guardian
required by Section 531.165, Government Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 3. Section 531.1521, Government Code, as added by
this Act, applies only to a child for whom the Department of Aging
and Disability Services receives a request for placement in an
institution on or after September 1, 2006. A child for whom the
department receives a request for placement in an institution
before September 1, 2006, is governed by the law in effect on the
date the request was received, and the former law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4. (a) Sections 531.1532, 531.1591, and
531.164-531.166, Government Code, as added by this Act, apply only
with respect to a child who is admitted to an institution on or
after September 1, 2006.
(b) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), an institution in which
a child resides shall, as part of the annual service plan meeting
regarding the child, encourage the child's parent or guardian to
provide the information required on an admission form under Section
531.1532(1), Government Code, as added by this Act, and a signed
acknowledgment of responsibility under Section 531.1532(2),
Government Code, as added by this Act. Notwithstanding Subsection
(a), if the parent or guardian of a child for whom the Department of
Aging and Disability Services is required to develop a permanency
plan provides the information and acknowledgment of responsibility
as a result of the annual service plan meeting as provided by this
subsection, Sections 531.164-531.166, Government Code, as added by
this Act, apply with respect to the child, regardless of the date on
which the child was admitted to an institution.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.