By: Rodriguez, et al.(Senate Sponsor - Zaffirini) H.B. No. 2579
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 29, 2005;
May 2, 2005, read first time and referred to Committee on Health
and Human Services; May 17, 2005, reported adversely, with
favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 6,
Nays 0; May 17, 2005, sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 2579 By: Nelson
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
531.164-531.167 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 or a local
mental retardation authority is notified of 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
for which the child may be eligible. The system must be designed to
ensure that the department provides the information through:
(1) a local mental retardation authority;
(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; or
(3) a department employee.
(b) An institution in which a child's parent or guardian is
considering placing the child may provide information required
under Subsection (a), but the information must also be provided by a
local mental retardation authority, private entity, or employee of
the Department of Aging and Disability Services as required by
Subsection (a).
(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 14th working day after the
date the department is notified of 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 14th working day
after the date the department is notified of 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:
(1) is involved in an emergency situation, as defined
by rules adopted by the executive commissioner; or
(2) has been committed to an institution under Chapter
46B, Code of Criminal Procedure, or Chapter 55, Family Code.
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) driver's license number and state of
issuance or personal identification card number issued by the
Department of Public Safety; and
(iii) place of employment and the
employer's address and telephone number; and
(B) the name, address, and telephone number of a
relative of the child or other 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 reasonable efforts to participate in the
child's life and in planning activities 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 request from
the child's parent or guardian a written reauthorization of the
child's plan of care.
(b) The rules adopted under this section must require that
the written reauthorization be requested annually.
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 described by Section 531.151(3)(A) or
(B) shall notify the local mental retardation authority for the
region in which the institution is located of a request for
placement of a child in the institution. An institution described
by Section 531.151(3)(D) shall notify the Department of Aging and
Disability Services of a request for placement of a child in the
institution.
(c) 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 and safety.
(d) 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
language interpreter, as applicable; and
(4) providing a language interpreter, if applicable.
(e) Except as otherwise provided by Subsection (f):
(1) an ICF-MR must:
(A) attempt to notify the parent or guardian of a
child who resides in the ICF-MR 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) attempt to 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.
(f) If an emergency situation involving a child residing in
an ICF-MR or nursing facility occurs, the ICF-MR or nursing
facility, as applicable, must:
(1) attempt to notify the child's parent or guardian as
soon as possible; and
(2) request a response from the parent or guardian.
(g) If a child's parent or guardian does not respond to a
notice under Subsection (e) or (f), the ICF-MR 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).
(h) Not later than the 30th day after the date an ICF-MR or
nursing facility determines that it is unable to locate a child's
parent or guardian for participation in activities listed under
Subsection (e)(1) or (2), the ICF-MR or nursing facility must
notify the Department of Aging and Disability Services of that
determination and request that the department initiate a 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(h) that a child's parent or
guardian cannot be located, conducts a search for the parent or
guardian. If, on the first anniversary of the date the department
receives the notification under Section 531.164(h), 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. (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
attempt to 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.
Sec. 531.167. COLLECTION OF INFORMATION REGARDING
INVOLVEMENT OF CERTAIN PARENTS AND GUARDIANS. (a) The Department
of Aging and Disability Services shall collect and maintain
aggregate information regarding the involvement of parents and
guardians of children residing in institutions described by
Sections 531.151(3)(A), (B), and (D) in the lives of and planning
activities relating to those children. The department shall obtain
input from stakeholders concerning the types of information that
are most useful in assessing the involvement of those parents and
guardians.
(b) The Department of Aging and Disability Services shall
make the aggregate information available to the public on request.
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 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 or a local mental retardation authority is
notified of a request for placement in an institution on or after
September 1, 2006. A child with respect to whom the department or a
local mental retardation authority is notified of a request for
placement in an institution before September 1, 2006, is governed
by the law in effect on the date the notification 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) of this section, 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.
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