BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 3137

By: Gallego

Human Services

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Foster parents throughout the state have experienced difficulties when applying for and being placed with a child.  The manner in which certain agencies have conducted their business has hindered the foster child's safety and happiness in many cases. Too often, foster parents are overlooked and excluded from the process—especially when the child is being returned to the biological parent.

C.S.H.B. 3137 requires the Department of Family and Protective Services to develop a statement that lists the rights and responsibilities of a foster parent or a child-placing agency. The statement is to be provided to each foster parent and child-placing agency, and a child-placing agency is required to provide a copy of the statement to each foster parent in an agency foster home verified by the child-placing agency.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 3137 amends the Human Resources Code to require the Department of Family and Protective Services to develop a statement that lists the rights and responsibilities of a foster parent in a foster home or an agency foster home, and of the department or a child-placing agency, as applicable. The bill requires the department to provide a written copy of the statement to each foster parent in a foster home and to each child-placing agency licensed by the department and requires a child-placing agency to provide a written copy of the statement to each foster parent in an agency foster home verified by the child-placing agency.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the act does not receive the necessary vote, the act takes effect September 1, 2009.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

C.S.H.B. 3137 differs from the original by omitting provisions establishing a foster parent's bill of rights, a statement of the state's recognition of the value of foster parents, and establishing the policy of the state with regard to foster parents and instead requiring the Department of Family and Protective Services to develop a statement that lists the rights and responsibilities of a foster parent and of the department or a child-placing agency.