81R7893 NC-F

By: Dutton H.B. No. 3466

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the exchange of information among certain governmental entities concerning at-risk youth.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 51.01, Family Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 51.01. PURPOSE AND INTERPRETATION. This title shall be construed to effectuate the following public purposes:

(1) to provide for the protection of the public and public safety;

(2) consistent with the protection of the public and public safety:

(A) to promote the concept of punishment for criminal acts;

(B) to remove, where appropriate, the taint of criminality from children committing certain unlawful acts; and

(C) to provide treatment, training, and rehabilitation that emphasizes the accountability and responsibility of both the parent and the child for the child's conduct;

(3) to provide for the care, the protection, and the wholesome moral, mental, and physical development of children coming within its provisions;

(4) to protect the welfare of the community and to control the commission of unlawful acts by children;

(5) to identify at-risk behaviors and prevent the commission of unlawful acts by children through interagency information sharing to the full extent allowed by federal law;

(6) to achieve the foregoing purposes in a family environment whenever possible, separating the child from the child's parents only when necessary for the child's welfare or in the interest of public safety and when a child is removed from the child's family, to give the child the care that should be provided by parents; and

(7) [(6)] to provide a simple judicial procedure through which the provisions of this title are executed and enforced and in which the parties are assured a fair hearing and their constitutional and other legal rights recognized and enforced.

SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 58, Family Code, is amended by adding Section 58.0052 to read as follows:

Sec. 58.0052. EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION CONCERNING AT-RISK YOUTH. (a) In this section:

(1) "Agency" means any of the following entities or a person with an agency relationship with any of the following entities:

(A) the Texas Youth Commission;

(B) the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission;

(C) the Department of Family and Protective Services;

(D) the Texas Education Agency;

(E) a juvenile probation department;

(F) a school district or open-enrollment charter school;

(G) a local mental health or mental retardation authority;

(H) a county health department;

(I) a county department that provides services to at-risk youth or their families;

(J) a child advocacy center established under Section 264.402, Family Code; or

(K) a hospital district.

(2) "At-risk youth" means a person who is under 18 years of age and:

(A) has been taken into custody under Section 52.01;

(B) has been referred to a juvenile court for allegedly engaging in delinquent conduct or conduct indicating a need for supervision;

(C) is likely to engage in deliquent conduct based on one or more prior referrals to a court for having engaged in delinquent conduct or conduct indicating a need for supervision;

(D) has three or more absences from school in a six-month period that have not been excused by a school official;

(E) has been removed three or more times from a classroom by a teacher under Section 37.002, Education Code, during a six-month period; or

(F) is at risk of removal from the child's home into institutional care.

(b) At the request of an agency for specific information relating to an at-risk youth, an agency shall disclose the at-risk youth's personally identifiable information that is otherwise confidential, including information contained in educational records.

(c) The requesting agency must certify in writing that the agency will not disclose confidential information received under this section to a third party, other than another agency.

(d) An agency may use information provided to the agency under this section only to identify an at-risk youth and to assist the agency in providing prevention and intervention services to the at-risk youth.

(e) An agency may establish an internal protocol for sharing information with other agencies as necessary to efficiently and promptly disclose and accept the information and to maintain the confidential status of the information. The protocol may specify the types of information that may be shared under this section without violating federal law, including any federal funding requirements. An agency may enter into a memorandum of understanding with another agency to share information according to the agencies' protocols.

(f) This section does not affect the confidential status of the information being shared. The information may be released as directed by a court order or as otherwise authorized by law. Personal information is not subject to disclosure under Chapter 552, Government Code.

SECTION 3. Section 58.0051, Family Code, is repealed.

SECTION 4. 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, 2009.