By: Nelson, Davis S.B. No. 69

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to child protective services and foster care.

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

SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 264, Family Code, is amended by adding Section 264.015 to read as follows:

Sec. 264.015. COLOCATION OF CERTAIN EMPLOYEES. (a) In this section, "conservatorship services" has the meaning assigned by Section 264.106.

(b) To the extent feasible, the department may contract with child-placing agencies throughout the state for the child-placing agencies to provide office space for department employees who provide conservatorship services and employees who perform licensing functions.

SECTION 2. Section 264.101, Family Code, is amended by adding Subsections (g) and (h) to read as follows:

(g) The department shall study the feasibility of implementing a financial incentive program to encourage foster children to achieve and maintain the progress goals set under each child's individualized treatment or service plan. At a minimum, the study must include an analysis of the cost, benefits, and types of incentives that would be of value to foster children. Not later than December 1, 2010, the department shall report its findings and recommendations to the speaker of the house of representatives, the lieutenant governor, the House Human Services Committee or its successor, and the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services or its successor. This subsection expires January 1, 2011.

(h) The commission shall coordinate with the department to study the feasibility of making changes to the foster care assessment, placement, and reimbursement methodologies to improve outcomes for children in foster care. At a minimum, the study must include an analysis of those children who are classified as needing the highest level of care, an analysis of the ways in which children can be effectively assessed and placed in substitute care with the least impact to the child and substitute care provider during any change of placement, and an estimate of the amount of money necessary to implement the proposed changes. Not later than September 1, 2010, the commission shall report its findings and recommendations to the speaker of the house of representatives, the lieutenant governor, the House Human Services Committee or its successor, and the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services or its successor. The department shall consider recommendations from the report required under this subsection when developing the department's request for legislative appropriations to be considered by the 82nd Legislature. This subsection expires January 1, 2011.

SECTION 3. Subchapter B, Chapter 264, Family Code, is amended by adding Sections 264.119 and 264.120 to read as follows:

Sec. 264.119. NOTICE OF CHANGE OF PLACEMENT. (a) Except in the case of an emergency or as otherwise provided by a court order, the department must provide written notice to the substitute care provider and any child-placing agency involved with the child before the department may change the child's substitute care provider.

(b) The department must provide the notice required under Subsection (a) not later than the fifth day before the date the child's substitute care provider is changed.

Sec. 264.120. EXIT SURVEY. (a) The department shall adopt a policy that provides for an exit survey of each foster parent who decides to leave the foster care system.

(b) The department shall encourage the foster parent to state in the foster parent's own words the reasons why the foster parent decided to leave the foster care system.

(c) Not later than December 1 of each odd-numbered year, the department shall submit a report summarizing the results of the exit surveys to the speaker of the house of representatives, the lieutenant governor, the House Human Services Committee or its successor, and the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services or its successor.

SECTION 4. Section 264.121, Family Code, is amended by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:

(d) The department shall ensure that each individual enrolled in the Preparation for Adult Living Program receives information about the community resources that are available in the county in which the individual intends to reside to assist the individual in obtaining employment, job training, educational services, housing, food, and health care. If there are no community resources available in the county in which the individual intends to reside, the department shall ensure that the individual receives information about any community resources that are available in the surrounding counties.

SECTION 5. Subchapter B, Chapter 264, Family Code, is amended by adding Section 264.123 to read as follows:

Sec. 264.123. FOSTER PARENT MENTORS. The department shall establish a program under which the foster parents of a child may provide mentoring services to the child's parents to assist the child's parents in complying with the terms of the service plan.

SECTION 6. Subchapter A, Chapter 263, Family Code, is amended by adding Section 263.007 to read as follows:

Sec. 263.007. FOSTER CHILDREN'S BILL OF RIGHTS. (a) In this section:

(1) "Agency foster group home," "agency foster home," "facility," "foster group home," and "foster home" have the meanings assigned by Section 42.002, Human Resources Code.

(2) "Foster care" means the placement of a child who is in the conservatorship of the department or an authorized agency and in care outside the child's home in an agency foster group home, agency foster home, foster group home, foster home, or another facility licensed or certified under Chapter 42, Human Resources Code, in which care is provided for 24 hours a day.

(3) "Foster children's bill of rights" means a list of rights described by Subsection (b).

(b) It is the policy of this state that each child in foster care be informed of the child's rights under state or federal law or policy that relate to:

(1) abuse, neglect, exploitation, discrimination, and harassment;

(2) food, clothing, shelter, and education;

(3) medical, dental, vision, and mental health services, including when the child may have the right to consent to treatment;

(4) emergency behavior intervention, including what methods are permitted and not permitted, when emergency behavior intervention may be used, precautions that caregivers must take before, during, and after implementing emergency behavior intervention;

(5) placement with siblings and contacts with members of the child's family;

(6) privacy, including storage space, searches, mail, and telephone conversations;

(7) participation in school-related extracurricular or community activities;

(8) interactions with persons outside of the foster care system, including teachers, church members, mentors, and friends;

(9) contact and communication with a caseworker, attorney ad litem, guardian ad litem, and court-appointed special advocate;

(10) religious services and activities;

(11) confidentiality of the child's records;

(12) job skills, personal finances, and preparation for adulthood;

(13) participation in court hearings that involve the child;

(14) participation in the development of service and treatment plans;

(15) the advocacy and protection of rights of a child with a disability; and

(16) any other subject affecting the child's ability to receive care and treatment in the least restrictive environment that is most like a family setting, consistent with the best interests and needs of the child.

(c) The department shall provide a written copy of the foster children's bill of rights to each child placed in foster care in the child's primary language, if possible, and shall inform the child of the rights provided by the foster children's bill of rights:

(1) orally in the child's primary language, if possible, and in simple, nontechnical terms; or

(2) for a child who has a disability, including an impairment of vision or hearing, through any means that can reasonably be expected to result in successful communication with the child.

(d) A child placed in foster care may, at the child's option, sign a document acknowledging the child's understanding of the foster children's bill of rights after the department provides a written copy of the foster children's bill of rights to the child and informs the child of the rights provided by that bill of rights in accordance with Subsection (c). If a child signs a document acknowledging the child's understanding of the foster children's bill of rights, the document must be placed in the child's case file.

(e) An agency foster group home, agency foster home, foster group home, foster home, or other facility in which a child is placed in foster care shall provide a copy of the foster children's bill of rights to a child on the child's request. The foster children's bill of rights must be printed in English and in a second language.

(f) The department shall promote the participation of foster children and former foster children in educating other foster children about the foster children's bill of rights.

(g) Except as provided by this subsection, the executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission and the department, as appropriate, shall ensure that the rules and policies governing foster care are consistent with the state policy outlined by Subsection (b). The executive commissioner or the department, as appropriate, may adopt rules or policies that provide greater protections for the rights of children in foster care.

(h) The department shall develop and implement a policy for receiving and handling reports that a foster child's rights are not being met. The department shall inform a child and, as appropriate, the child's managing conservator or guardian of the method for reporting to the department that the child's rights are not being met.

(i) This section does not create a cause of action.

SECTION 7. Subsections (d), (e), and (f), Section 42.0221, Human Resources Code, are amended to read as follows:

(d) The committee shall meet three times [twice] a year at the call of the presiding officer. At least one meeting each year must provide an opportunity for public testimony.

(e) The committee shall review and analyze the information provided by the department and committee members and shall make recommendations for policy and statutory changes relating to licensing standards and facility inspections. The review and analysis by the committee shall include the analysis of:

(1) the deaths of children who are in substitute care, including reports and findings of child fatality review teams under Subchapter F, Chapter 264, Family Code;

(2) the types of licensing violations for each weighted risk and region;

(3) the details of administrative reviews and appeals; [and]

(4) the type of technical assistance provided and the qualifications of those providing technical assistance; and

(5) the department's policies, standards, and procedures relating to the licensing of foster care providers and consider modifications to the policies, standards, and procedures to increase the capacity of a foster care provider while continuing to ensure the health and safety of children placed in the care of the foster care provider.

(f) The committee shall report its findings and recommendations to the department and the legislature not later than September [December] 1 of each year.

SECTION 8. Section 531.048, Government Code, is amended by adding Subsection (d-1) to read as follows:

(d-1) Notwithstanding Subsection (d), from funds appropriated in the General Appropriations Act (S.B. No. 1), for the fiscal biennium 2010-2011, the Department of Family and Protective Services shall spend up to $12 million for the biennium to ensure that 95 percent of children in the department's conservatorship are visited by the child's caseworker at least one time each month.

SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.