By: Wentworth  S.B. No. 861
         (In the Senate - Filed February 16, 2009; March 9, 2009,
  read first time and referred to Committee on Jurisprudence;
  April 6, 2009, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
  Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 5, Nays 0; April 6, 2009,
  sent to printer.)
 
  COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 861 By:  Wentworth
 
 
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;
               (6)  to achieve the foregoing purposes through
  interagency information sharing to the full extent allowed by
  federal law;
               (7)  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
               (8) [(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, a
  person with an agency relationship with any of the following
  entities, or a person who contracts 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)  a juvenile probation department;
                     (E)  a local mental health or mental retardation
  authority;
                     (F)  a municipal or county health department;
                     (G)  a hospital district;
                     (H)  a county department that provides services to
  at-risk youth or their families; or
                     (I)  a children's advocacy center established
  under Section 264.402.
               (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)  is in the custody of the Texas Youth
  Commission or is under any form of juvenile probation or juvenile
  court supervision;
                     (E)  has received or is receiving services from a
  mental health or mental retardation authority or from child
  protective services under Subtitle E, Title 5;
                     (F)  has six or more absences from school in a
  six-month period that have not been excused by a school official; or
                     (G)  has been removed six or more times from a
  classroom by a teacher under Section 37.002, Education Code, during
  a six-month period.
         (b)  An agency shall:
               (1)  at the request of another agency for specific
  information, disclose to the other agency personally identifiable
  information relating to an at-risk youth, including identity;
  needs; treatment, social, criminal, and vocational history;
  probation or supervision status and compliance with the conditions
  of probation or supervision; and medical and mental health history,
  if the disclosure serves the purpose provided under Subsection (d);
  and
               (2)  accept information relating to an at-risk youth
  that is sent to the agency for the purpose provided under Subsection
  (d).
         (c)  An agency shall comply with Subsection (b) regardless of
  whether other state law makes that information confidential.
         (d)  An agency shall use information provided to the agency
  under this section only to identify at-risk youth, to assist the
  agency in providing services, or for research purposes.
         (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. 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.  An agency shall comply with this section
  regardless of whether the agency establishes an internal protocol
  or enters into a memorandum of understanding under this subsection.
         (f)  This section does not affect the confidential status of
  the information being shared.  The information may be released to a
  third party as directed by a court order or as otherwise authorized
  by law.  Personally identifiable information disclosed under this
  section is not subject to disclosure to a third party under Chapter
  552, Government Code.  Information that is not personally
  identifiable may be disclosed to a third party for research
  purposes as provided by an agency's protocol.
         SECTION 3.  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.
 
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