BILL ANALYSIS

 

 

 

C.S.S.B. 218

By: Nelson

Human Services

Committee Report (Substituted)

 

 

 

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

 

While previous legislatures have increased protections of children who are victims of abuse, neglect, or exploitation, more can be done.  C.S.S.B. 218 intends to build on the legislature's past initiatives to increase protections of children who are victims of abuse, neglect, or exploitation by providing for the redesign of the foster care system to help ensure that displaced children have access to valuable support networks and by amending current law relating to procedures in certain suits affecting the parent-child relationship and the operation of the child protective services and foster care systems.

 

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.S.B. 218 amends the Family Code to prohibit the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS), on closing a case, from entering into a written agreement with a child's parent or another adult with whom the child resides that requires the parent or other adult to take certain actions after the case is closed to ensure the child's safety. The bill exempts from the prohibition an agreement that is entered into by a parent or other adult following the removal of a child and that is subject to the approval of a court with continuing jurisdiction over the child; as a result of the person's participation in family group conferencing; or as part of a formal case closure plan agreed to by the person who will continue to care for a child as a result of a parental child safety placement. The bill requires DFPS to develop policies to guide caseworkers in the development of certain authorized case closure agreements.

 

C.S.S.B. 218 requires DFPS, on discovering during an investigation that a child younger than 11 years of age has a sexually transmitted disease, to appoint a special investigator to assist in the investigation of the case and file an original suit requesting an emergency order for possession of the child unless DFPS determines that removing the child from the child's home is not necessary for the protection of the child. The bill requires DFPS to take the following actions before making such a determination:

·         review the medical evidence to determine whether the medical evidence supports a finding that abuse likely occurred;

·         interview the child and other persons residing in the child's home;

·         confer with law enforcement;

·         determine whether any other child in the home has a sexually transmitted disease and, if so, refer the child for a sexual abuse examination;

·         ensure, if DFPS determines a forensic interview is appropriate based on the child's age and development, that each child alleged to have been abused undergoes a forensic interview by a children's advocacy center or another professional with specialized training in conducting forensic interviews if a children's advocacy center is not available in the county in which the child resides;

·         consult with a DFPS staff nurse or other medical expert to obtain additional information regarding the nature of the sexually transmitted disease and the ways the disease is transmitted and an opinion as to whether abuse occurred based on the facts of the case;

·         contact any additional witness who may have information relevant to the investigation, including other individuals who had access to the child; and

·         obtain an opinion from the Forensic Assessment Center Network as to whether the evidence in the case supports a finding that abuse likely occurred if DFPS determines after taking the actions previously described that a finding of sexual abuse is not supported.

 

C.S.S.B. 218 requires DFPS, on determining that abuse likely occurred, to work with law enforcement to obtain a search warrant to require an individual DFPS reasonably believes may have sexually abused the child to undergo medically appropriate diagnostic testing for sexually transmitted diseases.

 

C.S.S.B. 218 authorizes DFPS, on determining that a protective order issued under provisions of law relating to protective orders and family violence provides a reasonable alternative to obtaining an order to remove the alleged perpetrator of the abuse from the residence of the child, to file an application for a protective order on behalf of the child instead of or in addition to obtaining a temporary restraining order or to assist a parent or other adult with whom a child resides in obtaining a protective order.

 

C.S.S.B. 218 requires the original service plan filed by DFPS or another agency appointed as the managing conservator of a child to be developed jointly by the child's parents and a representative of DFPS or other authorized agency, including informing the parents of their rights in connection with the service plan process.  The bill specifies that if a parent is not able or willing to participate in the development of the service plan, it should be so noted in the plan. The bill authorizes DFPS to file the plan without the parents' signatures based on a determination by DFPS or another authorized agency that the child's parents are unable or unwilling to participate in the development of the original service plan, in the alternative to filing the plan without the signatures based on a determination that the child's parents are unable or unwilling to sign the plan. The bill makes the original service plan effective when the court issues an order giving effect to the plan without the parents' signatures, in the alternative to when the child's parents and the appropriate DFPS or agency representative sign the plan,  and removes language making the plan effective when DFPS or another authorized agency files the plan without the parents' signatures. The bill specifies that the original service plan is in effect until amended by the court or as provided under the bill's provisions.

 

C.S.S.B. 218 requires DFPS to work with the parents to jointly develop any amendment to the service plan, including informing the parents of their rights in connection with the amended service plan process. The bill authorizes a parent to file a motion with the court at any time to request a review and modification of the amended service plan. The bill specifies that the amended service plan remains in effect until superseded by a later-amended service plan that goes into effect as provided by law, or until modified by the court.

 

C.S.S.B. 218 requires the court, after reviewing the original or any amended service plan and making any changes or modifications it deems necessary, to incorporate the original and any amended service plan into the orders of the court. The bill specifies that the court's authorization  to render appropriate orders to implement or require compliance with an original or amended service plan applies to additional appropriate orders.

 

C.S.S.B. 218 requires DFPS to collect and report service and outcome information for certain current and former foster care youth for use in the National Youth in Transition Database as required by federal law. The bill removes provisions requiring DFPS to conduct an annual random survey of a sample of children from each region of Texas who are at least 14 years of age and who receive substitute care services that includes certain questions to enable DFPS to identify potential program enhancements.

 

C.S.S.B. 218 amends the Government Code to expand the list of persons for whom DFPS is entitled to obtain from the Department of Public Safety (DPS) criminal history record information maintained by DPS to include a person who is an employee of or volunteer at, or an applicant for employment with or to be a volunteer at, an entity that provides supervised independent living services to a young adult receiving extended foster care services from DFPS or a person 14 years of age or older who will be regularly or frequently working or staying in a host home that is providing supervised independent living services to a young adult receiving extended foster care services from DFPS. The bill updates references to the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services.

 

C.S.S.B. 218 amends the Human Resources Code to require DFPS, to improve the quality and consistency of training provided to child protective services caseworkers, to require DFPS caseworkers to receive training relating to the benefits of using a protective order to protect a child as an alternative to removing the child from the child's home.

 

C.S.S.B. 218 amends the Transportation Code to exempt a person from the payment of any fee for the issuance of a driver's license if that person is younger than 18 years of age and in the managing conservatorship of DFPS or at least 18 years of age, but younger than 21 years of age, and resides in a foster care placement, the cost of which is paid by DFPS.

 

C.S.S.B. 218 requires DFPS to implement a redesign of the foster care system in accordance with the recommendations contained in the department's December 2010 Foster Care Redesign report submitted to the legislature. The bill requires the redesign of the foster care system to be implemented with the understanding that the individual needs of a child are paramount and that not all indicators are appropriate for every child.  The bill requires the redesign of the system to include as goals for the redesign a system that ensures certain specified outcomes relating to children in the system.

 

C.S.S.B. 218 authorizes the Health and Human Services Commission to use payment rates for foster care under the redesigned system that are different from those used on the bill's effective date for 24-hour residential child care.  The bill authorizes payment rates for foster care under the redesigned system to include incentive payments for superior performance, as well as funding for additional services provided to families historically included in 24-hour residential child-care rates. The bill requires final implementation of the foster care redesign to include a payment system based on performance targets.  The bill prohibits payment rates under foster care redesign from resulting in total expenditures for any fiscal year during the 2012-2013 fiscal biennium that exceed the amounts appropriated by the 82nd Legislature for foster care and other purchased services, except to the extent that any increase in total foster care expenditures is the direct result of caseload growth.

 

EFFECTIVE DATE

 

September 1, 2011.      

 

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

 

C.S.S.B. 218 differs from the original to make contingent on a by the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) determination that a forensic interview is appropriate based on the child's age and development the requirement that DFPS ensure that each child alleged to have been abused undergoes a forensic interview as one of the actions required to be taken before DFPS can make a determination that removing a child from the child's home is not necessary for the protection of the child if DFPS discovers during an investigation that a child younger than 11 years of age has a sexually transmitted disease, whereas the original includes no such contingency.

 

C.S.S.B. 218 contains a provision not included in the original requiring the original service plan filed by DFPS or another agency appointed as the managing conservator of a child to be developed jointly by the child's parents and a representative of DFPS or other authorized agency, including informing the parents of their rights in connection with the service plan process.  The substitute contains a provision not included in the original specifying that if a parent is not able or willing to participate in the development of the service plan, it should be so noted in the plan.

 

C.S.S.B. 218 contains a provision not included in the original authorizing DFPS to file the plan without the parents' signatures if DFPS or another authorized agency determines that the child's parents are unable or unwilling to participate in the development of the original service plan. The substitute contains provisions not included in the original making the original service plan effective when the court issues an order giving effect to the plan without the parents' signatures, rather than when DFPS or another authorized agency files the plan without the parents' signatures. The substitute contains a provision not included in the original specifying that the original service plan is in effect until amended by the court or as provided under the bill's provisions.

 

C.S.S.B. 218 contains a provision not included in the original requiring DFPS to work with the parents to jointly develop any amendment to the service plan, including informing the parents of their rights in connection with the amended service plan process. The substitute contains a provision not included in the original authorizing a parent to file a motion with the court at any time to request a review and modification of the amended service plan. The substitute contains a provision not included in the original specifying that the amended service plan remains in effect until superseded by a later-amended service plan that goes into effect as provided by law, or until modified by the court.

 

C.S.S.B. 218 contains a provision not included in the original requiring a court, after reviewing the original or any amended service plan and making any changes or modifications it deems necessary, to incorporate the original and any amended service plan into the orders of the court. The substitute contains a provision not included in the original specifying that the court's authorization to render appropriate orders to implement or require compliance with an original or amended service plan applies to additional appropriate orders.