83S10532 YDB-D

By: Flynn H.B. No. 85

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to suits affecting the parent-child relationship and placement decisions for children in foster care.

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

SECTION 1. Section 102.003, Family Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:

(a) An original suit may be filed at any time by:

(1) a parent of the child;

(2) the child through a representative authorized by the court;

(3) a custodian or person having the right of visitation with or access to the child appointed by an order of a court of another state or country;

(4) a guardian of the person or of the estate of the child;

(5) a governmental entity;

(6) an authorized agency;

(7) a licensed child placing agency;

(8) a man alleging himself to be the father of a child filing in accordance with Chapter 160, subject to the limitations of that chapter, but not otherwise;

(9) a person, other than a foster parent, who has had actual care, control, and possession of the child for at least six months ending not more than 90 days preceding the date of the filing of the petition;

(10) a person designated as the managing conservator in a revoked or unrevoked affidavit of relinquishment under Chapter 161 or to whom consent to adoption has been given in writing under Chapter 162;

(11) a person with whom the child and the child's guardian, managing conservator, or parent have resided for at least six months ending not more than 90 days preceding the date of the filing of the petition if the child's guardian, managing conservator, or parent is deceased at the time of the filing of the petition;

(12) a person who is the foster parent of a child placed by the Department of Family and Protective Services in the person's home and with whom the child has resided for at least six [12] months, or for at least three months if the child was placed with the foster parent when the child was under two months of age, ending not more than 90 days preceding the date of the filing of the petition;

(13) a person who is a relative of the child within the third degree by consanguinity, as determined by Chapter 573, Government Code, if the child's parents are deceased at the time of the filing of the petition; or

(14) a person who has been named as a prospective adoptive parent of a child by a pregnant woman or the parent of the child, in a verified written statement to confer standing executed under Section 102.0035, regardless of whether the child has been born.

(d) Subsection (a)(12) does not apply to a person who is the foster parent of a child for whom the Department of Family and Protective Services' goal is reunification with the child's parent and the department determines, in accordance with department rules, that the child's parent is making satisfactory progress on a plan to return the child to the parent's home before the first anniversary of the date the child was placed with the foster parent.

SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 264, Family Code, is amended by adding Section 264.1076 to read as follows:

Sec. 264.1076. CONSIDERATIONS IN MODIFYING PLACEMENT DECISION. In determining whether to modify a foster care placement decision, the department shall consider:

(1) the length of time the child has resided with the foster parent;

(2) the degree to which the child has formed an attachment to the foster parent; and

(3) the potential harm to the child caused by separation from the foster parent or by the disruption of a stable placement.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect October 1, 2013.