BILL ANALYSIS |
C.S.H.B. 2619 |
By: Naishtat |
Human Services |
Committee Report (Substituted) |
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Certain court orders are not currently required to identify the person who is authorized to make decisions about the education of a child in foster care. Interested parties assert that the absence of this specific designation creates confusion for caseworkers, foster parents, and educators and that such a designation would help to clarify roles and responsibilities. In addition, while it is important for attorneys and guardians ad litem to be knowledgeable about the child's educational needs and goals, including special education, the child's ability to meet grade-level expectations, and school behavioral interventions, current law does not include such assessments in the duties of a guardian or attorney ad litem or require a court to determine whether the child's education needs are being addressed. Furthermore, interested parties contend that certain changes to the law are necessary to allow a foster child to attend important appointments, such as mental health appointments and court-ordered family visits, without being penalized by the child's school and to ensure the development of plans for the educational stability of foster care children, including when transferring schools. C.S.H.B. 2619 seeks to address these issues to ensure that the educational needs of children in the conservatorship of the state are met.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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.H.B. 2619 amends the Family Code to require a guardian ad litem or an attorney ad litem appointed to represent a child in the managing conservatorship of the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS), before each scheduled hearing relating to the review of a placement of a child under DFPS care, to determine whether the child's educational needs and goals have been identified and addressed.
C.S.H.B. 2619 authorizes a court, if a child in the temporary or permanent conservatorship of DFPS is eligible to participate in a school district's special education program and when necessary to ensure that the child's educational rights are protected, to appoint a surrogate parent who is willing to serve in that capacity and meets certain state and federal requirements. The bill requires the court to give preferential consideration to a foster parent of the child in appointing such a surrogate and requires the court, if the court does not appoint a child's foster parent to serve as the child's surrogate parent, to give consideration to a relative or other designated caregiver or a court-appointed volunteer advocate who has been appointed to serve as the child's guardian ad litem. The bill prohibits the appointment of DFPS, the Texas Education Agency (TEA), a school or school district, or any other agency that is involved in the education or care of the child as the child's surrogate parent.
C.S.H.B. 2619 requires DFPS, unless the right of DFPS to designate the primary residence of the child and to make decisions regarding the child's education has been limited by court order, to file with the court a report identifying the name and contact information for each person who has been designated by DFPS to make educational decisions on behalf of the child and who has been assigned to serve as the child's surrogate parent in accordance with state and federal requirements for purposes of decision-making regarding special education services, if applicable. The bill requires the report, not later than the fifth day after the date an adversary hearing in a suit by a governmental entity to protect the health and safety of a child is concluded, to be filed with the court and requires a copy to be provided to each person entitled to notice of a permanency hearing in a review of a placement of a child under DFPS care and to the school the child attends. The bill requires DFPS, if a person other than a person identified in the report is designated to make educational decisions or assigned to serve as a surrogate parent, to file with the court an updated report that includes the required information for the designated or assigned person not later than the fifth day after the date of designation or assignment.
C.S.H.B. 2619 includes identifying an education decision-maker for a child in DFPS care if one has not previously been identified among the actions required to be performed by a court at a permanency hearing and requires the court to determine whether the child's education needs and goals have been identified and addressed in reviewing the service plan, permanency report, and other information submitted at the hearing. The bill includes among the determinations the court is required to make at a placement review hearing for such a child whether an education decision-maker for the child has been identified and whether the child's education needs and goals have been identified and addressed.
C.S.H.B. 2619 requires DFPS to develop, in accordance with federal law, a plan to ensure the educational stability of a foster child. The bill includes any person authorized by law to make educational decisions for a foster child among the persons to whom DFPS is required to make an education passport for a foster child available.
C.S.H.B. 2619 amends the Education Code to remove provisions entitling a student enrolled in high school in grade 9, 10, 11, or 12 who is placed in temporary foster care by DFPS at a residence outside the attendance area for the school or outside the school district to complete high school at the school in which the student was enrolled at the time of the placement without payment of tuition and instead entitles a student enrolled in a primary or secondary public school who is placed in the conservatorship of DFPS and at a residence outside the attendance area for the school or outside the school district to continue to attend the school in which the student was enrolled immediately before entering conservatorship and until the student successfully completes the school's highest grade level at the time of placement without payment of tuition.
C.S.H.B. 2619, in a statutory provision requiring TEA to assist the transition of substitute care students from one school to another, changes the deadline by which the school records for a student in substitute care are required to be transferred to the student's new school from not later than the 14th day to not later than the 10th working day after the date the student begins enrollment at the school. The bill expands TEA's duties in assisting that transition to include requiring school districts to provide notice to the child's education decision-maker and caseworker regarding events that may significantly impact the child's education, including requests or referrals for an evaluation under the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 or the special education program; admission, review, and dismissal committee meetings; manifestation determination reviews regarding the placement of students with disabilities; any disciplinary actions for which parental notice is required; citations issued for Class C misdemeanor offenses on school property or at school-sponsored activities; required reports of restraint and seclusion; and the use of corporal punishment. The bill requires a school district to excuse a student who is a child in DFPS conservatorship from attending school for attending a mental health or therapy appointment or a specified court-ordered family visitation. The bill makes its provisions amending the Education Code applicable beginning with the 2013-2014 school year.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2013. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.H.B. 2619 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and highlighted in a manner that indicates the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|