83R26587 JSL-D
 
  By: Raymond H.B. No. 3399
 
  Substitute the following for H.B. No. 3399:
 
  By:  Naishtat C.S.H.B. No. 3399
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the stability of placements for children in the
  conservatorship of the Department of Family and Protective
  Services.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  The heading to Chapter 263, Family Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
  CHAPTER 263. REVIEW OF PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN UNDER CARE OF
  DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY AND PROTECTIVE [AND REGULATORY] SERVICES
         SECTION 2.  Chapter 263, Family Code, is amended by adding
  Subchapter D-1 to read as follows:
  SUBCHAPTER D-1. PLACEMENT STABILITY
         Sec. 263.351.  NOTICE OF PLACEMENT CHANGE.  A substitute
  care provider with whom the department contracts to provide
  substitute care services for a child shall notify the department if
  the child has a placement change. The notice must:
               (1)  be sent at the earliest time the provider is
  otherwise required to provide notice of a change of the child's
  placement;
               (2)  state the reason for the placement change; and
               (3)  include the provider's recommendation regarding a
  future placement for the child that would increase the child's
  opportunity to attain stability.
         Sec. 263.352.  PLACEMENT TRACKING SYSTEM. (a) The
  department shall identify each child for whom the department has
  been appointed temporary or permanent managing conservator who has
  had two or more placements during the preceding 12 months. For each
  child identified under this subsection, the department shall
  collect the following information:
               (1)  the number of placement changes for the child;
               (2)  whether a placement change occurred for any of the
  following reasons:
                     (A)  the child ran away;
                     (B)  the caregiver or child-placing agency
  responsible for placing the child requested the change;
                     (C)  the child was hospitalized for medical or
  mental health reasons; or
                     (D)  the child refused to remain in the placement;
  and
               (3)  if a placement change occurred due to a reason
  listed under Subdivision (2):
                     (A)  the child's name;
                     (B)  the child's age;
                     (C)  the address of the child's current placement;
                     (D)  the court in which the suit affecting the
  parent-child relationship involving the child is pending;
                     (E)  the county and department region in which the
  court is located;
                     (F)  the reason for each placement change;
                     (G)  the child-placing agency responsible for
  placing the child; and
                     (H)  the level of care the child was determined to
  require.
         (b)  At least once each month, the department shall prepare a
  report from the information collected under Subsection (a) and
  provide the report to the commissioner of the department and the
  assistant commissioner for child protective services.
         (c)  The department shall include the aggregated data
  compiled under Subsection (b) in the department's annual data
  report.
         SECTION 3.  Section 263.502(c), Family Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (c)  The placement review report must identify the
  department's permanency goal for the child and must:
               (1)  evaluate whether the child's current placement is
  appropriate for meeting the child's needs;
               (2)  evaluate whether efforts have been made to ensure
  placement of the child in the least restrictive environment
  consistent with the best interest and special needs of the child if
  the child is placed in institutional care;
               (3)  contain a transition plan for a child who is at
  least 16 years of age that identifies the services and specific
  tasks that are needed to assist the child in making the transition
  from substitute care to adult living and describes the services
  that are being provided through the Transitional Living Services
  Program operated by the department;
               (4)  evaluate whether the child's current educational
  placement is appropriate for meeting the child's academic needs;
               (5)  identify other plans or services that are needed
  to meet the child's special needs or circumstances;
               (6)  describe the efforts of the department or
  authorized agency to place the child for adoption if parental
  rights to the child have been terminated and the child is eligible
  for adoption, including efforts to provide adoption promotion and
  support services as defined by 42 U.S.C. Section 629a and other
  efforts consistent with the federal Adoption and Safe Families Act
  of 1997 (Pub. L. No. 105-89);
               (7)  for a child for whom the department has been named
  managing conservator in a final order that does not include
  termination of parental rights, describe the efforts of the
  department to find a permanent placement for the child, including
  efforts to:
                     (A)  work with the caregiver with whom the child
  is placed to determine whether that caregiver is willing to become a
  permanent placement for the child;
                     (B)  locate a relative or other suitable
  individual to serve as permanent managing conservator of the child;
  and
                     (C)  evaluate any change in a parent's
  circumstances to determine whether:
                           (i)  the child can be returned to the parent;
  or
                           (ii)  parental rights should be terminated;
  [and]
               (8)  with respect to a child committed to the Texas
  Juvenile Justice Department [Youth Commission] or released under
  supervision by the Texas Juvenile Justice Department [Youth
  Commission]:
                     (A)  evaluate whether the child's needs for
  treatment and education are being met;
                     (B)  describe, using information provided by the
  Texas Juvenile Justice Department [Youth Commission], the child's
  progress in any rehabilitation program administered by the Texas
  Juvenile Justice Department [Youth Commission]; and
                     (C)  recommend other plans or services to meet the
  child's needs; and
               (9)  identify the department's concerns, if any,
  related to the stability of the child's placement and barriers to
  sustaining the child's placement, including any reason for which a
  substitute care provider has requested a placement change.
         SECTION 4.  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, 2013.