H.B. No. 1309
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to the notification of certain persons concerning certain
  events related to a child in foster care or in the managing
  conservatorship of the Department of Family and Protective
  Services.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 264, Family Code, is
  amended by adding Section 264.018 to read as follows:
         Sec. 264.018.  REQUIRED NOTIFICATIONS.  (a)  In this
  section:
               (1)  "Child-placing agency" has the meaning assigned by
  Section 42.002, Human Resources Code.
               (2)  "Psychotropic medication" has the meaning
  assigned by Section 266.001.
               (3)  "Residential child-care facility" has the meaning
  assigned by Section 42.002, Human Resources Code.
               (4)  "Significant change in medical condition" means
  the occurrence of an injury or the onset of an illness that is
  life-threatening or may have serious long-term health
  consequences. The term includes the occurrence or onset of an
  injury or illness that requires hospitalization for surgery or
  another procedure that is not minor emergency care.
               (5)  "Significant event" means:
                     (A)  a placement change, including failure by the
  department to locate an appropriate placement for at least one
  night;
                     (B)  a significant change in medical condition;
                     (C)  an initial prescription of a psychotropic
  medication or a change in dosage of a psychotropic medication;
                     (D)  a major change in school performance or a
  serious disciplinary event at school; or
                     (E)  any event determined to be significant under
  department rule.
         (b)  The notification requirements of this section are in
  addition to other notice requirements provided by law, including
  Sections 264.107(g) and 264.123.
         (c)  The department must provide notice under this section in
  a manner that would provide actual notice to a person entitled to
  the notice, including the use of electronic notice whenever
  possible.
         (d)  Not later than 24 hours after an event described by this
  subsection, the department shall make a reasonable effort to notify
  a parent of a child in the managing conservatorship of the
  department of:
               (1)  a significant change in medical condition of the
  child;
               (2)  the enrollment or participation of the child in a
  drug research program under Section 266.0041; and
               (3)  an initial prescription of a psychotropic
  medication.
         (e)  Not later than 48 hours before the department changes
  the residential child-care facility of a child in the managing
  conservatorship of the department, the department shall provide
  notice of the change to:
               (1)  the child's parent;
               (2)  an attorney ad litem appointed for the child under
  Chapter 107;
               (3)  a guardian ad litem appointed for the child under
  Chapter 107;
               (4)  a volunteer advocate appointed for the child under
  Chapter 107; and
               (5)  the licensed administrator of the child-placing
  agency responsible for placing the child or the licensed
  administrator
  's designee.
         (f)  As soon as possible but not later than the 10th day after
  the date the department becomes aware of a significant event
  affecting a child in the conservatorship of the department, the
  department shall provide notice of the significant event to:
               (1)  the child's parent;
               (2)  an attorney ad litem appointed for the child under
  Chapter 107;
               (3)  a guardian ad litem appointed for the child under
  Chapter 107;
               (4)  a volunteer advocate appointed for the child under
  Chapter 107;
               (5)  the licensed administrator of the child-placing
  agency responsible for placing the child or the licensed
  administrator's designee;
               (6)  a foster parent, prospective adoptive parent,
  relative of the child providing care to the child, or director of
  the group home or general residential operation where the child is
  residing; and
               (7)  any other person determined by a court to have an
  interest in the child's welfare.
         (g)  For purposes of Subsection (f), if a hearing for the
  child is conducted during the 10-day notice period described by
  that subsection, the department shall provide notice of the
  significant event at the hearing.
         (h)  The department is not required to provide notice under
  this section to a parent of a child in the managing conservatorship
  of the department if:
               (1)  the department cannot locate the parent;
               (2)  a court has restricted the parent's access to the
  information;
               (3)  the child is in the permanent managing
  conservatorship of the department and the parent has not
  participated in the child's case for at least six months despite the
  department's efforts to involve the parent;
               (4)  the parent's rights have been terminated; or
               (5)  the department has documented in the child's case
  file that it is not in the best interest of the child to involve the
  parent in case planning.
         (i)  The department is not required to provide notice of a
  significant event under this section to the child-placing agency
  responsible for the placement of a child in the managing
  conservatorship of the department, a foster parent, a prospective
  adoptive parent, a relative of the child providing care to the
  child, or the director of the group home or general residential
  operation where the child resides if that agency or individual is
  required under a contract or other agreement to provide notice of
  the significant event to the department.
         (j)  A person entitled to notice from the department under
  this section shall provide the department with current contact
  information, including the person's e-mail address and the
  telephone number at which the person may most easily be reached.
  The person shall update the person's contact information as soon as
  possible after a change to the information. The department is not
  required to provide notice under this section to a person who fails
  to provide contact information to the department. The department
  may rely on the most recently provided contact information in
  providing notice under this section.
         (k)  To facilitate timely notification under this section, a
  residential child-care facility contracting with the department
  for 24-hour care shall notify the department, in the time provided
  by the facility's contract, of a significant event for a child who
  is in the conservatorship of the department and residing in the
  facility.
         (l)  The executive commissioner of the Health and Human
  Services Commission shall adopt rules necessary to implement this
  section using a negotiated rulemaking process under Chapter 2008,
  Government Code.
         SECTION 2.  Subchapter A, Chapter 264, Family Code, is
  amended by adding Section 264.0121 to read as follows:
         Sec. 264.0121.  NOTICE TO LEGISLATORS OF FOSTER CHILD'S
  DEATH. Not later than the fifth day after the date the department
  is notified of the death of a child for whom the department has been
  appointed managing conservator, the department shall provide the
  information described by Section 261.203(a) for the child to the
  state senators and state representatives who represent:
               (1)  the county in which the child's placement at the
  time of the child's death was located; and
               (2)  the county in which a suit affecting the
  parent-child relationship involving the child is pending.
         SECTION 3.  Section 266.0041(d), Family Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (d)  An independent medical advocate shall, within a
  reasonable time after the appointment, interview:
               (1)  the foster child in a developmentally appropriate
  manner, if the child is four years of age or older;
               (2)  the foster child's parent, if the parent is
  entitled to notification under Section 264.018 [266.005];
               (3)  an advocate appointed by an institutional review
  board in accordance with the Code of Federal Regulations, 45 C.F.R.
  Section 46.409(b), if an advocate has been appointed;
               (4)  the medical team treating the foster child as well
  as the medical team conducting the drug research program; and
               (5)  each individual who has significant knowledge of
  the foster child's medical history and condition, including any
  foster parent of the child.
         SECTION 4.  Section 244.0106(c), Human Resources Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (c)  The rules adopted under this section must require:
               (1)  the Department of Family and Protective Services
  to:
                     (A)  provide the department with access to
  relevant health and education information regarding a child; and
                     (B)  require a child's caseworker to visit the
  child in person at least once each month while the child is
  committed to the department;
               (2)  the department to:
                     (A)  provide the Department of Family and
  Protective Services with relevant health and education information
  regarding a child;
                     (B)  permit communication, including in person,
  by telephone, and by mail, between a child committed to the
  department and:
                           (i)  the Department of Family and Protective
  Services; and
                           (ii)  the attorney ad litem, the guardian ad
  litem, and the volunteer advocate for the child; and
                     (C)  provide the Department of Family and
  Protective Services and any attorney ad litem or guardian ad litem
  for the child with timely notice of the following events relating to
  the child:
                           (i)  a meeting designed to develop or revise
  the individual case plan for the child;
                           (ii)  in accordance with any participation
  protocols to which the Department of Family and Protective Services
  and the department agree, a medical appointment at which a person
  authorized to consent to medical care must participate as required
  by Section 266.004(i), Family Code;
                           (iii)  an education meeting, including
  admission, review, or dismissal meetings for a child receiving
  special education;
                           (iv)  a grievance or disciplinary hearing
  for the child;
                           (v)  a report of abuse or neglect of the
  child; and
                           (vi)  a significant change in medical
  condition of the child, as defined by Section 264.018 [266.005],
  Family Code; and
               (3)  the Department of Family and Protective Services
  and the department to participate in transition planning for the
  child through release from detention, release under supervision,
  and discharge.
         SECTION 5.  Sections 264.117, 264.119, and 266.005, Family
  Code, are repealed.
         SECTION 6.  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, 2015.
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 1309 was passed by the House on April
  23, 2015, by the following vote:  Yeas 135, Nays 4, 2 present, not
  voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
  No. 1309 on May 26, 2015, by the following vote:  Yeas 145, Nays 1,
  2 present, not voting.
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 1309 was passed by the Senate, with
  amendments, on May 22, 2015, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays
  0.
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate   
  APPROVED: __________________
                  Date       
   
           __________________
                Governor