|
|
|
|
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 |