By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 1889

(In the Senate - Filed March 13, 2015; March 25, 2015, read first time and referred to Committee on Health and Human Services; April 23, 2015, reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; April 23, 2015, sent to printer.) Click here to see the committee vote

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1889 By: Zaffirini

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the definition of neglect of a child, the exclusion of certain information from the Department of Family and Protective Services central registry of child abuse or neglect cases, and the report of certain information regarding those cases to the legislature.

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

SECTION 1. Section 261.001(4), Family Code, is amended to read as follows:

(4) "Neglect" includes:

(A) the leaving of a child in a situation where the child would be exposed to a substantial risk of physical or mental harm, without arranging for necessary care for the child, and the demonstration of an intent not to return by a parent, guardian, or managing or possessory conservator of the child;

(B) the following acts or omissions by a person:

(i) placing a child in or failing to remove a child from a situation that a reasonable person would realize requires judgment or actions beyond the child's level of maturity, physical condition, or mental abilities and that results in bodily injury or a substantial risk of immediate harm to the child;

(ii) failing to seek, obtain, or follow through with medical care for a child, with the failure resulting in or presenting a substantial risk of death, disfigurement, or bodily injury or with the failure resulting in an observable and material impairment to the growth, development, or functioning of the child;

(iii) the failure to provide a child with food, clothing, or shelter necessary to sustain the life or health of the child, excluding failure caused primarily by financial inability unless relief services had been offered and refused;

(iv) placing a child in or failing to remove the child from a situation in which the child would be exposed to a substantial risk of sexual conduct harmful to the child; or

(v) placing a child in or failing to remove the child from a situation in which the child would be exposed to acts or omissions that constitute abuse under Subdivision (1)(E), (F), (G), (H), or (K) committed against another child; or

(C) with respect to [the failure by] the person responsible for a child's care, custody, or welfare, permitting [to permit] the child to remain in or return to the child's home without the person arranging for the necessary care for the child, unless the person's failure to arrange for the necessary care for the child is solely a result of the person's inability to obtain mental health services necessary to protect the safety and well-being of the child after exhausting all reasonable means available to the person to obtain those services [after the child has been absent from the home for any reason, including having been in residential placement or having run away].

SECTION 2. Section 261.002(b), Family Code, as amended by S.B. No. 219, Acts of the 84th Legislature, Regular Session, 2015, is amended to read as follows:

(b) The executive commissioner shall [may] adopt rules necessary to carry out this section. The rules shall:

(1) prohibit the department from making a finding of abuse or neglect against a person in a case in which the department is named managing conservator of a child who has a severe emotional disturbance only because the child's family is unable to obtain mental health services for the child; and

(2) establish guidelines for reviewing the records in the registry and removing those records in which the department was named managing conservator of a child who has a severe emotional disturbance only because the child's family was unable to obtain mental health services for the child [provide for cooperation with local child service agencies, including hospitals, clinics, and schools, and cooperation with other states in exchanging reports to effect a national registration system].

SECTION 3. Section 262.352, Family Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 262.352. JOINT MANAGING CONSERVATORSHIP OF CHILD. (a) Before the department files a suit affecting the parent-child relationship requesting managing conservatorship [a person relinquishes custody] of a child who suffers from a severe emotional disturbance in order to obtain mental health services for the child, the department must, unless [if] it is not in the best interest of the child, discuss with the child's parent or legal guardian [person relinquishing custody of the child] the option of seeking a court order for joint managing conservatorship of the child with the department.

(b) Not later than November 1 of each even-numbered year, the department shall report the following information to the legislature:

(1) with respect to children described by Subsection (a):

(A) the number of children for whom the department has been appointed managing conservator;

(B) the number of children for whom the department has been appointed joint managing conservator; and

(C) the number of children who were diverted to community or residential mental health services through another agency; and

(2) the number of persons whose names were entered into the central registry of cases of child abuse and neglect only because the department was named managing conservator of a child who has a severe emotional disturbance because the child's family was unable to obtain mental health services for the child.

(c) Subsection (b) and this subsection expire September 1, 2019.

SECTION 4. Section 262.353, Family Code, is repealed.

SECTION 5. The Department of Family and Protective Services shall implement the changes in law made by this Act using funds appropriated to the department for the state fiscal biennium ending August 31, 2017.

SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.

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