By: Lopez H.B. No. 566
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to requiring trauma training for certain attorneys.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 107.004, Family Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (b-1) and adding Subsections (b-2), (b-3), and
  (b-4) to read as follows:
         (b-1)  An attorney who is on the list maintained by the court
  as being qualified for appointment as an attorney ad litem for a
  child in a child protection case must:
               (1)  complete at least three hours of continuing legal
  education relating to the representation of a child in a proceeding
  under Subtitle E each year before the anniversary date of the
  attorney's listing; and
               (2)  provide proof that the attorney has completed a
  training program regarding trauma-informed care and the effect of
  trauma on children in the conservatorship of the Department of
  Family and Protective Services.
         (b-2)  The training described by Subsection (b-1)(2) may
  satisfy the training requirement under Subsection (b-1)(1) in a
  year in which an attorney completes the training.
         (b-3)  An attorney described by Subsection (b-1) shall
  complete the training required by Subsection (b-1)(2) as soon as
  practicable after the attorney is placed on the list described by
  Subsection (b-1).
         (b-4)  The training required by Subsection (b-1)(2) must be
  designed to educate an attorney regarding the attorney's duty under
  Subsection (d-3) and include information regarding:
               (1)  the symptoms of trauma and the impact that trauma
  has on a child, including how trauma may affect a child's
  development, emotions, memories, behavior, and decision-making;
               (2)  attachment and how a lack of attachment may affect
  a child;
               (3)  the role that trauma-informed care and services
  can have in a child's ability to build connections, feel safe, and
  regulate the child's emotions to help the child build resiliency
  and overcome the effects of trauma and adverse childhood
  experiences;
               (4)  the importance of screening children for trauma
  and the risk of mislabeling and inappropriate treatment of children
  without proper screening, including the risk associated with
  increasing the use of psychotropic medication;
               (5)  the potential for re-traumatization of children in
  the conservatorship of the Department of Family and Protective
  Services; and
               (6)  the availability of:
                     (A)  research-supported, trauma-informed,
  non-pharmacological interventions; and
                     (B)  trauma-informed advocacy to increase a
  child's access, while the child is in the conservatorship of the
  Department of Family and Protective Services, to:
                           (i)  trauma-informed care; and
                           (ii)  trauma-informed mental and behavioral
  health services.
         SECTION 2.  An attorney who is on the list maintained by a
  court as being qualified for appointment as an attorney ad litem for
  a child in a child protection case on the effective date of this Act
  shall complete the training required by Section 107.004(b-1)(2),
  Family Code, as added by this Act, not later than September 1, 2022.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021