87R6365 MM-F
 
  By: Kolkhorst S.B. No. 1575
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to assessment and oversight of children placed by the
  Department of Family and Protective Services in a residential
  treatment center.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 263, Family Code, is
  amended by adding Section 263.00201 to read as follows:
         Sec. 263.00201.  REVIEW OF PLACEMENT IN RESIDENTIAL
  TREATMENT CENTER. (a)  Not later than the 60th day after the date
  the department places a child in a residential treatment center, a
  court shall:
               (1)  consider the assessment, determination, and
  documentation made by a qualified individual under Section
  264.1077(b) regarding the child's placement;
               (2)  determine whether the child's needs can be met
  through placement in a cottage family home or an agency foster home
  and, if not, whether:
                     (A)  placing the child in a residential treatment
  center provides the most effective and appropriate level of care
  for the child in the least restrictive environment; and 
                     (B)  placement in a residential treatment
  facility is consistent with the short-term and long-term goals for
  the child, as specified in the child's permanency plan; and
               (3)  approve or disapprove the placement.
         (b)  The written documentation prepared by a qualified
  individual under Sections 264.1077(e) and (f) and any documentation
  regarding the determination and approval or disapproval of the
  placement in a residential treatment center by the court under
  Subsection (a) shall be included in and made part of the child's
  permanency plan.
         (c)  As long as a child remains in a residential treatment
  center, the department shall submit evidence at each status review
  and each permanency hearing held with respect to the child:
               (1)  demonstrating that:
                     (A)  ongoing assessment of the strengths and needs
  of the child continues to support the determination that the needs
  of the child cannot be met through placement in a cottage family
  home or an agency foster home;
                     (B)  placement in a residential treatment center
  provides the most effective and appropriate level of care for the
  child in the least restrictive environment; and
                     (C)  the placement is consistent with the
  short-term and long-term goals for the child, as specified in the
  child's permanency plan;
               (2)  documenting the specific treatment or service
  needs that will be met for the child in the placement and the length
  of time the child is expected to need the treatment or services; and
               (3)  documenting the efforts made by the department to
  prepare the child to return home or to be placed in a cottage family
  home or an agency foster home or with a fit and willing relative,
  legal guardian, or adoptive parent.
         (d)  For a child who is at least 13 years of age and is placed
  in a residential treatment center for more than 12 consecutive
  months or 18 nonconsecutive months and for a child who is younger
  than 13 years of age and is placed in a residential treatment center
  for more than 6 consecutive or nonconsecutive months, the
  department shall submit to the Administration for Children and
  Families of the United States Department of Health and Human
  Services:
               (1)  the most recent version of the evidence and
  documentation described by Subsection (c); and
               (2)  the signed approval of the commissioner for the
  continued placement of the child in that setting.
         SECTION 2.  Subchapter B, Chapter 264, Family Code, is
  amended by adding Section 264.1077 to read as follows:
         Sec. 264.1077.  RESIDENTIAL CARE PLACEMENT: ASSESSMENT. (a)
  In this section, "qualified individual" means a licensed health
  care or mental health professional who is not an employee of the
  department and who is not connected to, or affiliated with, any
  facility in which a child may be placed by the department.
         (b)  Not later than the 30th day after the date the
  department places a child in a residential treatment center, a
  qualified individual, in collaboration with the child's family and
  permanency team, shall:
               (1)  assess the strengths and needs of the child using
  an age-appropriate, evidence-based, validated, and functional
  assessment tool approved by the Administration for Children and
  Families of the United States Department of Health and Human
  Services;
               (2)  determine whether the needs of the child can be met
  by the child's family members or through placement in a cottage
  family home or an agency foster home;
               (3)  if the child's needs cannot be met under
  Subdivision (2), determine whether one of the following settings
  would provide the most effective and appropriate level of care for
  the child in the least restrictive environment and be consistent
  with the short-term and long-term goals for the child, as specified
  in the permanency plan for the child:
                     (A)  a qualified residential treatment program as
  defined in the federal Family First Prevention Services Act (Title
  VII, Div. E, Pub. L. No. 115-123);
                     (B)  a setting specializing in providing
  prenatal, postpartum, or parenting support for foster youth;
                     (C)  for a child who is at least 18 years of age, a
  supervised setting in which the child lives independently; or
                     (D)  a setting providing high-quality residential
  care and supportive services to children and youth who have been
  found to be, or are at risk of becoming, sex trafficking victims;
  and
               (4)  develop a list of specific short-term and
  long-term mental and behavioral health goals for the child.
         (c)  The department shall assemble a family and permanency
  team for the child that consists of appropriate biological family
  members, other relatives of the child, individuals who have a
  long-standing and significant relationship with a child or the
  child's family, and, as appropriate, professionals who are a
  resource to the child's family, including teachers, medical or
  mental health providers who have treated the child, and clergy. A
  child who is 14 years of age or older may recommend individuals to
  serve on the child's family and permanency team.
         (d)  The department shall document in the child's permanency
  plan:
               (1)  the reasonable and good faith effort of the
  department to identify and include on the child's family and
  permanency team the individuals described in Subsection (c);
               (2)  the contact information for members of the child's
  family and permanency team, as well as contact information for
  other family members and individuals who have a long-standing and
  significant relationship with a child or the child's family who are
  not part of the family and permanency team;
               (3)  evidence that meetings of the child's family and
  permanency team, including meetings relating to the assessment
  required under Subsection (b), are held at a time and place
  convenient for the child's family;
               (4)  if reunification is the goal for the child,
  evidence demonstrating that the parent from whom the child was
  removed provided input regarding the members of the child's family
  and permanency team;
               (5)  evidence that the results of the assessment
  required under Subsection (b) are determined in collaboration with
  the child's family and permanency team;
               (6)  the child's family and permanency team's placement
  preferences relative to the assessment that recognizes that
  children should be placed with their siblings unless a court finds
  that such a placement is contrary to the child's best interest; and
               (7)  if the placement preferences of the child's family
  and permanency team and the child are not the placement setting
  recommended by the qualified individual conducting the assessment
  under Subsection (b), the reason that the preferences of the team
  and of the child were not recommended.
         (e)  If the qualified individual conducting the assessment
  under Subsection (b) determines the child should not be placed in a
  cottage family home or an agency foster home, the qualified
  individual shall specify in writing the reasons that the needs of
  the child cannot be met by the child's family or in a cottage family
  home or an agency foster home. The qualified individual may not cite
  a shortage or lack of cottage family homes or an agency foster homes
  as an acceptable reason for determining that the needs of the child
  cannot be met in a cottage family home or an agency foster home. 
         (f)  If the qualified individual conducting the assessment
  under Subsection (b) determines the child should be placed in a
  residential treatment center, the qualified individual shall
  specify in writing the reasons that the recommended placement in a
  residential treatment center is the setting that will provide the
  child with the most effective and appropriate level of care in the
  least restrictive environment and how that placement is consistent
  with the short-term and long-term goals for the child, as specified
  in the child's permanency plan.
         (g)  The department may submit a request to the
  Administration for Children and Families of the United States
  Department of Health and Human Services to allow the department to
  appoint department employees or persons connected to, or affiliated
  with, a facility as qualified individuals to perform the
  assessments described by Subsection (b). The request must certify
  that the department will require the person appointed to perform an
  assessment to maintain objectivity with respect to determining the
  most effective and appropriate placement for a child.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.