BILL ANALYSIS

Senate Research Center	S.B. 351
88R4786 MLH-D	By: Perry
	Health & Human Services
	3/10/2023
	As Filed

AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

In Texas, on average between January 1, 2022, and November 30, 2022, on a given night, the average number of Children Without Placement (CWOP) was around 60, often for various reasons. On June 20, 2022, there were 81 children without a placement. The average CWOP episode lasted 15 nights. There were a total of 612 children who faced at least one night without a placement during this time period. We can help lower this number by ensuring that children are placed in licensed placements when those are available.

Additionally, federal Title IV-E funds are available to pay the costs of licensed placements but the state cannot draw down funds for any day that a child is in CWOP. When a judge issues a court order requiring the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) to house that child in a hotel or apartment, this is an unlicensed placement which costs significantly more and prevents DFPS from receiving federal funds to cover that placement expense. DFPS must follow the court order and has no flexibility in placing that child into another setting.

In January of this year, in federal court, the judge threatened to hold DFPS in contempt at the upcoming June 2023 hearing if there were any children in CWOP. So, if local courts continue to order children into unlicensed placements, they risk forcing the state into contempt, with fines that have been as much as $50,000 per day in the past.

S.B. 351 encourages judges' orders to have greater flexibility. The bill would require the county to cover the additional costs associated with an unlicensed placement if that placement is mandated by court order. These costs include housing and the cost for DFPS to monitor the child. The bill does not eliminate unlicensed placements, but it does require the county to cover those costs when DFPS is required by court order to place that child into the unlicensed setting.

As proposed, S.B. 351 amends current law relating to responsibility for certain expenses incurred to temporarily house a child in the conservatorship of the Department of Family and Protective Services in a hotel.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency.

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1. Amends Subchapter A, Chapter 262, Family Code, by adding Section 262.017, as follows:

Sec. 262.017. COUNTY RESPONSIBLE FOR CERTAIN HOUSING EXPENSES. (a) Defines "hotel."

(b) Requires the county in which a court is located, if the court orders the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) to provide temporary emergency care for a child under Section 264.107(g) (relating to authorizing certain DFPS employees or contractors to provide temporary emergency care for a child) in a hotel or other unlicensed setting, to pay the expenses to house the child in that location, including the cost for room and board and the cost for DFPS staff necessary to monitor the child.

SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 2023.

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