| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the requirements for certain court orders in a suit |
|
|
affecting the parent-child relationship filed by the Department of |
|
|
Family and Protective Services. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Section 263.002, Family Code, is amended by |
|
|
adding Subsection (c-1) to read as follows: |
|
|
(c-1) The court shall include in a separate section of its |
|
|
order written findings describing with specificity the factual |
|
|
basis for the court's determination under Subsection (c). Citing |
|
|
the record of the proceedings or incorporating the record by |
|
|
reference is insufficient to meet the requirements of this |
|
|
subsection. This section of the court's order may not be admitted |
|
|
into evidence in a final trial in a suit affecting the parent-child |
|
|
relationship. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Section 263.306, Family Code, is amended by |
|
|
amending Subsection (a-1) and adding Subsection (a-2) to read as |
|
|
follows: |
|
|
(a-1) At each permanency hearing before a final order is |
|
|
rendered, the court shall: |
|
|
(1) identify all persons and parties present at the |
|
|
hearing; |
|
|
(2) review the efforts of the department or other |
|
|
agency in: |
|
|
(A) locating and requesting service of citation |
|
|
on all persons entitled to service of citation under Section |
|
|
102.009; and |
|
|
(B) obtaining the assistance of a parent in |
|
|
providing information necessary to locate an absent parent, alleged |
|
|
father, relative of the child, or other adult identified by the |
|
|
child as a potential relative or designated caregiver; |
|
|
(3) ask all parties present whether the child or the |
|
|
child's family has a Native American heritage and identify any |
|
|
Native American tribe with which the child may be associated; |
|
|
(4) review the extent of the parties' compliance with |
|
|
temporary orders and the service plan and the extent to which |
|
|
progress has been made toward alleviating or mitigating the causes |
|
|
necessitating the placement of the child in foster care; |
|
|
(5) review the permanency progress report to |
|
|
determine: |
|
|
(A) the safety and well-being of the child and |
|
|
whether the child's needs, including any medical or special needs, |
|
|
are being adequately addressed; |
|
|
(B) the continuing necessity and appropriateness |
|
|
of the placement of the child, including with respect to a child who |
|
|
has been placed outside of this state, whether the placement |
|
|
continues to be in the best interest of the child; |
|
|
(C) the appropriateness of the primary and |
|
|
alternative permanency goals for the child developed in accordance |
|
|
with department rule and whether the department has made reasonable |
|
|
efforts to finalize the permanency plan, including the concurrent |
|
|
permanency goals, in effect for the child; |
|
|
(D) whether the child has been provided the |
|
|
opportunity, in a developmentally appropriate manner, to express |
|
|
the child's opinion on any medical care provided; |
|
|
(E) whether the child has been provided the |
|
|
opportunity, in a developmentally appropriate manner, to identify |
|
|
any adults, particularly an adult residing in the child's |
|
|
community, who could be a relative or designated caregiver for the |
|
|
child; |
|
|
(F) for a child receiving psychotropic |
|
|
medication, whether the child: |
|
|
(i) has been provided appropriate |
|
|
nonpharmacological interventions, therapies, or strategies to meet |
|
|
the child's needs; or |
|
|
(ii) has been seen by the prescribing |
|
|
physician, physician assistant, or advanced practice nurse at least |
|
|
once every 90 days; |
|
|
(G) whether an education decision-maker for the |
|
|
child has been identified, the child's education needs and goals |
|
|
have been identified and addressed, and there have been major |
|
|
changes in the child's school performance or there have been |
|
|
serious disciplinary events; |
|
|
(H) for a child 14 years of age or older, whether |
|
|
services that are needed to assist the child in transitioning from |
|
|
substitute care to independent living are available in the child's |
|
|
community; |
|
|
(I) for a child whose permanency goal is another |
|
|
planned permanent living arrangement: |
|
|
(i) the desired permanency outcome for the |
|
|
child, by asking the child; |
|
|
(ii) whether, as of the date of the hearing, |
|
|
another planned permanent living arrangement is the best permanency |
|
|
plan for the child and, if so, provide compelling reasons why it |
|
|
continues to not be in the best interest of the child to: |
|
|
(a) return home; |
|
|
(b) be placed for adoption; |
|
|
(c) be placed with a legal guardian; |
|
|
or |
|
|
(d) be placed with a fit and willing |
|
|
relative; |
|
|
(iii) whether the department has conducted |
|
|
an independent living skills assessment under Section |
|
|
264.121(a-3); |
|
|
(iv) whether the department has addressed |
|
|
the goals identified in the child's permanency plan, including the |
|
|
child's housing plan, and the results of the independent living |
|
|
skills assessment; |
|
|
(v) if the youth is 16 years of age or |
|
|
older, whether there is evidence that the department has provided |
|
|
the youth with the documents and information listed in Section |
|
|
264.121(e); and |
|
|
(vi) if the youth is 18 years of age or |
|
|
older or has had the disabilities of minority removed, whether |
|
|
there is evidence that the department has provided the youth with |
|
|
the documents and information listed in Section 264.121(e-1); |
|
|
(J) based on the court's determination under |
|
|
Section 263.002, whether continued placement is appropriate if the |
|
|
child is placed in a residential treatment center; and |
|
|
(K) based on the court's determination under |
|
|
Section 263.00201, whether continued placement is appropriate if |
|
|
the child is placed in a qualified residential treatment program; |
|
|
(6) determine whether to return the child to the |
|
|
child's parents in accordance with Section 263.002(c) [if the |
|
|
child's parents are willing and able to provide the child with a |
|
|
safe environment and the return of the child is in the child's best |
|
|
interest]; |
|
|
(7) estimate a likely date by which the child may be |
|
|
returned to and safely maintained in the child's home, placed for |
|
|
adoption, or placed in permanent managing conservatorship; and |
|
|
(8) announce in open court the dismissal date and the |
|
|
date of any upcoming hearings. |
|
|
(a-2) If the court determines under Subsection (a-1)(6) not |
|
|
to return the child to the child's parents in accordance with |
|
|
Section 263.002(c), the court shall include in a separate section |
|
|
of its order written findings describing with specificity the |
|
|
factual basis for the court's determination. Citing the record of |
|
|
the proceedings or incorporating the record by reference is |
|
|
insufficient to meet the requirements of this subsection. |
|
|
SECTION 3. Section 263.002(d), Family Code, is repealed. |
|
|
SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act applies to a |
|
|
suit affecting the parent-child relationship that is pending in a |
|
|
trial court on the effective date of this Act or that is filed on or |
|
|
after the effective date of this Act. |
|
|
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |