Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HB2443 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	81R3784 MCK-F
2	2	By: Rose H.B. No. 2443
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to benefits and services for children in the
8	8	conservatorship of the Department of Family and Protective
9	9	Services.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Section 54.211, Education Code, is amended to
12	12	read as follows:
13	13	Sec. 54.211. EXEMPTIONS FOR STUDENTS IN FOSTER OR OTHER
14	14	RESIDENTIAL CARE. (a) A student is exempt from the payment of
15	15	tuition and fees authorized in this chapter if the student:
16	16	(1) was in [foster care or other residential care
17	17	under] the conservatorship of the Department of Family and
18	18	Protective Services [on or after]:
19	19	(A) on the day preceding the student's 18th
20	20	birthday;
21	21	(B) on or after the day of the student's 14th
22	22	birthday, if the student was also eligible for adoption on or after
23	23	that day; [or]
24	24	(C) on the day the student graduated from high
25	25	school or received the equivalent of a high school diploma; or
26	26	(D) on the day preceding:
27	27	(i) the date the student is adopted; or
28	28	(ii) the date permanent managing
29	29	conservatorship of the student is awarded to a person other than the
30	30	student's parent; and
31	31	(2) enrolls in an institution of higher education as
32	32	an undergraduate student not later than [:
33	33	[(A) the third anniversary of the date the
34	34	student was discharged from the foster or other residential care,
35	35	the date the student graduated from high school, or the date the
36	36	student received the equivalent of a high school diploma, whichever
37	37	date is earliest; or
38	38	[(B)] the student's 25th [21st] birthday.
39	39	(b) The Texas Education Agency and the Texas Higher
40	40	Education Coordinating Board shall develop outreach programs to
41	41	ensure that students in the conservatorship of the Department of
42	42	Family and Protective Services and [foster or other residential
43	43	care] in grades 9-12 are aware of the availability of the exemption
44	44	from the payment of tuition and fees provided by this section.
45	45	SECTION 2. Section 261.312(b), Family Code, is amended to
46	46	read as follows:
47	47	(b) A review team consists of at least five members who
48	48	serve staggered two-year terms. Review team members are appointed
49	49	by the director of the department and consist of volunteers who live
50	50	in and are broadly representative of the region in which the review
51	51	team is established and have expertise in the prevention and
52	52	treatment of child abuse and neglect. At least two members of a
53	53	review team [community representatives and private citizens who
54	54	live in the region for which the team is established. Each member]
55	55	must be parents [a parent] who have [has] not been convicted of or
56	56	indicted for an offense involving child abuse or neglect, have
57	57	[has] not been determined by the department to have engaged in child
58	58	abuse or neglect, and are [or is] not under investigation by the
59	59	department for child abuse or neglect. A member of a review team is
60	60	a department volunteer for the purposes of Section 411.114,
61	61	Government Code.
62	62	SECTION 3. Section 263.3025, Family Code, is amended by
63	63	adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
64	64	(d) In accordance with department rules, a child's
65	65	permanency plan must include concurrent permanency goals
66	66	consisting of a primary permanency goal and at least one alternate
67	67	permanency goal.
68	68	SECTION 4. Subchapter D, Chapter 263, Family Code, is
69	69	amended by adding Section 263.3026 to read as follows:
70	70	Sec. 263.3026. LIMITATION ON CERTAIN PERMANENCY GOALS. The
71	71	department's permanency plan for a child may not include as a goal
72	72	the continuation of the department as the child's permanent
73	73	managing conservator until the date the child reaches adulthood
74	74	unless that goal is in the best interest of the child.
75	75	SECTION 5. Section 263.303(b), Family Code, is amended to
76	76	read as follows:
77	77	(b) The permanency progress report must:
78	78	(1) recommend that the suit be dismissed; or
79	79	(2) recommend that the suit continue, and:
80	80	(A) identify the date for dismissal of the suit
81	81	under this chapter;
82	82	(B) provide:
83	83	(i) the name of any person entitled to
84	84	notice under Chapter 102 who has not been served;
85	85	(ii) a description of the efforts by the
86	86	department or another agency to locate and request service of
87	87	citation; and
88	88	(iii) a description of each parent's
89	89	assistance in providing information necessary to locate an unserved
90	90	party;
91	91	(C) evaluate the parties' compliance with
92	92	temporary orders and with the service plan;
93	93	(D) evaluate whether the child's placement in
94	94	substitute care meets the child's needs and recommend other plans
95	95	or services to meet the child's special needs or circumstances;
96	96	(E) describe the permanency plan for the child
97	97	and recommend actions necessary to ensure that a final order
98	98	consistent with that permanency plan, including the concurrent
99	99	permanency goals contained in that plan, is rendered before the
100	100	date for dismissal of the suit under this chapter; and
101	101	(F) with respect to a child 16 years of age or
102	102	older, identify the services needed to assist the child in the
103	103	transition to adult life.
104	104	SECTION 6. Section 263.306(b), Family Code, is amended to
105	105	read as follows:
106	106	(b) The court shall also review the service plan, permanency
107	107	report, and other information submitted at the hearing to:
108	108	(1) determine:
109	109	(A) the safety of the child;
110	110	(B) the continuing necessity and appropriateness
111	111	of the placement;
112	112	(C) the extent of compliance with the case plan;
113	113	[and]
114	114	(D) the extent of progress that has been made
115	115	toward alleviating or mitigating the causes necessitating the
116	116	placement of the child in foster care; and
117	117	(E) whether the department has made reasonable
118	118	efforts to finalize the permanency plan that is in effect for the
119	119	child, including the concurrent permanency goals for the child; and
120	120	(2) project a likely date by which the child may be
121	121	returned to and safely maintained in the child's home, placed for
122	122	adoption, or placed in permanent managing conservatorship.
123	123	SECTION 7. Section 263.502, Family Code, is amended by
124	124	amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (d) to read as
125	125	follows:
126	126	(c) The placement review report must identify the
127	127	department's permanency goal for the child and must:
128	128	(1) evaluate whether the child's current placement is
129	129	appropriate for meeting the child's needs;
130	130	(2) evaluate whether efforts have been made to ensure
131	131	placement of the child in the least restrictive environment
132	132	consistent with the best interest and special needs of the child if
133	133	the child is placed in institutional care;
134	134	(3) contain a transition [discharge] plan for a child
135	135	who is at least 16 years of age that identifies the services and
136	136	specific tasks that are needed to assist the child in making the
137	137	transition from substitute care to adult living and describes the
138	138	services that are being provided [available] through the
139	139	Transitional Living Services [Preparation for Adult Living]
140	140	Program operated by the department;
141	141	(4) evaluate whether the child's current educational
142	142	placement is appropriate for meeting the child's academic needs;
143	143	(5) identify other plans or services that are needed
144	144	to meet the child's special needs or circumstances; [and]
145	145	(6) describe the efforts of the department or
146	146	authorized agency to place the child for adoption if parental
147	147	rights to the child have been terminated and the child is eligible
148	148	for adoption, including efforts to provide adoption promotion and
149	149	support services as defined by 42 U.S.C. Section 629a and other
150	150	efforts consistent with the federal Adoption and Safe Families Act
151	151	of 1997 (Pub. L. No. 105-89); and
152	152	(7) describe the department's efforts to place the
153	153	child with a permanent managing conservator other than the
154	154	department if the child is not eligible for adoption.
155	155	(d) If the department's permanency goal for the child is to
156	156	continue the department as the child's permanent managing
157	157	conservator until the date the child reaches adulthood, the
158	158	placement review report must document that this goal is in the best
159	159	interest of the child.
160	160	SECTION 8. Section 263.503, Family Code, is amended to read
161	161	as follows:
162	162	Sec. 263.503. PLACEMENT REVIEW HEARINGS; PROCEDURE. At
163	163	each placement review hearing, the court shall determine whether:
164	164	(1) the child's current placement is necessary, safe,
165	165	and appropriate for meeting the child's needs, including with
166	166	respect to a child placed outside of the state, whether the
167	167	placement continues to be appropriate and in the best interest of
168	168	the child;
169	169	(2) efforts have been made to ensure placement of the
170	170	child in the least restrictive environment consistent with the best
171	171	interest and special needs of the child if the child is placed in
172	172	institutional care;
173	173	(3) the services that are needed to assist a child who
174	174	is at least 16 years of age in making the transition from substitute
175	175	care to independent living are available in the community;
176	176	(4) other plans or services are needed to meet the
177	177	child's special needs or circumstances;
178	178	(5) the department or authorized agency has exercised
179	179	due diligence in attempting to:
180	180	(A) place the child for adoption if parental
181	181	rights to the child have been terminated and the child is eligible
182	182	for adoption; or
183	183	(B) place the child with a permanent managing
184	184	conservator other than the department if the child is not eligible
185	185	for adoption; [and]
186	186	(6) it is in the child's best interest to continue the
187	187	department as permanent managing conservator until the date the
188	188	child reaches adulthood, if that is the department's permanency
189	189	plan for the child; and
190	190	(7) the department or authorized agency has made
191	191	reasonable efforts to finalize the permanency plan that is in
192	192	effect for the child.
193	193	SECTION 9. (a) The changes in law made by this Act to
194	194	Section 54.211, Education Code, apply beginning with tuition and
195	195	fees imposed by a public institution of higher education for the
196	196	2009 fall semester. Tuition and fees for a term or semester before
197	197	the 2009 fall semester are covered by the law in effect immediately
198	198	before the effective date of this Act, and the former law is
199	199	continued in effect for that purpose.
200	200	(b) The changes in law made by this Act to Section 54.211,
201	201	Education Code, apply only to a child who is in the conservatorship
202	202	of the Department of Family and Protective Services on or after the
203	203	effective date of this Act. A child who left the conservatorship of
204	204	the Department of Family and Protective Services before the
205	205	effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
206	206	date the child left the department's conservatorship, and the
207	207	former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
208	208	SECTION 10. This Act takes effect immediately if it
209	209	receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each
210	210	house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.
211	211	If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate
212	212	effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2009.