81R280 KLA-D
By: Raymond H.B. No. 324
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to monetary assistance for substitute care provided to a
child by a relative caregiver.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 264.755, Family Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (d) to read as
follows:
(a) The department shall[, subject to the availability of
funds,] enter into a caregiver assistance agreement with each
relative or other designated caregiver to provide monetary
assistance and additional support services to the caregiver.
Subject to Subsection (d), the [The] monetary assistance and
support services shall be based on a family's need, as determined by
rules adopted by the executive commissioner, and be subject to the
availability of funds.
(d) A caregiver assistance agreement entered into under
this section between the department and a relative caregiver who
will provide substitute care for a child for whom the department has
been appointed managing conservator must require the department to
pay monetary assistance to the relative caregiver during the time
the child is in substitute care. The monetary assistance must be
paid at a daily rate that is equal to at least 60 percent of the
daily 24-hour residential child-care facility rate that the
department would pay for the child if the substitute care were
provided in a foster home, foster group home, agency foster home, or
agency foster group home licensed or certified under Chapter 42,
Human Resources Code.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies to a
caregiver assistance agreement entered into on or after the
effective date of this Act. A caregiver assistance agreement
entered into before the effective date of this Act is governed by
the law in effect on the date the agreement was entered into, and
the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.