81R16258 UM-D
By: Raymond H.B. No. 324
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 324:
By: Rose C.S.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 Subsections (d) and (e) 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 temporary managing conservator must require the
department to pay monetary assistance to the relative caregiver
during the time the child is in the temporary managing
conservatorship of the department if:
(1) the relative caregiver has a family income that is
less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level; and
(2) the child for whom the relative caregiver will
provide substitute care has:
(A) one or more siblings who will also be cared
for by the relative caregiver; or
(B) a physical or mental disability or an
emotionally disabling condition.
(e) The monetary assistance paid under Subsection (d) must
be paid at a daily rate that is equal to at least 100 percent of the
daily basic foster parent rate that the department would pay from
state funds if the child was placed in substitute care provided in a
foster home by a foster parent licensed 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.