81R7893 NC-F
By: Dutton H.B. No. 3466
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the exchange of information among certain governmental
entities concerning at-risk youth.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 51.01, Family Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 51.01. PURPOSE AND INTERPRETATION. This title shall
be construed to effectuate the following public purposes:
(1) to provide for the protection of the public and
public safety;
(2) consistent with the protection of the public and
public safety:
(A) to promote the concept of punishment for
criminal acts;
(B) to remove, where appropriate, the taint of
criminality from children committing certain unlawful acts; and
(C) to provide treatment, training, and
rehabilitation that emphasizes the accountability and
responsibility of both the parent and the child for the child's
conduct;
(3) to provide for the care, the protection, and the
wholesome moral, mental, and physical development of children
coming within its provisions;
(4) to protect the welfare of the community and to
control the commission of unlawful acts by children;
(5) to identify at-risk behaviors and prevent the
commission of unlawful acts by children through interagency
information sharing to the full extent allowed by federal law;
(6) to achieve the foregoing purposes in a family
environment whenever possible, separating the child from the
child's parents only when necessary for the child's welfare or in
the interest of public safety and when a child is removed from the
child's family, to give the child the care that should be provided
by parents; and
(7) [(6)] to provide a simple judicial procedure
through which the provisions of this title are executed and
enforced and in which the parties are assured a fair hearing and
their constitutional and other legal rights recognized and
enforced.
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 58, Family Code, is
amended by adding Section 58.0052 to read as follows:
Sec. 58.0052. EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION CONCERNING AT-RISK
YOUTH. (a) In this section:
(1) "Agency" means any of the following entities or a
person with an agency relationship with any of the following
entities:
(A) the Texas Youth Commission;
(B) the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission;
(C) the Department of Family and Protective
Services;
(D) the Texas Education Agency;
(E) a juvenile probation department;
(F) a school district or open-enrollment charter
school;
(G) a local mental health or mental retardation
authority;
(H) a county health department;
(I) a county department that provides services to
at-risk youth or their families;
(J) a child advocacy center established under
Section 264.402, Family Code; or
(K) a hospital district.
(2) "At-risk youth" means a person who is under 18
years of age and:
(A) has been taken into custody under Section
52.01;
(B) has been referred to a juvenile court for
allegedly engaging in delinquent conduct or conduct indicating a
need for supervision;
(C) is likely to engage in deliquent conduct
based on one or more prior referrals to a court for having engaged
in delinquent conduct or conduct indicating a need for supervision;
(D) has three or more absences from school in a
six-month period that have not been excused by a school official;
(E) has been removed three or more times from a
classroom by a teacher under Section 37.002, Education Code, during
a six-month period; or
(F) is at risk of removal from the child's home
into institutional care.
(b) At the request of an agency for specific information
relating to an at-risk youth, an agency shall disclose the at-risk
youth's personally identifiable information that is otherwise
confidential, including information contained in educational
records.
(c) The requesting agency must certify in writing that the
agency will not disclose confidential information received under
this section to a third party, other than another agency.
(d) An agency may use information provided to the agency
under this section only to identify an at-risk youth and to assist
the agency in providing prevention and intervention services to the
at-risk youth.
(e) An agency may establish an internal protocol for sharing
information with other agencies as necessary to efficiently and
promptly disclose and accept the information and to maintain the
confidential status of the information. The protocol may specify
the types of information that may be shared under this section
without violating federal law, including any federal funding
requirements. An agency may enter into a memorandum of
understanding with another agency to share information according to
the agencies' protocols.
(f) This section does not affect the confidential status of
the information being shared. The information may be released as
directed by a court order or as otherwise authorized by law.
Personal information is not subject to disclosure under Chapter
552, Government Code.
SECTION 3. Section 58.0051, Family Code, is repealed.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2009.