81R2985 UM-F
By: Zerwas H.B. No. 4568
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to investigations of child abuse and neglect, including
the placement of children removed from their homes as a result of an
investigation.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 262.112(a) and (b), Family Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) The Department of Family and Protective [and
Regulatory] Services and the parent, conservator, or legal guardian
of a child are [is] entitled to an expedited hearing under this
chapter in any proceeding in which a hearing is required if the
department determines that a child should be removed from the
child's home because of an immediate danger to the physical health
or safety of the child.
(b) In any proceeding in which an expedited hearing is held
under Subsection (a), the department, parent, conservator,
guardian, or other party to the proceeding is entitled to an
expedited appeal on a ruling by a court that the child may or may not
be removed from the child's home.
SECTION 2. Section 262.114, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 262.114. EVALUATION OF IDENTIFIED RELATIVES AND OTHER
DESIGNATED INDIVIDUALS; PLACEMENT. (a) If a governmental entity
determines, after completing an investigation, that a child should
be removed from the child's home and placed in the custody of the
Department of Family and Protective Services, the department shall,
on receiving the child placement resources form as provided under
Section 261.307, [Before a full adversary hearing under Subchapter
C, the Department of Family and Protective Services must]
immediately perform a background and criminal history check of:
(1) the relatives or other designated individuals
identified as a potential relative or designated caregiver, as
defined by Section 264.751; and
(2) each person over 18 years of age who resides in the
designated person's household [, on the proposed child placement
resources form provided under Section 261.307].
(a-1) The department shall evaluate each person listed on
the form by the standards outlined in Section 262.115 to determine
the relative or other designated individual who would be the most
appropriate substitute caregiver for the child [and must complete a
home study of the most appropriate substitute caregiver, if any,
before the full adversary hearing].
(a-2) The right of the parent, conservator, or legal
guardian of the child to designate the person with whom the child is
placed continues until the date the suit affecting the parent-child
relationship is dismissed. The parent, conservator, or legal
guardian may change the person designated on the child placement
resources form as a relative or designated caregiver. The
department shall place the child with the person subsequently
designated as a relative or designated caregiver, if the child is
removed from the care of a person who was previously designated.
(a-3) If the parent, conservator, or legal guardian fails to
designate [Until the department identifies] a relative or other
designated individual qualified to be a substitute caregiver, the
department must continue to explore substitute caregiver options.
The time frames in this subsection do not apply to a relative or
other designated individual located more than 100 miles from the
child's primary residence [in another state].
(b) [The department may place a child with a relative or
other designated individual identified on the proposed child
placement resources form if the department determines that the
placement is in the best interest of the child.] The department may
place the child with the relative or designated individual before
conducting the background and criminal history check [or home
study] required under Subsection (a). The department shall provide
a copy of an informational manual required under Section 261.3071
to the relative or other designated caregiver at the time of the
child's placement.
(c) The department shall provide the mother of a child who
is breast-feeding with scheduled visitation periods at appropriate
intervals to allow the mother to continue breast-feeding the child,
unless the court finds after a hearing that the mother is not fit
for these visitation periods.
(d) At each hearing conducted in a suit affecting the
parent-child relationship filed under this chapter, the court shall
inform the child's parent, conservator, or legal guardian orally
and in writing of that person's right to designate a relative or
designated caregiver with whom the child is placed.
SECTION 3. Subchapter B, Chapter 262, Family Code, is
amended by adding Section 262.115 to read as follows:
Sec. 262.115. LIMITATION ON PLACEMENT WITH DESIGNATED
PERSON. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (c), the department
may not place a child with a person designated by the child's
parent, conservator, or legal guardian under Section 262.114 if the
department determines that:
(1) the placement would expose the child to immediate
danger to the child's physical health or safety; or
(2) the designated person or another person in the
designated person's household:
(A) is listed in the department's statewide
central registry system with a finding that the department
confirmed, had reason to believe, or could not determine that the
person abused or neglected a child;
(B) is the subject of a report of child abuse or
neglect being investigated by the department;
(C) has been found to have committed family
violence and is or has been the subject of a protective order
rendered under Title 4;
(D) has been convicted of a felony, is under
indictment for or charged with an offense punishable as a felony, or
is under investigation by a state or federal law enforcement agency
for an offense punishable as a felony; or
(E) has previously voluntarily relinquished
parental rights as the result of an allegation of child abuse or
neglect.
(b) A law enforcement agency in this state, on request by
the department, shall assist in conducting a criminal background
check on a designated person or any other person in the designated
person's household.
(c) The department may place a child with a person described
by Subsection (a) if the department determines that placement of
the child with the designated person will not endanger the child.
(d) If the department determines that the designated person
under Section 262.114 is not an appropriate placement for the
child, the department shall immediately provide the parent,
conservator, or legal guardian with written notice stating the
specific facts leading to the department's objections to the
placement. The parent, conservator, or legal guardian may
challenge the department's placement decision by filing a motion
for a hearing before the court. The court shall render an order
regarding placement of the child after hearing testimony from the
parties. The court may approve the placement of the child with the
designated person and order any modification the court determines
necessary to address the department's written objections.
SECTION 4. Section 264.751(1), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(1) "Designated caregiver" means an individual
qualified under Section 262.114 [who has a longstanding and
significant relationship with a child for whom the department has
been appointed managing conservator and] who:
(A) is appointed to provide substitute care for
the child, but is not licensed or certified to operate a foster
home, foster group home, agency foster home, or agency foster group
home under Chapter 42, Human Resources Code; or
(B) is subsequently appointed permanent managing
conservator of the child after providing the care described by
Paragraph (A).
SECTION 5. Section 264.753, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 264.753. EXPEDITED PLACEMENT. Because there is a
rebuttable presumption that placing a child in the care of a person
designated by the child's parent, conservator, or legal guardian is
in the child's best interest, the [The] department or other
authorized entity shall expedite the completion of the background
and criminal history check according to Section 262.114[, the home
study,] and any other administrative procedure to ensure that the
child is placed with a qualified relative or caregiver as soon as
possible after the date the caregiver is identified.
SECTION 6. Section 264.754, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 264.754. INVESTIGATION OF [PROPOSED] PLACEMENT OF
CHILD WITH DESIGNATED CAREGIVER. After [Before] placing a child
with a proposed relative or other designated caregiver under the
standards of Sections 262.114 and 262.115, the department may
[must] conduct a comprehensive [an] investigation, including a home
study, to determine whether the designated [proposed] placement
meets the minimum standards for the health and safety of the child.
There is a rebuttable presumption that a placement with a
designated caregiver is in the child's best interest.
SECTION 7. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
an investigation of a report of child abuse or neglect that is made,
or a suit affecting the parent-child relationship that is
commenced, on or after the effective date of this Act. A report
that is made or a suit that is commenced before the effective date
of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the report
was made or the suit was commenced, and the former law is continued
in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.