S.B. No. 2080
AN ACT
relating to treating and reducing child abuse and neglect and
improving child welfare, including providing assistance for
adoptive parents and foster care providers.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. In this Act, "task force" means the task force
established under this Act to establish a strategy for reducing
child abuse and neglect and improving child welfare.
SECTION 2. (a) The task force consists of nine members
appointed as follows:
(1) five members appointed by the governor;
(2) two members appointed by the lieutenant governor;
and
(3) two members appointed by the speaker of the house
of representatives.
(b) Members of the task force must be individuals who are
actively involved in the fields of the prevention of child abuse and
neglect and child welfare. The appointment of members must reflect
the geographic diversity of the state.
(c) A member of the task force is not entitled to
compensation for service on the task force but is entitled to
reimbursement for travel expenses as provided by Chapter 660,
Government Code, and the General Appropriations Act.
(d) The task force shall elect a presiding officer by a
majority vote of the membership of the task force.
(e) The task force shall meet at the call of the presiding
officer.
(f) Chapter 2110, Government Code, does not apply to the
task force.
SECTION 3. (a) The task force shall establish a strategy
for reducing child abuse and neglect and for improving child
welfare in this state. In establishing that strategy, the task
force shall:
(1) gather information concerning child safety, child
abuse and neglect, and child welfare throughout the state;
(2) review the exemptions from criminal liability
provided under the Penal Code to a mother who injures her unborn
child by using a controlled substance, as defined by Chapter 481,
Health and Safety Code, other than a controlled substance legally
obtained by prescription, during her pregnancy and examine the
effect that repealing the exemptions will have on reducing the
number of babies who are born addicted to a controlled substance;
(3) receive reports and testimony from individuals,
state and local agencies, community-based organizations, and other
public and private organizations;
(4) create goals for state policy that would improve
child safety, prevent child abuse and neglect, and improve child
welfare; and
(5) submit a strategic plan to accomplish those goals.
(b) The strategic plan submitted under Subsection (a) of
this section may include proposals for specific statutory changes,
the creation of new programs, and methods to foster cooperation
among state agencies and between the state and local government.
SECTION 4. (a) The task force shall consult with employees
of the Department of Family and Protective Services, the Department
of State Health Services, and the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice as necessary to accomplish the task force's
responsibilities under this Act.
(b) The task force may cooperate as necessary with any other
appropriate state agency.
SECTION 5. (a) The governor, lieutenant governor, and
speaker of the house of representatives shall appoint the members
of the task force not later than October 1, 2009.
(b) Not later than August 1, 2011, the task force shall
submit the strategic plan required by Section 3 of this Act to the
governor, lieutenant governor, and speaker of the house of
representatives.
(c) The task force is abolished and this Act expires on
September 1, 2011.
SECTION 6. (a) Section 162.3041, Family Code, is amended
by adding Subsection (a-1) and amending Subsection (d) to read as
follows:
(a-1) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), if the department
first entered into an adoption assistance agreement with a child's
adoptive parents after the child's 16th birthday, the department
shall, in accordance with rules adopted by the executive
commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission, offer
adoption assistance after the child's 18th birthday to the child's
adoptive parents under an existing adoption agreement until the
last day of the month of the child's 21st birthday, provided the
child is:
(1) regularly attending high school or enrolled in a
program leading toward a high school diploma or high school
equivalency certificate;
(2) regularly attending an institution of higher
education or a postsecondary vocational or technical program;
(3) participating in a program or activity that
promotes, or removes barriers to, employment;
(4) employed for at least 80 hours a month; or
(5) incapable of doing any of the activities described
by Subdivisions (1)-(4) due to a documented medical condition.
(d) If the legislature does not appropriate sufficient
money to provide adoption assistance to the adoptive parents of all
children described by Subsection (a), the department shall provide
adoption assistance only to the adoptive parents of children
described by Subsection (a)(1). The department is not required to
provide adoption assistance benefits under Subsection (a-1) unless
the department is specifically appropriated funds for purposes of
that subsection.
(b) Section 264.101, Family Code, is amended by amending
Subsections (a-1) and (d) and adding Subsection (a-2) to read as
follows:
(a-1) The department shall continue to pay the cost of
foster care for a child for whom the department provides care,
including medical care, until the last day of the month in which
[later of:
[(1) the date] the child attains the age of 18. The
department shall continue to pay the cost of foster care for a child
after the month in which the child attains the age of 18 as long as
the child is:
(1) regularly attending[; or
[(2) the date the child graduates from] high school or
[ceases to be] enrolled in a [secondary school in a] program leading
toward a high school diploma or high school equivalency
certificate;
(2) regularly attending an institution of higher
education or a postsecondary vocational or technical program;
(3) participating in a program or activity that
promotes, or removes barriers to, employment;
(4) employed for at least 80 hours a month; or
(5) incapable of performing the activities described
by Subdivisions (1)-(4) due to a documented medical condition.
(a-2) The department shall continue to pay the cost of
foster care under:
(1) Subsection (a-1)(1) until the last day of the
month in which the child attains the age of 22; and
(2) Subsections (a-1)(2)-(5) until the last day of the
month the child attains the age of 21.
(d) The executive commissioner of the Health and Human
Services Commission may adopt rules that establish criteria and
guidelines for the payment of foster care, including medical care,
for a child and for providing care for a child after the child
becomes 18 years of age if the child meets the requirements for
continued foster care under Subsection (a-1) [is regularly
attending an institution of higher education or a vocational or
technical program].
(c) Subdivisions (1) and (3), Section 264.751, Family Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(1) "Designated caregiver" means an individual 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 by the department or verified by a
licensed child-placing agency or the department [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).
(3) "Relative caregiver" means a relative who:
(A) provides substitute care for a child for whom
the department has been appointed managing conservator, but who is
not licensed by the department or verified by a licensed
child-placing agency or the department [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).
(d) Subchapter I, Chapter 264, Family Code, is amended by
adding Section 264.760 to read as follows:
Sec. 264.760. ELIGIBILITY FOR FOSTER CARE PAYMENTS AND
PERMANENCY CARE ASSISTANCE. Notwithstanding any other provision of
this subchapter, a relative or other designated caregiver who
becomes licensed by the department or verified by a licensed
child-placing agency or the department to operate a foster home,
foster group home, agency foster home, or agency foster group home
under Chapter 42, Human Resources Code, may receive foster care
payments in lieu of the benefits provided by this subchapter,
beginning with the first month in which the relative or other
designated caregiver becomes licensed or is verified.
(e) Chapter 264, Family Code, is amended by adding
Subchapter K to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER K. PERMANENCY CARE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
Sec. 264.851. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Foster child" means a child who is or was in the
temporary or permanent managing conservatorship of the department.
(2) "Kinship provider" means a relative of a foster
child, or another adult with a longstanding and significant
relationship with a foster child before the child was placed with
the person by the department, with whom the child resides for at
least six consecutive months after the person becomes licensed by
the department or verified by a licensed child-placing agency or
the department to provide foster care.
(3) "Permanency care assistance agreement" means a
written agreement between the department and a kinship provider for
the payment of permanency care assistance benefits as provided by
this subchapter.
(4) "Permanency care assistance benefits" means
monthly payments paid by the department to a kinship provider under
a permanency care assistance agreement.
(5) "Relative" means a person related to a foster
child by consanguinity or affinity.
Sec. 264.852. PERMANENCY CARE ASSISTANCE AGREEMENTS.
(a) The department shall enter into a permanency care assistance
agreement with a kinship provider who is eligible to receive
permanency care assistance benefits.
(b) The department may enter into a permanency care
assistance agreement with a kinship provider who is the prospective
managing conservator of a foster child only if the kinship provider
meets the eligibility criteria under federal and state law and
department rule.
(c) A court may not order the department to enter into a
permanency care assistance agreement with a kinship provider unless
the kinship provider meets the eligibility criteria under federal
and state law and department rule, including requirements relating
to the criminal history background check of a kinship provider.
(d) A permanency care assistance agreement may provide for
reimbursement of the nonrecurring expenses a kinship provider
incurs in obtaining permanent managing conservatorship of a foster
child, including attorney's fees and court costs. The
reimbursement of the nonrecurring expenses under this subsection
may not exceed $2,000.
Sec. 264.853. RULES. The executive commissioner shall
adopt rules necessary to implement the permanency care assistance
program. The rules must:
(1) establish eligibility requirements to receive
permanency care assistance benefits under the program; and
(2) ensure that the program conforms to the
requirements for federal assistance as required by the Fostering
Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (Pub.
L. No. 110-351).
Sec. 264.854. MAXIMUM PAYMENT AMOUNT. The executive
commissioner shall set the maximum monthly amount of assistance
payments under a permanency care assistance agreement in an amount
that does not exceed the amount of the monthly foster care
maintenance payment the department would pay to a foster care
provider caring for the child for whom the kinship provider is
caring.
Sec. 264.855. CONTINUED ELIGIBILITY FOR PERMANENCY CARE
ASSISTANCE BENEFITS AFTER AGE 18. If the department first entered
into a permanency care assistance agreement with a foster child's
kinship provider after the child's 16th birthday, the department
may continue to provide permanency care assistance payments until
the last day of the month of the child's 21st birthday, provided the
child is:
(1) regularly attending high school or enrolled in a
program leading toward a high school diploma or high school
equivalency certificate;
(2) regularly attending an institution of higher
education or a postsecondary vocational or technical program;
(3) participating in a program or activity that
promotes, or removes barriers to, employment;
(4) employed for at least 80 hours a month; or
(5) incapable of any of the activities described by
Subdivisions (1)-(4) due to a documented medical condition.
Sec. 264.856. APPROPRIATION REQUIRED. The department is
not required to provide permanency care assistance benefits under
this subchapter unless the department is specifically appropriated
money for purposes of this subchapter.
Sec. 264.857. DEADLINE FOR NEW AGREEMENTS. The department
may not enter into a permanency care assistance agreement after
August 31, 2017. The department shall continue to make payments
after that date under a permanency care assistance agreement
entered into on or before August 31, 2017, according to the terms of
the agreement.
(f) Not later than April 1, 2010, the executive commissioner
of the Health and Human Services Commission shall adopt rules to
implement and administer the permanency care assistance program
under Subchapter K, Chapter 264, Family Code, as added by this
section.
(g) Sections 162.3041 and 264.101, Family Code, as amended
by this section, and Section 264.855, Family Code, as added by this
section, take effect October 1, 2010.
SECTION 7. (a) Chapter 1001, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subchapter F to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER F. TEXAS MEDICAL CHILD ABUSE RESOURCES AND EDUCATION
SYSTEM (MEDCARES)
Sec. 1001.151. TEXAS MEDICAL CHILD ABUSE RESOURCES AND
EDUCATION SYSTEM GRANT PROGRAM. (a) The department shall establish
the Texas Medical Child Abuse Resources and Education System
(MEDCARES) grant program to award grants for the purpose of developing
and supporting regional programs to improve the assessment,
diagnosis, and treatment of child abuse and neglect as described by
the report submitted to the 80th Legislature by the committee on
pediatric centers of excellence relating to abuse and neglect in
accordance with Section 266.0031, Family Code, as added by Chapter
1406 (S.B. 758), Acts of the 80th Legislature, Regular Session, 2007.
(b) The department may award grants to hospitals or academic
health centers with expertise in pediatric health care and a
demonstrated commitment to developing basic and advanced programs
and centers of excellence for the assessment, diagnosis, and
treatment of child abuse and neglect.
(c) The department shall encourage collaboration among grant
recipients in the development of program services and activities.
Sec. 1001.152. USE OF GRANT. A grant awarded under this
subchapter may be used to support:
(1) comprehensive medical evaluations, psychosocial
assessments, treatment services, and written and photographic
documentation of abuse;
(2) education and training for health professionals,
including physicians, medical students, resident physicians, child
abuse fellows, and nurses, relating to the assessment, diagnosis,
and treatment of child abuse and neglect;
(3) education and training for community agencies
involved with child abuse and neglect, law enforcement officials,
child protective services staff, and children's advocacy centers
involved with child abuse and neglect;
(4) medical case reviews and consultations and
testimony regarding those reviews and consultations;
(5) research, data collection, and quality assurance
activities, including the development of evidence-based guidelines
and protocols for the prevention, evaluation, and treatment of
child abuse and neglect;
(6) the use of telemedicine and other means to extend
services from regional programs into underserved areas; and
(7) other necessary activities, services, supplies,
facilities, and equipment as determined by the department.
Sec. 1001.153. MEDCARES ADVISORY COMMITTEE. The executive
commissioner shall establish an advisory committee to advise the
department and the executive commissioner in establishing rules and
priorities for the use of grant funds awarded through the program.
The advisory committee is composed of the following nine members:
(1) the state Medicaid director or the state Medicaid
director's designee;
(2) the medical director for the Department of Family
and Protective Services or the medical director's designee; and
(3) as appointed by the executive commissioner:
(A) two pediatricians with expertise in child
abuse or neglect;
(B) a nurse with expertise in child abuse or
neglect;
(C) a representative of a pediatric residency
training program;
(D) a representative of a children's hospital;
(E) a representative of a children's advocacy
center; and
(F) a member of the Governor's EMS and Trauma
Advisory Council.
Sec. 1001.154. GIFTS AND GRANTS. The department may
solicit and accept gifts, grants, and donations from any public or
private source for the purposes of this subchapter.
Sec. 1001.155. REQUIRED REPORT. Not later than December 1
of each even-numbered year, the department, with the assistance of
the advisory committee established under this subchapter, shall
submit a report to the governor and the legislature regarding the
grant activities of the program and grant recipients, including the
results and outcomes of grants provided under this subchapter.
Sec. 1001.156. RULES. The executive commissioner may adopt
rules as necessary to implement this subchapter.
Sec. 1001.157. APPROPRIATION REQUIRED. The department is
not required to award a grant under this subchapter unless the
department is specifically appropriated money for purposes of this
subchapter.
(b) Not later than November 1, 2009, the executive
commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission shall
appoint the members of the advisory committee as required by
Section 1001.153, Health and Safety Code, as added by this section.
(c) Not later than January 1, 2010, the Department of State
Health Services shall establish and implement a grant program as
described by Subchapter F, Chapter 1001, Health and Safety Code, as
added by this section.
(d) Not later than December 1, 2010, the Department of State
Health Services shall provide the initial report to the governor
and the legislature as required by Section 1001.155, Health and
Safety Code, as added by this section.
(e) If before implementing any provision of this section a
state agency determines that a waiver or authorization from a
federal agency is necessary for implementation of that provision,
the agency affected by the provision shall request the waiver or
authorization and may delay implementing that provision until the
waiver or authorization is granted.
(f) This section does not make an appropriation. This
section takes effect only if a specific appropriation for the
implementation of the section is provided in a general
appropriations act of the 81st Legislature.
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 2080 passed the Senate on
May 8, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0; and that the
Senate concurred in House amendments on June 1, 2009, by the
following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 2080 passed the House, with
amendments, on May 27, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 148,
Nays 0, one present not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor