By: Wentworth, West S.B. No. 861
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;
(6) to achieve the foregoing purposes through
interagency information sharing to the full extent allowed by
federal law;
(7) 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
(8) [(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, a
person with an agency relationship with any of the following
entities, or a person who contracts 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) a juvenile probation department;
(E) a local mental health or mental retardation
authority;
(F) a municipal or county health department;
(G) a hospital district;
(H) a county department that provides services to
at-risk youth or their families; or
(I) a children's advocacy center established
under Section 264.402.
(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 delinquent 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) is in the custody of the Texas Youth
Commission or is under any form of juvenile probation or juvenile
court supervision;
(E) has received or is receiving services from a
mental health or mental retardation authority or from child
protective services under Subtitle E, Title 5;
(F) has six or more absences from school in a
six-month period that have not been excused by a school official; or
(G) has been removed six or more times from a
classroom by a teacher under Section 37.002, Education Code, during
a six-month period.
(b) An agency shall:
(1) at the request of another agency for specific
information, disclose to the other agency personally identifiable
information relating to an at-risk youth, including identity;
needs; treatment, social, criminal, and vocational history;
probation or supervision status and compliance with the conditions
of probation or supervision; and medical and mental health history,
if the disclosure serves the purpose provided under Subsection (d);
and
(2) accept information relating to an at-risk youth
that is sent to the agency for the purpose provided under Subsection
(d).
(c) An agency shall comply with Subsection (b) regardless of
whether other state law makes that information confidential.
(d) An agency shall use information provided to the agency
under this section only to identify at-risk youth, to assist the
agency in providing services, or for research purposes.
(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. 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. An agency shall comply with this section
regardless of whether the agency establishes an internal protocol
or enters into a memorandum of understanding under this subsection.
(f) This section does not affect the confidential status of
the information being shared. The information may be released to a
third party as directed by a court order or as otherwise authorized
by law. Personally identifiable information disclosed under this
section is not subject to disclosure to a third party under Chapter
552, Government Code. Information that is not personally
identifiable may be disclosed to a third party for research
purposes as provided by an agency's protocol.
SECTION 3. 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.