81R35310 NC-F
By: Wentworth, et al. S.B. No. 861
Substitute the following for S.B. No. 861:
By: Alonzo C.S.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. The heading to Section 58.0051, Family Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 58.0051. INTERAGENCY SHARING OF RECORDS IN CERTAIN
COUNTIES.
SECTION 3. Section 58.0051(a), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) Within each county with a population of less than
650,000, a district school superintendent and the juvenile
probation department may enter into a written interagency agreement
to share information about juvenile offenders. The agreement must
specify the conditions under which summary criminal history
information is to be made available to appropriate school personnel
and the conditions under which school records are to be made
available to appropriate juvenile justice agencies.
SECTION 4. Subchapter A, Chapter 58, Family Code, is
amended by adding Sections 58.0052 and 58.0053 to read as follows:
Sec. 58.0052. EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION CONCERNING AT-RISK
YOUTH IN CERTAIN COUNTIES. (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 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) 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 the Department of
Family and Protective Services;
(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) This section applies only to information relating to an
at-risk youth who is a resident of, or is receiving agency services
in, a county with a population of 650,000 or more.
(c) 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 (e);
and
(2) accept information relating to an at-risk youth
that is sent to the agency for the purpose provided under Subsection
(e).
(d) An agency shall comply with Subsection (c) regardless of
whether other state law makes that information confidential.
(e) 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.
(f) 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.
(g) 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.
Sec. 58.0053. EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION CONCERNING AT-RISK
YOUTH IN CERTAIN COUNTIES; EDUCATIONAL RECORDS. (a) In this
section:
(1) "Agency" has the meaning assigned by Section
58.0052(a).
(2) "At-risk youth" has the meaning assigned by
Section 58.0052(a).
(3) "Juvenile justice system agency" means an agency
that has custody or control over juvenile offenders or an entity
that supports the juvenile justice function by providing
preventive, medical, educational, or other services, including:
(A) the Texas Education Agency;
(B) an independent school district;
(C) a charter school;
(D) the Department of Family and Protective
Services;
(E) a local mental health or mental retardation
authority;
(F) a county department that provides services to
at-risk youth or their families; and
(G) a children's advocacy center established
under Section 264.402.
(b) This section applies only to information relating to an
at-risk youth who is a resident of, or is receiving juvenile justice
system agency services in, a county with a population of 650,000 or
more.
(c) At the request of a juvenile justice system agency, an
agency shall disclose to the juvenile justice system agency
personally identifiable information relating to an at-risk youth's
educational records, identity, special needs, treatment,
behavioral problems, attendance, medical and mental health
information, aptitude or diagnostic tests, and referrals, if the
disclosure serves the purpose provided under Subsection (e)(2).
(d) An agency shall comply with a request under Subsection
(c) regardless of whether other state law makes that information
confidential.
(e) A juvenile justice system agency that receives
information under this section shall:
(1) certify in writing that the agency will not
disclose confidential information received under this section to a
third party, other than another juvenile justice system agency; and
(2) use information only to identify an at-risk youth
and to assist the agency in providing prevention and early
intervention services to the youth before adjudication of the
youth.
(f) An agency that shares information under this section is
subject to Sections 58.0052(f) and (g).
SECTION 5. 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.