Texas 2011 - 82nd Regular

Texas House Bill HB1114 Compare Versions

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1	1	82R20591 CAS-F
2	2	By: Parker, Shelton H.B. No. 1114
3	3	Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1114:
4	4	By: Hochberg C.S.H.B. No. 1114
5	5
6	6
7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to public school, child-placing agency, and day-care
10	10	center policies addressing sexual abuse and other maltreatment of
11	11	children.
12	12	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	13	SECTION 1. Section 11.252(a), Education Code, is amended to
14	14	read as follows:
15	15	(a) Each school district shall have a district improvement
16	16	plan that is developed, evaluated, and revised annually, in
17	17	accordance with district policy, by the superintendent with the
18	18	assistance of the district-level committee established under
19	19	Section 11.251. The purpose of the district improvement plan is to
20	20	guide district and campus staff in the improvement of student
21	21	performance for all student groups in order to attain state
22	22	standards in respect to the student achievement indicators adopted
23	23	under Section 39.053. The district improvement plan must include
24	24	provisions for:
25	25	(1) a comprehensive needs assessment addressing
26	26	district student performance on the student achievement
27	27	indicators, and other appropriate measures of performance, that are
28	28	disaggregated by all student groups served by the district,
29	29	including categories of ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sex, and
30	30	populations served by special programs, including students in
31	31	special education programs under Subchapter A, Chapter 29;
32	32	(2) measurable district performance objectives for
33	33	all appropriate student achievement indicators for all student
34	34	populations, including students in special education programs
35	35	under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, and other measures of student
36	36	performance that may be identified through the comprehensive needs
37	37	assessment;
38	38	(3) strategies for improvement of student performance
39	39	that include:
40	40	(A) instructional methods for addressing the
41	41	needs of student groups not achieving their full potential;
42	42	(B) methods for addressing the needs of students
43	43	for special programs, such as suicide prevention, conflict
44	44	resolution, violence prevention, or dyslexia treatment programs;
45	45	(C) dropout reduction;
46	46	(D) integration of technology in instructional
47	47	and administrative programs;
48	48	(E) discipline management;
49	49	(F) staff development for professional staff of
50	50	the district;
51	51	(G) career education to assist students in
52	52	developing the knowledge, skills, and competencies necessary for a
53	53	broad range of career opportunities; and
54	54	(H) accelerated education;
55	55	(4) strategies for providing to middle school, junior
56	56	high school, and high school students, those students' teachers and
57	57	counselors, and those students' parents information about:
58	58	(A) higher education admissions and financial
59	59	aid opportunities;
60	60	(B) the TEXAS grant program and the Teach for
61	61	Texas grant program established under Chapter 56;
62	62	(C) the need for students to make informed
63	63	curriculum choices to be prepared for success beyond high school;
64	64	and
65	65	(D) sources of information on higher education
66	66	admissions and financial aid;
67	67	(5) resources needed to implement identified
68	68	strategies;
69	69	(6) staff responsible for ensuring the accomplishment
70	70	of each strategy;
71	71	(7) timelines for ongoing monitoring of the
72	72	implementation of each improvement strategy; [and]
73	73	(8) formative evaluation criteria for determining
74	74	periodically whether strategies are resulting in intended
75	75	improvement of student performance; and
76	76	(9) the policy under Section 38.0041 addressing sexual
77	77	abuse and other maltreatment of children and, until the policy is
78	78	implemented, must include provisions for describing progress
79	79	toward adopting and implementing the policy.
80	80	SECTION 2. Section 38.0041, Education Code, is amended to
81	81	read as follows:
82	82	Sec. 38.0041. POLICIES ADDRESSING SEXUAL ABUSE AND OTHER
83	83	MALTREATMENT OF CHILDREN. (a) Each school district and
84	84	open-enrollment charter school shall adopt and implement a policy
85	85	addressing sexual abuse and other maltreatment of children, to be
86	86	included in the district improvement plan under Section 11.252 and
87	87	any informational handbook provided to students and parents.
88	88	(b) A policy required by this section must address:
89	89	(1) methods for increasing staff [teacher], student,
90	90	and parent awareness of issues regarding sexual abuse and other
91	91	maltreatment of children, including prevention techniques and
92	92	knowledge of likely warning signs indicating that a child may be a
93	93	victim of sexual abuse or other maltreatment, using resources
94	94	developed by the agency under Section 38.004;
95	95	(2) actions that a child who is a victim of sexual
96	96	abuse or other maltreatment should take to obtain assistance and
97	97	intervention; and
98	98	(3) available counseling options for students
99	99	affected by sexual abuse or other maltreatment.
100	100	(c) The methods under Subsection (b)(1) for increasing
101	101	awareness of issues regarding sexual abuse and other maltreatment
102	102	of children must include:
103	103	(1) research-based training and other educational
104	104	opportunities concerning prevention techniques for and recognition
105	105	of sexual abuse and all other maltreatment of children for the
106	106	following persons:
107	107	(A) parents of school district and
108	108	open-enrollment charter school students; and
109	109	(B) educators, including counselors and coaches,
110	110	and other district and charter school professional staff members,
111	111	in accordance with Subsection (d); and
112	112	(2) strategies for coordination between the district
113	113	or charter school and appropriate community organizations.
114	114	(d) The training provided under Subsection (c) for staff
115	115	members described by Subsection (c)(1)(B):
116	116	(1) must be provided, as part of a new employee
117	117	orientation, to new school district and open-enrollment charter
118	118	school staff members;
119	119	(2) may be provided annually to any district or
120	120	charter school staff member; and
121	121	(3) must include training concerning:
122	122	(A) factors indicating a child is at-risk for
123	123	sexual abuse or other maltreatment;
124	124	(B) likely warning signs indicating a child may
125	125	be a victim of sexual abuse or other maltreatment;
126	126	(C) internal procedures for seeking assistance
127	127	for a child who is at-risk for sexual abuse or other maltreatment,
128	128	including referral to a school counselor, a social worker, or
129	129	another mental health professional;
130	130	(D) methods for reducing a child's risk of sexual
131	131	abuse or other maltreatment; and
132	132	(E) community organizations that have relevant
133	133	existing research-based programs that are able to provide training
134	134	or other education for school district or open-enrollment charter
135	135	school staff members, students, and parents.
136	136	(e) For any training under Subsection (d), each school
137	137	district and open-enrollment charter school shall maintain records
138	138	that include the name of each district or charter school staff
139	139	member who participated in the training.
140	140	(f) If a school district or open-enrollment charter school
141	141	determines that the district or charter school does not have
142	142	sufficient resources to provide the training required under
143	143	Subsection (c)(1), the district or charter school shall work in
144	144	conjunction with a community organization to provide the training
145	145	at no cost to the district or charter school.
146	146	(g) The training under Subsection (d) may be included in
147	147	staff development under Section 21.451.
148	148	(h) A school district or open-enrollment charter school
149	149	employee may not be subject to any disciplinary proceeding, as
150	150	defined by Section 22.0512(b), resulting from an action taken in
151	151	compliance with this section. The requirements of this section
152	152	are considered to involve an employee's judgment and discretion and
153	153	are not considered ministerial acts for purposes of immunity from
154	154	liability under Section 22.0511. Nothing in this section may be
155	155	considered to limit the immunity from liability provided under
156	156	Section 22.0511.
157	157	(i) For purposes of this section, "other maltreatment" has
158	158	the meaning assigned by Section 42.002, Human Resources Code.
159	159	SECTION 3. Section 42.002, Human Resources Code, is amended
160	160	by adding Subdivision (23) to read as follows:
161	161	(23) "Other maltreatment" means:
162	162	(A) abuse, as defined by Section 261.001 or
163	163	261.401, Family Code; or
164	164	(B) neglect, as defined by Section 261.001 or
165	165	261.401, Family Code.
166	166	SECTION 4. Section 42.0426, Human Resources Code, is
167	167	amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (c) and
168	168	(d) to read as follows:
169	169	(a) A child-placing agency or day-care center [licensed
170	170	facility] shall provide training for staff members in:
171	171	(1) prevention techniques for and the recognition of
172	172	symptoms of [child abuse, neglect, and] sexual abuse and other
173	173	maltreatment of children [molestation] and the responsibility and
174	174	procedure of reporting suspected occurrences of [child abuse,
175	175	neglect, and] sexual abuse and other maltreatment of children
176	176	[molestation] to the department or other appropriate entity;
177	177	(2) the application of first aid; and
178	178	(3) the prevention and spread of communicable
179	179	diseases.
180	180	(c) The type of training required under Subsection (a)(1)
181	181	shall be determined by department rule. The training must be
182	182	provided for at least an hour annually and must include training
183	183	concerning:
184	184	(1) factors indicating a child is at-risk for sexual
185	185	abuse or other maltreatment;
186	186	(2) likely warning signs indicating a child may be a
187	187	victim of sexual abuse or other maltreatment;
188	188	(3) internal procedures for reporting sexual abuse or
189	189	other maltreatment; and
190	190	(4) community organizations that have relevant
191	191	existing research-based training programs that are able to provide
192	192	training or other education for child-placing agency or day-care
193	193	center staff members, children, and parents.
194	194	(d) If a child-placing agency or day-care center determines
195	195	that it does not have sufficient resources to provide the training
196	196	required under Subsection (a)(1), the agency or center may contact
197	197	a department licensing employee to obtain information concerning
198	198	community organizations that will provide such training at no cost
199	199	to the agency or center.
200	200	SECTION 5. Subchapter C, Chapter 42, Human Resources Code,
201	201	is amended by adding Section 42.0428 to read as follows:
202	202	Sec. 42.0428. POLICIES ADDRESSING SEXUAL ABUSE AND OTHER
203	203	MALTREATMENT OF CHILDREN. (a) Each child-placing agency or
204	204	day-care center shall adopt and implement a policy addressing
205	205	sexual abuse and other maltreatment of children.
206	206	(b) A policy required by this section must address:
207	207	(1) methods for increasing child-placing agency and
208	208	day-care center staff and parent awareness of issues regarding and
209	209	prevention techniques for sexual abuse and other maltreatment of
210	210	children, including knowledge of likely warning signs indicating
211	211	that a child may be a victim of sexual abuse or other maltreatment;
212	212	and
213	213	(2) actions that, after contacting an agency or
214	214	center, the parent of a child who is a victim of sexual abuse or
215	215	other maltreatment should take to obtain assistance and
216	216	intervention.
217	217	(c) The methods under Subsection (b)(1) for increasing
218	218	awareness of issues regarding and prevention techniques for sexual
219	219	abuse and other maltreatment of children must include:
220	220	(1) the training required under Section
221	221	42.0426(a)(1); and
222	222	(2) strategies for coordination between the
223	223	child-placing agency or day-care center and appropriate community
224	224	organizations.
225	225	SECTION 6. Section 11.252(a), Education Code, as amended by
226	226	this Act, applies beginning with the 2011-2012 school year.
227	227	SECTION 7. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
228	228	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
229	229	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
230	230	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
231	231	Act takes effect September 1, 2011.