Texas 2013 - 83rd Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB886 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Uresti S.B. No. 886
2	2	(Lewis)
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to extended foster care for certain young adults and the
8	8	extended jurisdiction of a court in a suit affecting the
9	9	parent-child relationship involving those young adults.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Subdivisions (1), (3-a), and (4), Section
12	12	263.601, Family Code, are amended to read as follows:
13	13	(1) "Extended foster [Foster] care" means a
14	14	[voluntary] residential living arrangement in which a young adult
15	15	voluntarily delegates to the department responsibility for the
16	16	young adult's placement and care and in which the young adult
17	17	resides with a foster parent or other residential services
18	18	[child-care] provider that is:
19	19	(A) licensed or approved by the department or
20	20	verified by a licensed or certified child-placing agency; and
21	21	(B) paid under a contract with the department.
22	22	(3-a) "Trial independence [period]" means the status
23	23	assigned to a young adult under Section 263.6015 [a period of not
24	24	less than six months, or a longer period as a court may order not to
25	25	exceed 12 months, during which a young adult exits foster care with
26	26	the option to return to foster care under the continuing extended
27	27	jurisdiction of the court].
28	28	(4) "Young adult" means a person [between 18 and 21
29	29	years of age] who[:
30	30	[(A)] was in the conservatorship of the
31	31	department on the day before the person's 18th birthday[; and
32	32	[(B) after the person's 18th birthday, resides in
33	33	foster care or receives transitional living services from the
34	34	department].
35	35	SECTION 2. Subchapter G, Chapter 263, Family Code, is
36	36	amended by adding Section 263.6015 to read as follows:
37	37	Sec. 263.6015. TRIAL INDEPENDENCE. (a) A young adult is
38	38	assigned trial independence status when the young adult:
39	39	(1) does not enter extended foster care at the time of
40	40	the young adult's 18th birthday; or
41	41	(2) exits extended foster care before the young
42	42	adult's 21st birthday.
43	43	(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), a court order is
44	44	not required for a young adult to be assigned trial independence
45	45	status. Trial independence is mandatory for a period of at least
46	46	six months beginning on:
47	47	(1) the date of the young adult's 18th birthday for a
48	48	young adult described by Subsection (a)(1); or
49	49	(2) the date the young adult exits extended foster
50	50	care.
51	51	(c) A court may order trial independence status extended for
52	52	a period that exceeds the mandatory period under Subsection (b) but
53	53	does not exceed one year from the date the period under Subsection
54	54	(b) commences.
55	55	(d) Except as provided by Subsection (e), a young adult who
56	56	enters or reenters extended foster care after a period of trial
57	57	independence must complete a new period of trial independence as
58	58	provided by Subsection (b)(2).
59	59	(e) The trial independence status of a young adult ends on
60	60	the young adult's 21st birthday.
61	61	SECTION 3. Subsections (a), (b), (f), and (g), Section
62	62	263.602, Family Code, are amended to read as follows:
63	63	(a) Except as provided by Subsection (f), a [A] court that
64	64	had [continuing, exclusive] jurisdiction over a young adult on the
65	65	day before the young adult's 18th birthday continues to have
66	66	extended jurisdiction over the young adult and shall retain the
67	67	case on the court's docket while the young adult is [remains] in
68	68	extended foster care and during [a] trial independence as [period]
69	69	described by Section 263.6015 [this section].
70	70	(b) A court with extended jurisdiction over a young adult
71	71	[who remains] in extended foster care shall conduct extended foster
72	72	care review hearings every six months for the purpose of reviewing
73	73	and making findings regarding:
74	74	(1) whether the young adult's living arrangement is
75	75	safe and appropriate and whether the department has made reasonable
76	76	efforts to place the young adult in the least restrictive
77	77	environment necessary to meet the young adult's needs;
78	78	(2) whether the department is making reasonable
79	79	efforts to finalize the permanency plan that is in effect for the
80	80	young adult, including a permanency plan for independent living;
81	81	(3) whether, for a young adult whose permanency plan
82	82	is independent living:
83	83	(A) the young adult participated in the
84	84	development of the plan of service;
85	85	(B) the young adult's plan of service reflects
86	86	the independent living skills and appropriate services needed to
87	87	achieve independence by the projected date; and
88	88	(C) the young adult continues to make reasonable
89	89	progress in developing the skills needed to achieve independence by
90	90	the projected date; and
91	91	(4) whether additional services that the department is
92	92	authorized to provide are needed to meet the needs of the young
93	93	adult.
94	94	(f) Unless the court extends its jurisdiction over a young
95	95	adult beyond the end of trial independence as provided by Section
96	96	263.6021(a) or 263.603(a), the court's [A court with] extended
97	97	jurisdiction over a young adult as described in Subsection (a)
98	98	terminates on [shall continue to have jurisdiction over the young
99	99	adult and shall retain the case on the court's docket until] the
100	100	earlier of:
101	101	(1) the last day of the month in which trial
102	102	independence ends[:
103	103	[(A) sixth month after the date the young adult
104	104	leaves foster care; or
105	105	[(B) 12th month after the date the young adult
106	106	leaves foster care if specified in a court order, for the purpose of
107	107	allowing the young adult to pursue a trial independence period]; or
108	108	(2) the young adult's 21st birthday.
109	109	(g) A court with extended jurisdiction described by this
110	110	section is not required to conduct periodic hearings described in
111	111	this section for a young adult during [a] trial independence
112	112	[period] and may not compel a young adult who has elected to not
113	113	enter or has exited extended foster care to attend a court hearing.
114	114	A court with extended jurisdiction during trial independence may,
115	115	at the request of a young adult, conduct a hearing described by
116	116	Subsection (b) or by Section 263.6021 to review any transitional
117	117	living services the young adult is receiving during trial
118	118	independence.
119	119	SECTION 4. Subsections (a) and (b), Section 263.6021,
120	120	Family Code, are amended to read as follows:
121	121	(a) Notwithstanding Section 263.602, a court that had
122	122	[continuing, exclusive] jurisdiction over a young adult on the day
123	123	before the young adult's 18th birthday may, at the young adult's
124	124	request, render an order that extends the court's jurisdiction
125	125	beyond the end of [a] trial independence [period] if the young adult
126	126	receives transitional living services from the department.
127	127	(b) Unless the young adult reenters extended foster care
128	128	before the end of the court's extended jurisdiction described by
129	129	Subsection (a), the [The] extended jurisdiction of the court under
130	130	this section terminates on the earlier of:
131	131	(1) the young adult's 21st birthday; or
132	132	(2) the date the young adult withdraws consent to the
133	133	extension of the court's jurisdiction in writing or in court.
134	134	SECTION 5. Section 263.603, Family Code, is amended by
135	135	adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
136	136	(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this subchapter,
137	137	a young adult for whom a guardian is appointed and qualifies is not
138	138	considered to be in extended foster care or trial independence and
139	139	the court's jurisdiction ends on the date the guardian for the young
140	140	adult is appointed and qualifies unless the guardian requests the
141	141	extended jurisdiction of the court under Section 263.604.
142	142	SECTION 6. The changes in law made by this Act to Subchapter
143	143	G, Chapter 263, Family Code, apply to a suit affecting the
144	144	parent-child relationship that is:
145	145	(1) filed on or after the effective date of this Act;
146	146	and
147	147	(2) pending in a trial court on the effective date of
148	148	this Act, regardless of the date on which the suit was filed.
149	149	SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.