By: Schwertner S.B. No. 1407
(In the Senate - Filed March 12, 2015; March 18, 2015, read
first time and referred to Committee on Health and Human Services;
March 30, 2015, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 8,
Nays 0; March 30, 2015, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to encouraging age-appropriate normalcy activities for
children in the managing conservatorship of the state.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 263.001(a), Family Code, is amended by
amending Subdivision (1-a) and adding Subdivision (1-b) to read as
follows:
(1-a) "Age-appropriate normalcy activity" has the
meaning assigned by Section 264.001.
(1-b) "Department" means the Department of Family and
Protective Services.
SECTION 2. Section 263.306, Family Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(c) In addition to the requirements of Subsection (a), at
each permanency hearing the court shall review the department's
efforts to ensure that the child has regular, ongoing opportunities
to engage in age-appropriate normalcy activities, including
activities not listed in the child's service plan.
SECTION 3. Section 263.503, Family Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(c) In addition to the requirements of Subsection (a), at
each placement review hearing the court shall review the
department's efforts to ensure that the child has regular, ongoing
opportunities to engage in age-appropriate normalcy activities,
including activities not listed in the child's service plan.
SECTION 4. Section 264.001, Family Code, is amended by
amending Subdivision (1) and adding Subdivisions (1-a) and (5) to
read as follows:
(1) "Age-appropriate normalcy activity" means an
activity or experience:
(A) that is generally accepted as suitable for a
child's age or level of maturity or that is determined to be
developmentally appropriate for a child based on the development of
cognitive, emotional, physical, and behavioral capacities that are
typical for the age or age group; and
(B) in which a child who is not in the
conservatorship of the state is generally allowed to participate,
including extracurricular activities, in-school and out-of-school
social activities, cultural and enrichment activities, and
employment opportunities.
(1-a) "Department" means the Department of Family and
Protective Services.
(5) "Standard of care of a reasonable and prudent
parent" means the standard of care that a parent of reasonable
judgment, skill, and caution would exercise in addressing the
health, safety, and welfare of a child while encouraging the
emotional and developmental growth of the child, taking into
consideration:
(A) the overall health and safety of the child;
(B) the child's age, maturity, and development
level;
(C) the best interest of the child based on the
caregiver's knowledge of the child;
(D) the appropriateness of a proposed activity
and any potential risk factors;
(E) the behavioral history of the child and the
child's ability to safely participate in a proposed activity;
(F) the importance of encouraging the child's
social, emotional, and developmental growth; and
(G) the importance of providing the child with
the most family-like living experience possible.
SECTION 5. The heading to Section 264.114, Family Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 264.114. IMMUNITY FROM LIABILITY; ADVERSE
DEPARTMENTAL ACTION PROHIBITED.
SECTION 6. Section 264.114, Family Code, is amended by
adding Subsections (c) and (d) to read as follows:
(c) A foster parent, other substitute caregiver, family
relative or other designated caregiver, or licensed child placing
agency caring for a child in the managing conservatorship of the
department is not liable for harm caused to the child resulting from
the child's participation in an age-appropriate normalcy activity
approved by the caregiver if, in approving the child's
participation in the activity, the caregiver exercised the standard
of care of a reasonable and prudent parent.
(d) A licensed child placing agency is not subject to
adverse action by the department, including contractual action or
licensing or other regulatory action, arising out of the conduct of
a foster parent who has exercised the standard of care of a
reasonable and prudent parent.
SECTION 7. Subchapter B, Chapter 264, Family Code, is
amended by adding Section 264.125 to read as follows:
Sec. 264.125. AGE-APPROPRIATE NORMALCY ACTIVITIES;
STANDARD OF CARE. (a) The department shall use its best efforts to
normalize the lives of children in the managing conservatorship of
the department by allowing substitute caregivers, without the
department's prior approval, to make decisions similar to those a
parent would be entitled to make regarding a child's participation
in age-appropriate normalcy activities.
(b) In determining whether to allow a child in the managing
conservatorship of the department to participate in an activity, a
substitute caregiver must exercise the standard of care of a
reasonable and prudent parent.
(c) The department shall adopt and implement policies
consistent with this section promoting a substitute caregiver's
ability to make decisions described by Subsection (a). The
department shall identify and review any departmental policy or
procedure that may impede a substitute caregiver's ability to make
such decisions.
(d) The department shall require licensed child placing
agency personnel, residential child care licensing staff,
conservatorship caseworkers, and other persons as may be determined
by the department to complete a course of training regarding:
(1) the importance of a child's participation in
age-appropriate normalcy activities and the benefits of such
activities to a child's well-being, mental health, and social,
emotional, and developmental growth; and
(2) substitute caregiver decision-making under the
standard of care of a reasonable and prudent parent.
SECTION 8. The changes in law made by this Act to Sections
263.306 and 263.503, Family Code, apply only to a permanency
hearing or a placement review hearing conducted under Chapter 263,
Family Code, on or after the effective date of this Act. A
permanency hearing or a placement review hearing conducted before
the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on
the date the hearing was conducted, and the former law is continued
in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
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