By: Zaffirini, Perry S.B. No. 1889
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the definition of neglect of a child, the exclusion of
certain information from the Department of Family and Protective
Services central registry of child abuse or neglect cases, and the
report of certain information regarding those cases to the
legislature.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 261.001(4), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(4) "Neglect" includes:
(A) the leaving of a child in a situation where
the child would be exposed to a substantial risk of physical or
mental harm, without arranging for necessary care for the child,
and the demonstration of an intent not to return by a parent,
guardian, or managing or possessory conservator of the child;
(B) the following acts or omissions by a person:
(i) placing a child in or failing to remove
a child from a situation that a reasonable person would realize
requires judgment or actions beyond the child's level of maturity,
physical condition, or mental abilities and that results in bodily
injury or a substantial risk of immediate harm to the child;
(ii) failing to seek, obtain, or follow
through with medical care for a child, with the failure resulting in
or presenting a substantial risk of death, disfigurement, or bodily
injury or with the failure resulting in an observable and material
impairment to the growth, development, or functioning of the child;
(iii) the failure to provide a child with
food, clothing, or shelter necessary to sustain the life or health
of the child, excluding failure caused primarily by financial
inability unless relief services had been offered and refused;
(iv) placing a child in or failing to remove
the child from a situation in which the child would be exposed to a
substantial risk of sexual conduct harmful to the child; or
(v) placing a child in or failing to remove
the child from a situation in which the child would be exposed to
acts or omissions that constitute abuse under Subdivision (1)(E),
(F), (G), (H), or (K) committed against another child; or
(C) with respect to [the failure by] the person
responsible for a child's care, custody, or welfare, permitting [to
permit] the child to remain in or return to the child's home without
the person arranging for the necessary care for the child, unless
the person's failure to arrange for the necessary care for the child
is solely a result of the person's inability to obtain mental health
services necessary to protect the safety and well-being of the
child after exhausting all reasonable means available to the person
to obtain those services [after the child has been absent from the
home for any reason, including having been in residential placement
or having run away].
SECTION 2. Section 261.002(b), Family Code, as amended by
S.B. No. 219, Acts of the 84th Legislature, Regular Session, 2015,
is amended to read as follows:
(b) The executive commissioner shall [may] adopt rules
necessary to carry out this section. The rules shall:
(1) prohibit the department from making a finding of
abuse or neglect against a person in a case in which the department
is named managing conservator of a child who has a severe emotional
disturbance only because the child's family is unable to obtain
mental health services for the child; and
(2) establish guidelines for reviewing the records in
the registry and removing those records in which the department was
named managing conservator of a child who has a severe emotional
disturbance only because the child's family was unable to obtain
mental health services for the child [provide for cooperation with
local child service agencies, including hospitals, clinics, and
schools, and cooperation with other states in exchanging reports to
effect a national registration system].
SECTION 3. Section 262.352, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 262.352. JOINT MANAGING CONSERVATORSHIP OF CHILD.
(a) Before the department files a suit affecting the parent-child
relationship requesting managing conservatorship [a person
relinquishes custody] of a child who suffers from a severe
emotional disturbance in order to obtain mental health services for
the child, the department must, unless [if] it is not in the best
interest of the child, discuss with the child's parent or legal
guardian [person relinquishing custody of the child] the option of
seeking a court order for joint managing conservatorship of the
child with the department.
(b) Not later than November 1 of each even-numbered year,
the department shall report the following information to the
legislature:
(1) with respect to children described by Subsection
(a):
(A) the number of children for whom the
department has been appointed managing conservator;
(B) the number of children for whom the
department has been appointed joint managing conservator; and
(C) the number of children who were diverted to
community or residential mental health services through another
agency; and
(2) the number of persons whose names were entered
into the central registry of cases of child abuse and neglect only
because the department was named managing conservator of a child
who has a severe emotional disturbance because the child's family
was unable to obtain mental health services for the child.
(c) Subsection (b) and this subsection expire September 1,
2019.
SECTION 4. Section 262.353, Family Code, is repealed.
SECTION 5. The Department of Family and Protective Services
shall implement the changes in law made by this Act using funds
appropriated to the department for the state fiscal biennium ending
August 31, 2017.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.