85R16992 MCK-F
By: Bernal H.B. No. 1968
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1968:
By: Schofield C.S.H.B. No. 1968
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to procedures for certain hearings in a suit affecting the
parent-child relationship filed by the Department of Family and
Protective Services.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 263.5031, Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 263.5031. PERMANENCY HEARINGS FOLLOWING FINAL ORDER.
At each permanency hearing after the court renders a final order,
the court shall:
(1) identify all persons and parties present at the
hearing;
(2) review the efforts of the department or other
agency in notifying persons entitled to notice under Section
263.0021; [and]
(3) review the permanency progress report to
determine:
(A) the safety and well-being of the child and
whether the child's needs, including any medical or special needs,
are being adequately addressed;
(B) the continuing necessity and appropriateness
of the placement of the child, including with respect to a child who
has been placed outside of this state, whether the placement
continues to be in the best interest of the child;
(C) if the child is placed in institutional care,
whether efforts have been made to ensure that the child is placed in
the least restrictive environment consistent with the child's best
interest and special needs;
(D) the appropriateness of the primary and
alternative permanency goals for the child, whether the department
has made reasonable efforts to finalize the permanency plan,
including the concurrent permanency goals, in effect for the child,
and whether:
(i) the department has exercised due
diligence in attempting to place the child for adoption if parental
rights to the child have been terminated and the child is eligible
for adoption; or
(ii) another permanent placement,
including appointing a relative as permanent managing conservator
or returning the child to a parent, is appropriate for the child;
(E) for a child whose permanency goal is another
planned permanent living arrangement:
(i) the desired permanency outcome for the
child, by asking the child; and
(ii) whether, as of the date of the hearing,
another planned permanent living arrangement is the best permanency
plan for the child and, if so, provide compelling reasons why it
continues to not be in the best interest of the child to:
(a) return home;
(b) be placed for adoption;
(c) be placed with a legal guardian;
or
(d) be placed with a fit and willing
relative;
(F) if the child is 14 years of age or older,
whether services that are needed to assist the child in
transitioning from substitute care to independent living are
available in the child's community;
(G) whether the child is receiving appropriate
medical care and has been provided the opportunity, in a
developmentally appropriate manner, to express the child's opinion
on any medical care provided;
(H) for a child receiving psychotropic
medication, whether the child:
(i) has been provided appropriate
nonpharmacological interventions, therapies, or strategies to meet
the child's needs; or
(ii) has been seen by the prescribing
physician, physician assistant, or advanced practice nurse at least
once every 90 days;
(I) whether an education decision-maker for the
child has been identified, the child's education needs and goals
have been identified and addressed, and there are major changes in
the child's school performance or there have been serious
disciplinary events;
(J) for a child for whom the department has been
named managing conservator in a final order that does not include
termination of parental rights, whether to order the department to
provide services to a parent for not more than six months after the
date of the permanency hearing if:
(i) the child has not been placed with a
relative or other individual, including a foster parent, who is
seeking permanent managing conservatorship of the child; and
(ii) the court determines that further
efforts at reunification with a parent are:
(a) in the best interest of the child;
and
(b) likely to result in the child's
safe return to the child's parent; and
(K) whether the department has identified a
family or other caring adult who has made a permanent commitment to
the child; and
(4) if the child is 16 years of age or older, determine
whether the department has provided the child with the following:
(A) the child's birth certificate;
(B) a social security card or a replacement
social security card;
(C) a driver's license or personal
identification certificate under Chapter 521, Transportation Code;
(D) the information contained in the child's
health passport, including the child's immunization records, as
required under Section 266.006;
(E) proof of enrollment of the child in Medicaid,
if appropriate; and
(F) written information advising the child of
postsecondary education benefits and opportunities available to
the child, including the tuition exemption for former foster
children under Section 54.366, Education Code.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies to a
suit affecting the parent-child relationship that is pending on or
filed on or after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.