By: Miller, Zerwas, Howard, Meyer, Wu, H.B. No. 1916
et al.
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to requiring trauma training for certain attorneys.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 107.004, Family Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (b-1) and adding Subsections (b-2), (b-3), and
(b-4) to read as follows:
(b-1) An attorney who is on the list maintained by the court
as being qualified for appointment as an attorney ad litem for a
child in a child protection case must:
(1) complete at least three hours of continuing legal
education relating to the representation of a child in a proceeding
under Subtitle E each year before the anniversary date of the
attorney's listing; and
(2) provide proof that the attorney has completed a
training program regarding trauma-informed care and the effect of
trauma on children in the conservatorship of the Department of
Family and Protective Services.
(b-2) The training described by Subsection (b-1)(2) may
satisfy the training requirement under Subsection (b-1)(1) in a
year in which an attorney completes the training.
(b-3) An attorney described by Subsection (b-1) shall
complete the training required by Subsection (b-1)(2) as soon as
practicable after the attorney is placed on the list described by
Subsection (b-1).
(b-4) The training required by Subsection (b-1)(2) must be
designed to educate an attorney regarding the attorney's duty under
Subsection (d-3) and include information regarding:
(1) the symptoms of trauma and the impact that trauma
has on a child, including how trauma may affect a child's
development, emotions, memories, behavior, and decision-making;
(2) attachment and how a lack of attachment may affect
a child;
(3) the role that trauma-informed care and services
can have in a child's ability to build connections, feel safe, and
regulate the child's emotions to help the child build resiliency
and overcome the effects of trauma and adverse childhood
experiences;
(4) the importance of screening children for trauma
and the risk of mislabeling and inappropriate treatment of children
without proper screening, including the risk associated with
increasing the use of psychotropic medication;
(5) the potential for re-traumatization of children in
the conservatorship of the Department of Family and Protective
Services; and
(6) the availability of:
(A) research-supported, trauma-informed,
non-pharmacological interventions; and
(B) trauma-informed advocacy to increase a
child's access, while the child is in the conservatorship of the
Department of Family and Protective Services, to:
(i) trauma-informed care; and
(ii) trauma-informed mental and behavioral
health services.
SECTION 2. An attorney who is on the list maintained by a
court as being qualified for appointment as an attorney ad litem for
a child in a child protection case on the effective date of this Act
shall complete the training required by Section 107.004(b-1)(2),
Family Code, as added by this Act, not later than September 1, 2020.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.