By: Menéndez S.B. No. 115
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the requirements for the issuance of identification
documentation for foster care youth.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 191, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 191.0049 to read as follows:
Sec. 191.0049. BIRTH RECORD ISSUED TO FOSTER CHILD; PILOT
PROGRAM. (a) In this section, "foster child" means a person who is
16 years of age or older and in the managing conservatorship of the
Department of Family and Protective Services.
(b) On request of a foster child, the state registrar, a
local registrar, or a county clerk shall issue, without a fee, a
certified copy of the foster child's birth record.
(c) The department shall participate in a foster child
identification verification pilot program for the purpose of
issuing birth records to foster children.
(d) Under the pilot program, the department may:
(1) enter into a memorandum of understanding with the
Department of Family and Protective Services to establish an
identification verification process for foster children; and
(2) issue a birth certificate to a foster child whose
identity has been confirmed through the verification process.
(e) At the conclusion of the pilot program, the
participating agencies may agree to continue the pilot program on a
permanent basis.
(f) Not later than January 1, 2019, the department and the
Department of Family and Protective Services shall jointly issue a
report to the legislature addressing the status and effectiveness
of the pilot program. This subsection expires September 1, 2019.
SECTION 2. Subchapter E, Chapter 521, Transportation Code,
is amended by adding Section 521.1015 to read as follows:
Sec. 521.1015. PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION CERTIFICATE ISSUED
TO FOSTER CHILD. (a) In this section, "foster child" means a
person who is 16 years of age or older and in the managing
conservatorship of the Department of Family and Protective
Services.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 521.101, Section 521.1426, or
any other provision of this chapter, a foster child may, in applying
for a personal identification certificate:
(1) provide a copy of the foster child's birth
certificate or a copy of the foster child's social security card as
proof of the foster child's identity and United States citizenship,
as applicable; and
(2) use the address of the regional office where the
Department of Family and Protective Services caseworker for the
foster child is based, if the foster child:
(A) does not have a residence or domicile; or
(B) cannot show proof of the foster child's
residence or domicile.
(c) A foster child may apply for and the department may
issue a personal identification certificate without the signature
or presence of or permission from a parent or guardian of the foster
child.
(d) A foster child is exempt from the payment of any fee for
the issuance of a personal identification certificate under this
chapter.
SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
a request for a birth record or an application for a personal
identification certificate submitted on or after the effective date
of this Act. A request for a birth record or an application for a
personal identification certificate submitted before the effective
date of this Act is governed by the law as it existed immediately
before the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.