By: Dutton (Senate Sponsor - Hughes) H.B. No. 2924
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 5, 2021;
May 10, 2021, read first time and referred to Committee on State
Affairs; May 19, 2021, reported favorably by the following vote:
Yeas 9, Nays 0; May 19, 2021, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to certain grounds for the involuntary termination of the
parent-child relationship.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 161.001(b), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) The court may order termination of the parent-child
relationship if the court finds by clear and convincing evidence:
(1) that the parent has:
(A) voluntarily left the child alone or in the
possession of another not the parent and expressed an intent not to
return;
(B) voluntarily left the child alone or in the
possession of another not the parent without expressing an intent
to return, without providing for the adequate support of the child,
and remained away for a period of at least three months;
(C) voluntarily left the child alone or in the
possession of another without providing adequate support of the
child and remained away for a period of at least six months;
(D) knowingly placed or knowingly allowed the
child to remain in conditions or surroundings which endanger the
physical or emotional well-being of the child;
(E) engaged in conduct or knowingly placed the
child with persons who engaged in conduct which endangers the
physical or emotional well-being of the child;
(F) failed to support the child in accordance
with the parent's ability during a period of one year ending within
six months of the date of the filing of the petition;
(G) abandoned the child without identifying the
child or furnishing means of identification, and the child's
identity cannot be ascertained by the exercise of reasonable
diligence;
(H) voluntarily, and with knowledge of the
pregnancy, abandoned the mother of the child beginning at a time
during her pregnancy with the child and continuing through the
birth, failed to provide adequate support or medical care for the
mother during the period of abandonment before the birth of the
child, and remained apart from the child or failed to support the
child since the birth;
(I) contumaciously refused to submit to a
reasonable and lawful order of a court under Subchapter D, Chapter
261;
(J) been the major cause of:
(i) the failure of the child to be enrolled
in school as required by the Education Code; or
(ii) the child's absence from the child's
home without the consent of the parents or guardian for a
substantial length of time or without the intent to return;
(K) executed before or after the suit is filed an
unrevoked or irrevocable affidavit of relinquishment of parental
rights as provided by this chapter;
(L) been convicted or has been placed on
community supervision, including deferred adjudication community
supervision, for being criminally responsible for the death or
serious injury of a child under the following sections of the Penal
Code, or under a law of another jurisdiction that contains elements
that are substantially similar to the elements of an offense under
one of the following Penal Code sections, or adjudicated under
Title 3 for conduct that caused the death or serious injury of a
child and that would constitute a violation of one of the following
Penal Code sections:
(i) Section 19.02 (murder);
(ii) Section 19.03 (capital murder);
(iii) Section 19.04 (manslaughter);
(iv) Section 21.11 (indecency with a
child);
(v) Section 22.01 (assault);
(vi) Section 22.011 (sexual assault);
(vii) Section 22.02 (aggravated assault);
(viii) Section 22.021 (aggravated sexual
assault);
(ix) Section 22.04 (injury to a child,
elderly individual, or disabled individual);
(x) Section 22.041 (abandoning or
endangering child);
(xi) Section 25.02 (prohibited sexual
conduct);
(xii) Section 43.25 (sexual performance by
a child);
(xiii) Section 43.26 (possession or
promotion of child pornography);
(xiv) Section 21.02 (continuous sexual
abuse of young child or children);
(xv) Section 20A.02(a)(7) or (8)
(trafficking of persons); and
(xvi) Section 43.05(a)(2) (compelling
prostitution);
(M) [had his or her parent-child relationship
terminated with respect to another child based on a finding that the
parent's conduct was in violation of Paragraph (D) or (E) or
substantially equivalent provisions of the law of another state;
[(N)] constructively abandoned the child who has
been in the permanent or temporary managing conservatorship of the
Department of Family and Protective Services for not less than six
months, and:
(i) the department has made reasonable
efforts to return the child to the parent;
(ii) the parent has not regularly visited
or maintained significant contact with the child; and
(iii) the parent has demonstrated an
inability to provide the child with a safe environment;
(N) [(O)] failed to comply with the provisions of
a court order that specifically established the actions necessary
for the parent to obtain the return of the child who has been in the
permanent or temporary managing conservatorship of the Department
of Family and Protective Services for not less than nine months as a
result of the child's removal from the parent under Chapter 262 for
the abuse or neglect of the child;
(O) [(P)] used a controlled substance, as
defined by Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, in a manner that
endangered the health or safety of the child, and:
(i) failed to complete a court-ordered
substance abuse treatment program; or
(ii) after completion of a court-ordered
substance abuse treatment program, continued to abuse a controlled
substance;
(P) [(Q)] knowingly engaged in criminal conduct
that has resulted in the parent's:
(i) conviction of an offense; and
(ii) confinement or imprisonment and
inability to care for the child for not less than two years from the
date of filing the petition;
(Q) [(R)] been the cause of the child being born
addicted to alcohol or a controlled substance, other than a
controlled substance legally obtained by prescription;
(R) [(S)] voluntarily delivered the child to a
designated emergency infant care provider under Section 262.302
without expressing an intent to return for the child;
(S) [(T)] been convicted of:
(i) the murder of the other parent of the
child under Section 19.02 or 19.03, Penal Code, or under a law of
another state, federal law, the law of a foreign country, or the
Uniform Code of Military Justice that contains elements that are
substantially similar to the elements of an offense under Section
19.02 or 19.03, Penal Code;
(ii) criminal attempt under Section 15.01,
Penal Code, or under a law of another state, federal law, the law of
a foreign country, or the Uniform Code of Military Justice that
contains elements that are substantially similar to the elements of
an offense under Section 15.01, Penal Code, to commit the offense
described by Subparagraph (i);
(iii) criminal solicitation under Section
15.03, Penal Code, or under a law of another state, federal law, the
law of a foreign country, or the Uniform Code of Military Justice
that contains elements that are substantially similar to the
elements of an offense under Section 15.03, Penal Code, of the
offense described by Subparagraph (i); or
(iv) the sexual assault of the other parent
of the child under Section 22.011 or 22.021, Penal Code, or under a
law of another state, federal law, or the Uniform Code of Military
Justice that contains elements that are substantially similar to
the elements of an offense under Section 22.011 or 22.021, Penal
Code; or
(T) [(U)] been placed on community supervision,
including deferred adjudication community supervision, or another
functionally equivalent form of community supervision or
probation, for being criminally responsible for the sexual assault
of the other parent of the child under Section 22.011 or 22.021,
Penal Code, or under a law of another state, federal law, or the
Uniform Code of Military Justice that contains elements that are
substantially similar to the elements of an offense under Section
22.011 or 22.021, Penal Code; and
(2) that termination is in the best interest of the
child.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a court order for the involuntary termination of the
parent-child relationship rendered on or after the effective date
of this Act. A court order rendered before the effective date of
this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the order was
rendered, and the former law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
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