Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas House Bill HB4476 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	87R6365 MM-F
2	2	By: Oliverson H.B. No. 4476
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to assessment and oversight of children placed by the
8	8	Department of Family and Protective Services in a residential
9	9	treatment center.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 263, Family Code, is
12	12	amended by adding Section 263.00201 to read as follows:
13	13	Sec. 263.00201. REVIEW OF PLACEMENT IN RESIDENTIAL
14	14	TREATMENT CENTER. (a) Not later than the 60th day after the date
15	15	the department places a child in a residential treatment center, a
16	16	court shall:
17	17	(1) consider the assessment, determination, and
18	18	documentation made by a qualified individual under Section
19	19	264.1077(b) regarding the child's placement;
20	20	(2) determine whether the child's needs can be met
21	21	through placement in a cottage family home or an agency foster home
22	22	and, if not, whether:
23	23	(A) placing the child in a residential treatment
24	24	center provides the most effective and appropriate level of care
25	25	for the child in the least restrictive environment; and
26	26	(B) placement in a residential treatment
27	27	facility is consistent with the short-term and long-term goals for
28	28	the child, as specified in the child's permanency plan; and
29	29	(3) approve or disapprove the placement.
30	30	(b) The written documentation prepared by a qualified
31	31	individual under Sections 264.1077(e) and (f) and any documentation
32	32	regarding the determination and approval or disapproval of the
33	33	placement in a residential treatment center by the court under
34	34	Subsection (a) shall be included in and made part of the child's
35	35	permanency plan.
36	36	(c) As long as a child remains in a residential treatment
37	37	center, the department shall submit evidence at each status review
38	38	and each permanency hearing held with respect to the child:
39	39	(1) demonstrating that:
40	40	(A) ongoing assessment of the strengths and needs
41	41	of the child continues to support the determination that the needs
42	42	of the child cannot be met through placement in a cottage family
43	43	home or an agency foster home;
44	44	(B) placement in a residential treatment center
45	45	provides the most effective and appropriate level of care for the
46	46	child in the least restrictive environment; and
47	47	(C) the placement is consistent with the
48	48	short-term and long-term goals for the child, as specified in the
49	49	child's permanency plan;
50	50	(2) documenting the specific treatment or service
51	51	needs that will be met for the child in the placement and the length
52	52	of time the child is expected to need the treatment or services; and
53	53	(3) documenting the efforts made by the department to
54	54	prepare the child to return home or to be placed in a cottage family
55	55	home or an agency foster home or with a fit and willing relative,
56	56	legal guardian, or adoptive parent.
57	57	(d) For a child who is at least 13 years of age and is placed
58	58	in a residential treatment center for more than 12 consecutive
59	59	months or 18 nonconsecutive months and for a child who is younger
60	60	than 13 years of age and is placed in a residential treatment center
61	61	for more than 6 consecutive or nonconsecutive months, the
62	62	department shall submit to the Administration for Children and
63	63	Families of the United States Department of Health and Human
64	64	Services:
65	65	(1) the most recent version of the evidence and
66	66	documentation described by Subsection (c); and
67	67	(2) the signed approval of the commissioner for the
68	68	continued placement of the child in that setting.
69	69	SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 264, Family Code, is
70	70	amended by adding Section 264.1077 to read as follows:
71	71	Sec. 264.1077. RESIDENTIAL CARE PLACEMENT: ASSESSMENT. (a)
72	72	In this section, "qualified individual" means a licensed health
73	73	care or mental health professional who is not an employee of the
74	74	department and who is not connected to, or affiliated with, any
75	75	facility in which a child may be placed by the department.
76	76	(b) Not later than the 30th day after the date the
77	77	department places a child in a residential treatment center, a
78	78	qualified individual, in collaboration with the child's family and
79	79	permanency team, shall:
80	80	(1) assess the strengths and needs of the child using
81	81	an age-appropriate, evidence-based, validated, and functional
82	82	assessment tool approved by the Administration for Children and
83	83	Families of the United States Department of Health and Human
84	84	Services;
85	85	(2) determine whether the needs of the child can be met
86	86	by the child's family members or through placement in a cottage
87	87	family home or an agency foster home;
88	88	(3) if the child's needs cannot be met under
89	89	Subdivision (2), determine whether one of the following settings
90	90	would provide the most effective and appropriate level of care for
91	91	the child in the least restrictive environment and be consistent
92	92	with the short-term and long-term goals for the child, as specified
93	93	in the permanency plan for the child:
94	94	(A) a qualified residential treatment program as
95	95	defined in the federal Family First Prevention Services Act (Title
96	96	VII, Div. E, Pub. L. No. 115-123);
97	97	(B) a setting specializing in providing
98	98	prenatal, postpartum, or parenting support for foster youth;
99	99	(C) for a child who is at least 18 years of age, a
100	100	supervised setting in which the child lives independently; or
101	101	(D) a setting providing high-quality residential
102	102	care and supportive services to children and youth who have been
103	103	found to be, or are at risk of becoming, sex trafficking victims;
104	104	and
105	105	(4) develop a list of specific short-term and
106	106	long-term mental and behavioral health goals for the child.
107	107	(c) The department shall assemble a family and permanency
108	108	team for the child that consists of appropriate biological family
109	109	members, other relatives of the child, individuals who have a
110	110	long-standing and significant relationship with a child or the
111	111	child's family, and, as appropriate, professionals who are a
112	112	resource to the child's family, including teachers, medical or
113	113	mental health providers who have treated the child, and clergy. A
114	114	child who is 14 years of age or older may recommend individuals to
115	115	serve on the child's family and permanency team.
116	116	(d) The department shall document in the child's permanency
117	117	plan:
118	118	(1) the reasonable and good faith effort of the
119	119	department to identify and include on the child's family and
120	120	permanency team the individuals described in Subsection (c);
121	121	(2) the contact information for members of the child's
122	122	family and permanency team, as well as contact information for
123	123	other family members and individuals who have a long-standing and
124	124	significant relationship with a child or the child's family who are
125	125	not part of the family and permanency team;
126	126	(3) evidence that meetings of the child's family and
127	127	permanency team, including meetings relating to the assessment
128	128	required under Subsection (b), are held at a time and place
129	129	convenient for the child's family;
130	130	(4) if reunification is the goal for the child,
131	131	evidence demonstrating that the parent from whom the child was
132	132	removed provided input regarding the members of the child's family
133	133	and permanency team;
134	134	(5) evidence that the results of the assessment
135	135	required under Subsection (b) are determined in collaboration with
136	136	the child's family and permanency team;
137	137	(6) the child's family and permanency team's placement
138	138	preferences relative to the assessment that recognizes that
139	139	children should be placed with their siblings unless a court finds
140	140	that such a placement is contrary to the child's best interest; and
141	141	(7) if the placement preferences of the child's family
142	142	and permanency team and the child are not the placement setting
143	143	recommended by the qualified individual conducting the assessment
144	144	under Subsection (b), the reason that the preferences of the team
145	145	and of the child were not recommended.
146	146	(e) If the qualified individual conducting the assessment
147	147	under Subsection (b) determines the child should not be placed in a
148	148	cottage family home or an agency foster home, the qualified
149	149	individual shall specify in writing the reasons that the needs of
150	150	the child cannot be met by the child's family or in a cottage family
151	151	home or an agency foster home. The qualified individual may not cite
152	152	a shortage or lack of cottage family homes or an agency foster homes
153	153	as an acceptable reason for determining that the needs of the child
154	154	cannot be met in a cottage family home or an agency foster home.
155	155	(f) If the qualified individual conducting the assessment
156	156	under Subsection (b) determines the child should be placed in a
157	157	residential treatment center, the qualified individual shall
158	158	specify in writing the reasons that the recommended placement in a
159	159	residential treatment center is the setting that will provide the
160	160	child with the most effective and appropriate level of care in the
161	161	least restrictive environment and how that placement is consistent
162	162	with the short-term and long-term goals for the child, as specified
163	163	in the child's permanency plan.
164	164	(g) The department may submit a request to the
165	165	Administration for Children and Families of the United States
166	166	Department of Health and Human Services to allow the department to
167	167	appoint department employees or persons connected to, or affiliated
168	168	with, a facility as qualified individuals to perform the
169	169	assessments described by Subsection (b). The request must certify
170	170	that the department will require the person appointed to perform an
171	171	assessment to maintain objectivity with respect to determining the
172	172	most effective and appropriate placement for a child.
173	173	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.