87R6365 MM-F
By: Oliverson H.B. No. 4476
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to assessment and oversight of children placed by the
Department of Family and Protective Services in a residential
treatment center.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 263, Family Code, is
amended by adding Section 263.00201 to read as follows:
Sec. 263.00201. REVIEW OF PLACEMENT IN RESIDENTIAL
TREATMENT CENTER. (a) Not later than the 60th day after the date
the department places a child in a residential treatment center, a
court shall:
(1) consider the assessment, determination, and
documentation made by a qualified individual under Section
264.1077(b) regarding the child's placement;
(2) determine whether the child's needs can be met
through placement in a cottage family home or an agency foster home
and, if not, whether:
(A) placing the child in a residential treatment
center provides the most effective and appropriate level of care
for the child in the least restrictive environment; and
(B) placement in a residential treatment
facility is consistent with the short-term and long-term goals for
the child, as specified in the child's permanency plan; and
(3) approve or disapprove the placement.
(b) The written documentation prepared by a qualified
individual under Sections 264.1077(e) and (f) and any documentation
regarding the determination and approval or disapproval of the
placement in a residential treatment center by the court under
Subsection (a) shall be included in and made part of the child's
permanency plan.
(c) As long as a child remains in a residential treatment
center, the department shall submit evidence at each status review
and each permanency hearing held with respect to the child:
(1) demonstrating that:
(A) ongoing assessment of the strengths and needs
of the child continues to support the determination that the needs
of the child cannot be met through placement in a cottage family
home or an agency foster home;
(B) placement in a residential treatment center
provides the most effective and appropriate level of care for the
child in the least restrictive environment; and
(C) the placement is consistent with the
short-term and long-term goals for the child, as specified in the
child's permanency plan;
(2) documenting the specific treatment or service
needs that will be met for the child in the placement and the length
of time the child is expected to need the treatment or services; and
(3) documenting the efforts made by the department to
prepare the child to return home or to be placed in a cottage family
home or an agency foster home or with a fit and willing relative,
legal guardian, or adoptive parent.
(d) For a child who is at least 13 years of age and is placed
in a residential treatment center for more than 12 consecutive
months or 18 nonconsecutive months and for a child who is younger
than 13 years of age and is placed in a residential treatment center
for more than 6 consecutive or nonconsecutive months, the
department shall submit to the Administration for Children and
Families of the United States Department of Health and Human
Services:
(1) the most recent version of the evidence and
documentation described by Subsection (c); and
(2) the signed approval of the commissioner for the
continued placement of the child in that setting.
SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 264, Family Code, is
amended by adding Section 264.1077 to read as follows:
Sec. 264.1077. RESIDENTIAL CARE PLACEMENT: ASSESSMENT. (a)
In this section, "qualified individual" means a licensed health
care or mental health professional who is not an employee of the
department and who is not connected to, or affiliated with, any
facility in which a child may be placed by the department.
(b) Not later than the 30th day after the date the
department places a child in a residential treatment center, a
qualified individual, in collaboration with the child's family and
permanency team, shall:
(1) assess the strengths and needs of the child using
an age-appropriate, evidence-based, validated, and functional
assessment tool approved by the Administration for Children and
Families of the United States Department of Health and Human
Services;
(2) determine whether the needs of the child can be met
by the child's family members or through placement in a cottage
family home or an agency foster home;
(3) if the child's needs cannot be met under
Subdivision (2), determine whether one of the following settings
would provide the most effective and appropriate level of care for
the child in the least restrictive environment and be consistent
with the short-term and long-term goals for the child, as specified
in the permanency plan for the child:
(A) a qualified residential treatment program as
defined in the federal Family First Prevention Services Act (Title
VII, Div. E, Pub. L. No. 115-123);
(B) a setting specializing in providing
prenatal, postpartum, or parenting support for foster youth;
(C) for a child who is at least 18 years of age, a
supervised setting in which the child lives independently; or
(D) a setting providing high-quality residential
care and supportive services to children and youth who have been
found to be, or are at risk of becoming, sex trafficking victims;
and
(4) develop a list of specific short-term and
long-term mental and behavioral health goals for the child.
(c) The department shall assemble a family and permanency
team for the child that consists of appropriate biological family
members, other relatives of the child, individuals who have a
long-standing and significant relationship with a child or the
child's family, and, as appropriate, professionals who are a
resource to the child's family, including teachers, medical or
mental health providers who have treated the child, and clergy. A
child who is 14 years of age or older may recommend individuals to
serve on the child's family and permanency team.
(d) The department shall document in the child's permanency
plan:
(1) the reasonable and good faith effort of the
department to identify and include on the child's family and
permanency team the individuals described in Subsection (c);
(2) the contact information for members of the child's
family and permanency team, as well as contact information for
other family members and individuals who have a long-standing and
significant relationship with a child or the child's family who are
not part of the family and permanency team;
(3) evidence that meetings of the child's family and
permanency team, including meetings relating to the assessment
required under Subsection (b), are held at a time and place
convenient for the child's family;
(4) if reunification is the goal for the child,
evidence demonstrating that the parent from whom the child was
removed provided input regarding the members of the child's family
and permanency team;
(5) evidence that the results of the assessment
required under Subsection (b) are determined in collaboration with
the child's family and permanency team;
(6) the child's family and permanency team's placement
preferences relative to the assessment that recognizes that
children should be placed with their siblings unless a court finds
that such a placement is contrary to the child's best interest; and
(7) if the placement preferences of the child's family
and permanency team and the child are not the placement setting
recommended by the qualified individual conducting the assessment
under Subsection (b), the reason that the preferences of the team
and of the child were not recommended.
(e) If the qualified individual conducting the assessment
under Subsection (b) determines the child should not be placed in a
cottage family home or an agency foster home, the qualified
individual shall specify in writing the reasons that the needs of
the child cannot be met by the child's family or in a cottage family
home or an agency foster home. The qualified individual may not cite
a shortage or lack of cottage family homes or an agency foster homes
as an acceptable reason for determining that the needs of the child
cannot be met in a cottage family home or an agency foster home.
(f) If the qualified individual conducting the assessment
under Subsection (b) determines the child should be placed in a
residential treatment center, the qualified individual shall
specify in writing the reasons that the recommended placement in a
residential treatment center is the setting that will provide the
child with the most effective and appropriate level of care in the
least restrictive environment and how that placement is consistent
with the short-term and long-term goals for the child, as specified
in the child's permanency plan.
(g) The department may submit a request to the
Administration for Children and Families of the United States
Department of Health and Human Services to allow the department to
appoint department employees or persons connected to, or affiliated
with, a facility as qualified individuals to perform the
assessments described by Subsection (b). The request must certify
that the department will require the person appointed to perform an
assessment to maintain objectivity with respect to determining the
most effective and appropriate placement for a child.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.