Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas House Bill HB2029 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	88R4696 MLH-F
2	2	By: Dutton H.B. No. 2029
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the definitions of abuse and neglect of a child.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Section 71.004, Family Code, is amended to read
10	10	as follows:
11	11	Sec. 71.004. FAMILY VIOLENCE. "Family violence" means:
12	12	(1) an act by a member of a family or household against
13	13	another member of the family or household that is intended to result
14	14	in physical harm, bodily injury, assault, or sexual assault or that
15	15	is a threat that reasonably places the member in fear of imminent
16	16	physical harm, bodily injury, assault, or sexual assault, but does
17	17	not include defensive measures to protect oneself;
18	18	(2) abuse, as that term is defined by Sections
19	19	261.001(1)(A)(iii), (v), (vii), (viii), (ix), (x), (xi), and (xiii)
20	20	[261.001(1)(C), (E), (G), (H), (I), (J), (K), and (M)], by a member
21	21	of a family or household toward a child of the family or household;
22	22	or
23	23	(3) dating violence, as that term is defined by
24	24	Section 71.0021.
25	25	SECTION 2. Section 261.001(1), Family Code, is amended to
26	26	read as follows:
27	27	(1) "Abuse" includes:
28	28	(A) the following acts or omissions by a person:
29	29	(i) [(A)] mental or emotional injury to a
30	30	child that results in an observable and material impairment in the
31	31	child's growth, development, or psychological functioning;
32	32	(ii) [(B)] causing or permitting the child
33	33	to be in a situation in which the child sustains a mental or
34	34	emotional injury that results in an observable and material
35	35	impairment in the child's growth, development, or psychological
36	36	functioning;
37	37	(iii) [(C)] physical injury that results in
38	38	substantial harm to the child, or the genuine threat of substantial
39	39	harm from physical injury to the child, including an injury that is
40	40	at variance with the history or explanation given and excluding an
41	41	accident or reasonable discipline by a parent, guardian, or
42	42	managing or possessory conservator that does not expose the child
43	43	to a substantial risk of harm;
44	44	(iv) [(D)] failure to make a reasonable
45	45	effort to prevent an action by another person that results in
46	46	physical injury that results in substantial harm to the child;
47	47	(v) [(E)] sexual conduct harmful to a
48	48	child's mental, emotional, or physical welfare, including conduct
49	49	that constitutes the offense of continuous sexual abuse of young
50	50	child or disabled individual under Section 21.02, Penal Code,
51	51	indecency with a child under Section 21.11, Penal Code, sexual
52	52	assault under Section 22.011, Penal Code, or aggravated sexual
53	53	assault under Section 22.021, Penal Code;
54	54	(vi) [(F)] failure to make a reasonable
55	55	effort to prevent sexual conduct harmful to a child;
56	56	(vii) [(G)] compelling or encouraging the
57	57	child to engage in sexual conduct as defined by Section 43.01, Penal
58	58	Code, including compelling or encouraging the child in a manner
59	59	that constitutes an offense of trafficking of persons under Section
60	60	20A.02(a)(7) or (8), Penal Code, solicitation of prostitution under
61	61	Section 43.021, Penal Code, or compelling prostitution under
62	62	Section 43.05(a)(2), Penal Code;
63	63	(viii) [(H)] causing, permitting,
64	64	encouraging, engaging in, or allowing the photographing, filming,
65	65	or depicting of the child if the person knew or should have known
66	66	that the resulting photograph, film, or depiction of the child is
67	67	obscene as defined by Section 43.21, Penal Code, or pornographic;
68	68	(ix) [(I)] the current use by a person of a
69	69	controlled substance as defined by Chapter 481, Health and Safety
70	70	Code, in a manner or to the extent that the use results in physical,
71	71	mental, or emotional injury to a child;
72	72	(x) [(J)] causing, expressly permitting,
73	73	or encouraging a child to use a controlled substance as defined by
74	74	Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code;
75	75	(xi) [(K)] causing, permitting,
76	76	encouraging, engaging in, or allowing a sexual performance by a
77	77	child as defined by Section 43.25, Penal Code;
78	78	(xii) [(L)] knowingly causing, permitting,
79	79	encouraging, engaging in, or allowing a child to be trafficked in a
80	80	manner punishable as an offense under Section 20A.02(a)(5), (6),
81	81	(7), or (8), Penal Code, or the failure to make a reasonable effort
82	82	to prevent a child from being trafficked in a manner punishable as
83	83	an offense under any of those sections; or
84	84	(xiii) [(M)] forcing or coercing a child to
85	85	enter into a marriage; and
86	86	(B) an employee, volunteer, or other individual
87	87	working under the auspices of a school, facility, or program using a
88	88	form of restraint on a child or secluding a child in a manner that
89	89	does not comply with federal law, state law, state rules, or other
90	90	applicable regulations for the school, facility, or program.
91	91	SECTION 3. Section 261.001(4), Family Code, as amended by
92	92	Chapters 8 (H.B. 567) and 29 (H.B. 2536), Acts of the 87th
93	93	Legislature, Regular Session, 2021, is reenacted and amended to
94	94	read as follows:
95	95	(4) "Neglect" means an act or failure to act by a
96	96	person responsible for a child's care, custody, or welfare
97	97	evidencing the person's blatant disregard for the consequences of
98	98	the act or failure to act that results in harm to the child or that
99	99	creates an immediate danger to the child's physical health or
100	100	safety and:
101	101	(A) includes:
102	102	(i) the leaving of a child in a situation
103	103	where the child would be exposed to an immediate danger of physical
104	104	or mental harm, without arranging for necessary care for the child,
105	105	and the demonstration of an intent not to return by a parent,
106	106	guardian, or managing or possessory conservator of the child;
107	107	(ii) the following acts or omissions by a
108	108	person:
109	109	(a) placing a child in or failing to
110	110	remove a child from a situation that a reasonable person would
111	111	realize requires judgment or actions beyond the child's level of
112	112	maturity, physical condition, or mental abilities and that results
113	113	in bodily injury or an immediate danger of harm to the child;
114	114	(b) failing to seek, obtain, or follow
115	115	through with medical care for a child, with the failure resulting in
116	116	or presenting an immediate danger of death, disfigurement, or
117	117	bodily injury or with the failure resulting in an observable and
118	118	material impairment to the growth, development, or functioning of
119	119	the child;
120	120	(c) the failure to provide a child
121	121	with food, clothing, or shelter necessary to sustain the life or
122	122	health of the child, excluding failure caused primarily by
123	123	financial inability unless relief services had been offered and
124	124	refused;
125	125	(d) placing a child in or failing to
126	126	remove the child from a situation in which the child would be
127	127	exposed to an immediate danger of sexual conduct harmful to the
128	128	child; or
129	129	(e) placing a child in or failing to
130	130	remove the child from a situation in which the child would be
131	131	exposed to acts or omissions that constitute abuse under
132	132	Subdivision (1)(A)(v), (vi), (vii), (viii), or (xi) [(1)(E), (F),
133	133	(G), (H), or (K)] committed against another child;
134	134	(iii) the failure by the person responsible
135	135	for a child's care, custody, or welfare to permit the child to
136	136	return to the child's home without arranging for the necessary care
137	137	for the child after the child has been absent from the home for any
138	138	reason, including having been in residential placement or having
139	139	run away; or
140	140	(iv) a negligent act or omission by an
141	141	employee, volunteer, or other individual working under the auspices
142	142	of a school, facility, or program, including failure to comply with
143	143	an individual treatment plan, plan of care, or individualized
144	144	service plan, that causes or may cause substantial emotional harm
145	145	or physical injury to, or the death of, a child served by the
146	146	school, facility, or program as further described by rule or
147	147	policy; and
148	148	(B) does not include:
149	149	(i) the refusal by a person responsible for
150	150	a child's care, custody, or welfare to permit the child to remain in
151	151	or return to the child's home resulting in the placement of the
152	152	child in the conservatorship of the department if:
153	153	(a) the child has a severe emotional
154	154	disturbance;
155	155	(b) the person's refusal is based
156	156	solely on the person's inability to obtain mental health services
157	157	necessary to protect the safety and well-being of the child; and
158	158	(c) the person has exhausted all
159	159	reasonable means available to the person to obtain the mental
160	160	health services described by Sub-subparagraph (b); [or]
161	161	(ii) allowing the child to engage in
162	162	independent activities that are appropriate and typical for the
163	163	child's level of maturity, physical condition, developmental
164	164	abilities, or culture; or
165	165	(iii) [(ii)] a decision by a person
166	166	responsible for a child's care, custody, or welfare to:
167	167	(a) obtain an opinion from more than
168	168	one medical provider relating to the child's medical care;
169	169	(b) transfer the child's medical care
170	170	to a new medical provider; or
171	171	(c) transfer the child to another
172	172	health care facility.
173	173	SECTION 4. To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails
174	174	over another Act of the 88th Legislature, Regular Session, 2023,
175	175	relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
176	176	codes.
177	177	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.