Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas House Bill HB4905 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	88R23885 MLH-F
2	2	By: Campos H.B. No. 4905
3	3	Substitute the following for H.B. No. 4905:
4	4	By: Ramos C.S.H.B. No. 4905
5	5
6	6
7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to the definition of child neglect and to the appointment
10	10	of the Department of Family and Protective Services and a child's
11	11	parent or legal guardian as joint managing conservators of the
12	12	child.
13	13	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
14	14	SECTION 1. Section 261.001(4), Family Code, as amended by
15	15	Chapters 8 (H.B. 567) and 29 (H.B. 2536), Acts of the 87th
16	16	Legislature, Regular Session, 2021, is reenacted and amended to
17	17	read as follows:
18	18	(4) "Neglect" means an act or failure to act by a
19	19	person responsible for a child's care, custody, or welfare
20	20	evidencing the person's blatant disregard for the consequences of
21	21	the act or failure to act that results in harm to the child or that
22	22	creates an immediate danger to the child's physical health or
23	23	safety and:
24	24	(A) includes:
25	25	(i) the leaving of a child in a situation
26	26	where the child would be exposed to an immediate danger of physical
27	27	or mental harm, without arranging for necessary care for the child,
28	28	and the demonstration of an intent not to return by a parent,
29	29	guardian, or managing or possessory conservator of the child;
30	30	(ii) the following acts or omissions by a
31	31	person:
32	32	(a) placing a child in or failing to
33	33	remove a child from a situation that a reasonable person would
34	34	realize requires judgment or actions beyond the child's level of
35	35	maturity, physical condition, or mental abilities and that results
36	36	in bodily injury or an immediate danger of harm to the child;
37	37	(b) failing to seek, obtain, or follow
38	38	through with medical care for a child, with the failure resulting in
39	39	or presenting an immediate danger of death, disfigurement, or
40	40	bodily injury or with the failure resulting in an observable and
41	41	material impairment to the growth, development, or functioning of
42	42	the child;
43	43	(c) the failure to provide a child
44	44	with food, clothing, or shelter necessary to sustain the life or
45	45	health of the child, excluding failure caused primarily by
46	46	financial inability unless relief services had been offered and
47	47	refused;
48	48	(d) placing a child in or failing to
49	49	remove the child from a situation in which the child would be
50	50	exposed to an immediate danger of sexual conduct harmful to the
51	51	child; or
52	52	(e) placing a child in or failing to
53	53	remove the child from a situation in which the child would be
54	54	exposed to acts or omissions that constitute abuse under
55	55	Subdivision (1)(E), (F), (G), (H), or (K) committed against another
56	56	child;
57	57	(iii) the failure by the person responsible
58	58	for a child's care, custody, or welfare to permit the child to
59	59	return to the child's home without arranging for the necessary care
60	60	for the child after the child has been absent from the home for any
61	61	reason, including having been in residential placement or having
62	62	run away; or
63	63	(iv) a negligent act or omission by an
64	64	employee, volunteer, or other individual working under the auspices
65	65	of a facility or program, including failure to comply with an
66	66	individual treatment plan, plan of care, or individualized service
67	67	plan, that causes or may cause substantial emotional harm or
68	68	physical injury to, or the death of, a child served by the facility
69	69	or program as further described by rule or policy; and
70	70	(B) does not include:
71	71	(i) the refusal by a person responsible for
72	72	a child's care, custody, or welfare to permit the child to remain in
73	73	or return to the child's home resulting in the placement of the
74	74	child in the conservatorship of the department, including joint
75	75	managing conservatorship under Section 262.352, if:
76	76	(a) the child has a severe emotional
77	77	disturbance;
78	78	(b) the person's refusal is based
79	79	solely on the person's inability to obtain mental health services
80	80	necessary to protect the safety and well-being of the child; and
81	81	(c) the person has exhausted all
82	82	reasonable means available to the person to obtain the mental
83	83	health services described by Sub-subparagraph (b); [or]
84	84	(ii) allowing the child to engage in
85	85	independent activities that are appropriate and typical for the
86	86	child's level of maturity, physical condition, developmental
87	87	abilities, or culture; or
88	88	(iii) [(ii)] a decision by a person
89	89	responsible for a child's care, custody, or welfare to:
90	90	(a) obtain an opinion from more than
91	91	one medical provider relating to the child's medical care;
92	92	(b) transfer the child's medical care
93	93	to a new medical provider; or
94	94	(c) transfer the child to another
95	95	health care facility.
96	96	SECTION 2. Section 262.352, Family Code, is amended to read
97	97	as follows:
98	98	Sec. 262.352. JOINT MANAGING CONSERVATORSHIP OF CHILD. (a)
99	99	In this section, "hotel" has the meaning assigned by Section
100	100	792.001, Health and Safety Code.
101	101	(b) Before the department files a suit affecting the
102	102	parent-child relationship requesting managing conservatorship of a
103	103	child who suffers from a severe emotional disturbance in order to
104	104	obtain mental health services for the child, the department must,
105	105	unless it is not in the best interest of the child, discuss with the
106	106	child's parent or legal guardian the option of seeking a court order
107	107	for joint managing conservatorship of the child with the
108	108	department.
109	109	(c) A court shall enter an order appointing the department
110	110	and the child's parent or legal guardian as joint managing
111	111	conservators of the child if the court finds sufficient evidence to
112	112	satisfy a person of ordinary prudence and caution that:
113	113	(1) the child's parent or legal guardian has exhausted
114	114	all reasonable means available to the parent or legal guardian to
115	115	obtain mental health services to meet the child's needs;
116	116	(2) the child's parent or legal guardian has agreed to
117	117	actively participate in the child's service plan in preparation for
118	118	the child's return to the parent or legal guardian;
119	119	(3) the department is able to provide services
120	120	necessary to meet the child's mental health needs;
121	121	(4) the department has identified an available
122	122	licensed placement or a relative or other designated caregiver for
123	123	the child to meet the child's mental health needs; and
124	124	(5) joint managing conservatorship of the child is in
125	125	the child's best interest.
126	126	(d) A child in the joint managing conservatorship of the
127	127	department and the child's parent or legal guardian may not receive
128	128	temporary emergency care under Section 264.107(g) in a hotel or
129	129	other unlicensed setting.
130	130	(e) To offset the cost of the child's placement and medical
131	131	care, the court shall order the parent to pay child support and
132	132	medical support to the department in an amount equal to the cost of
133	133	care, unless the court finds that the parent is indigent.
134	134	(f) If the department is unable to identify an available
135	135	licensed placement to meet the mental health needs of a child in the
136	136	joint managing conservatorship of the department, the court shall:
137	137	(1) order the child to be placed with the child's
138	138	parent or legal guardian until the department identifies an
139	139	available licensed placement for the child; or
140	140	(2) remove the department as a joint managing
141	141	conservator of the child and dismiss the suit affecting the
142	142	parent-child relationship.
143	143	SECTION 3. To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails
144	144	over another Act of the 88th Legislature, Regular Session, 2023,
145	145	relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
146	146	codes.
147	147	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.