By: Frank H.B. No. 730
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to procedures and standards for certain investigations and
suits affecting the parent child relationship.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 105, Family Code, is amended by adding
Section 105.010 to read as follows:
Sec. 105.010. BEST INTEREST OF THE CHILD. In a suit between
a parent and a non-parent under this title, it is a rebuttable
presumption that it is in a child's best interest to be raised by
the child's parents and that a parent's decisions are in the best
interest of the child.
SECTION 2. Section 261.303, Family Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (b) and (c) and adding Subsection (f) to read
as follows:
(b) If admission to the home, school, or any place where the
child may be cannot be obtained, thenandfor good cause shown the
court having family law jurisdiction finds probable cause to
believe that admission is necessary to protect the child from abuse
or neglect, then the court shall order the parent, the person
responsible for the care of the children, or the person in charge of
any place where the child may be to allow entrance for the
interview, examination, and investigation.
(c) If a parent or person responsible for the child's care
does not consent to release of the child's prior medical,
psychological, or psychiatric records or to a medical,
psychological, or psychiatric examination of the child that is
requested by the department,and the court having family law
jurisdiction finds probable cause to believe that release or
examination is necessary to protect the child from abuse or
neglect, then the court shall, for good cause shown, order the
records to be released or the examination to be made at the times
and places designated by the court.
(f) An order described by subsections (b) or (c) may only be
issued after notice and a hearing. The hearing may not be ex parte
unless the court finds probable cause to believe that there is an
immediate risk to the physical health or safety of the child and
there is no time, consistent with the physical health or safety of
the child, for a full hearing.
SECTION 3. Section 261.307, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 261.307. INFORMATION RELATING TO INVESTIGATION
PROCEDURE AND CHILD PLACEMENT RESOURCES. (a) After [As soon as
possible after] initiating an investigation of a parent or other
person having legal custody of a child, the department shall, upon
first contact with the person, provide to the person:
(1) a summary that:
(A) is brief and easily understood;
(B) is written in a language that the person
understands, or if the person is illiterate, is read to the person
in a language that the person understands; and
(C) contains the following information:
(i) the department's procedures for
conducting an investigation of alleged child abuse or neglect,
including:
(a) a description of the
circumstances under which the department would request to remove
the child from the home through the judicial system; and
(b) an explanation that the law
requires the department to refer all reports of alleged child abuse
or neglect to a law enforcement agency for a separate determination
of whether a criminal violation occurred;
(ii) the person's right to file a complaint
with the department or to request a review of the findings made by
the department in the investigation;
(iii) the person's right to review all
records of the investigation unless the review would jeopardize an
ongoing criminal investigation or the child's safety;
(iv) the person's right to seek legal
counsel;
(v) references to the statutory and
regulatory provisions governing child abuse and neglect and how the
person may obtain copies of those provisions; [and]
(vi) the process the person may use to
acquire access to the child if the child is removed from the home;
and
(vii) the rights listed under Subdivision
(2);
(2) a verbal notification of the right to:
(A) not speak with any agent of the department
without legal counsel present;
(B) assistance by an attorney;
(C) have a court-appointed attorney if the person
is indigent;
(D) record any interaction or interview subject
to the understanding that the recording may be disclosed to the
department, law enforcement, or another party under a court order;
(E) refuse to allow the investigator to enter the
home or interview the children without legal counsel present;
(F) withhold consent to the release of any
medical or mental health records;
(G) withhold consent to any medical or
psychological examination of the child;
(H) refuse to submit to a drug test; and
(I) consult with legal counsel prior to agreeing
to any proposed voluntary safety plan;
(3) if the department determines that removal of the
child may be warranted, a proposed child placement resources form
that:
(A) instructs the parent or other person having
legal custody of the child to:
(i) complete and return the form to the
department or agency;
(ii) identify in the form at least three
individuals who could be relative caregivers or designated
caregivers, as those terms are defined by Section 264.751;
(iii) ask the child in a developmentally
appropriate manner to identify any adult, particularly an adult
residing in the child's community, who could be a relative
caregiver or designated caregiver for the child; and
(iv) list on the form the name of each
individual identified by the child as a potential relative
caregiver or designated caregiver; and
(B) informs the parent or other person of a
location that is available to the parent or other person to submit
the information in the form 24 hours a day either in person or by
facsimile machine or e-mail; and
(4) [(3)] an informational manual required by Section
261.3071.
(b) The child placement resources form described by
Subsection (a)(3) [(a)(2)] must include information on the periods
of time by which the department must complete a background check.
(c) The department shall adopt a form for the purpose of
verifying that the parent or other person having legal custody of
the child received the verbal notification and written summary
required by this section.
SECTION 4. Section 262.206, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 262.206. EX PARTE HEARINGS PROHIBITED. (a) Unless
otherwise authorized by this chapter or other law, a hearing held by
a court in a suit under this chapter may not be ex parte.
(b) An ex parte hearing held under this Chapter must be
recorded by a court reporter or by audio or video tape recording.
(c) The record of an ex parte hearing held under this
Chapter must be made available to all parties to the suit upon
request.
SECTION 5. Section 263.307, Family Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:
(a-1) The presumption described by Section 105.010 shall be
the court's primary consideration.
SECTION 6. Section 264.902, Family Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (e), (f), and (g) to
read as follows:
(a) A parental child safety placement agreement must
include terms that clearly state:
(1) the respective duties of the person making the
placement and the caregiver, including a plan for how the caregiver
will access necessary medical treatment for the child and the
caregiver's duty to ensure that a school-age child is enrolled in
and attending school;
(2) conditions under which the person placing the
child may have access to the child, including how often the person
may visit and the circumstances under which the person's visit may
occur;
(3) the duties of the department;
(4) subject to Subsection (f), the date on which the
agreement will terminate unless terminated sooner or extended to a
subsequent date as provided under department policy; and
(5) any other term the department determines necessary
for the safety and welfare of the child.
(e) The department must notify the parent, caregiver, or
other person with whom the child resides of their right to consult
with an attorney before entering into a parental child safety
placement agreement and provide the parent, caregiver, or other
person with whom the child resides with a reasonable time in which
to do so.
(1) If the parent or caregiver exercises their right
to consult with an attorney, the department may continue to monitor
the child to ensure the child's safety.
(2) If the parent or caregiver waives their right to
consult with an attorney prior to entering into the agreement, the
agreement shall include language stating that the parent or
caregiver waived this right.
(f) A parental child safety placement agreement
automatically terminates on the earlier of the 30th day after the
date:
(1) the agreement is signed; or
(2) the child is placed with the caregiver.
(g) On the expiration of a parental child safety placement
agreement, the department may for good cause enter into not more
than one additional parental child safety placement agreement for
the child. On entering the parental child safety placement
agreement, the department shall:
(1) reevaluate the terms and conditions of the
original agreement; and
(2) notify the parents of their right to:
(A) refuse to enter into the agreement; and
(B) be represented by an attorney or a
court-appointed attorney if the parent is indigent and if the
department subsequently seeks a court order to require the parents
to participate in services.
SECTION 7. Subchapter L, Chapter 264, Family Code, is
amended by adding Sections 264.907 and 264.908 to read as follows:
Sec. 264.907. INCLUSIONS IN REPORTS OF PARENTAL CHILD
SAFETY PLACEMENTS. The department shall include children who are
placed with a caregiver under a parental child safety placement
agreement in any report, including reports submitted to the United
States Department of Health and Human Services or another federal
agency, in which the department is required to report the number of
children in the child protective services system who are removed
from the children's homes.
Sec. 264.908. REPORT ON COURT-ORDERED PARTICIPATION IN
SERVICES. The department shall report the number of cases in which
a court under Section 264.203 orders the parent, managing
conservator, guardian, or other member of the child's household of
a child who is placed with a caregiver under a parental child safety
placement to participate in services.
SECTION 8. Section 105.010, Family Code, as added by this
Act applies only to an order rendered in a suit affecting the
parent-child relationship on or after the effective date of this
Act. An order rendered in a suit affecting the parent-child
relationship before that date is governed by the law in effect on
the date the suit was filed, and the former law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 9. Section 261.303, Family Code, as amended by this
Act applies only to orders in aid of investigation requested on or
after the effective date of this Act. An order in aid of
investigation requested 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 10. Section 261.307, Family Code, as amended by
this Act applies only to an investigation of a report of child abuse
or neglect that is made on or after the effective date of this Act.
An investigation of a report of abuse or neglect made before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
date the report was made, and the former law is continued in effect
for that purpose.
SECTION 11. Section 262.206, Family Code, as amended by
this Act applies only to an ex parte hearing held on or after the
effective date of this Act. An ex parte hearing held before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law as it existed
immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 12. Section 264.902, Family Code, as amended by
this Act and Sections 264.907 and 264.908, Family Code, as added by
this Act apply only to parental child safety placement agreements
executed on or before the effective date of this Act. Parental
child safety placement agreements executed before the effective
date of this Act are governed by the law as it existed immediately
before the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 13. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.