By: Kolkhorst, et al. S.B. No. 1853
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to certain procedures in a suit affecting the parent-child
relationship for a child placed in the conservatorship of the
Department of Family and Protective Services and the provision of
community-based foster care.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 262.401(3), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(3) "Family preservation service" means [a]
time-limited, family-focused services [service], including:
(A) services [a service] subject to the Family
First Prevention Services Act (Title VII, Div. E, Pub. L.
No. 115-123), family-based safety services, and services approved
under the Title IV-E state plan, provided to the family of a child
who is:
(i) [(A)] a candidate for foster care to
prevent or eliminate the need to remove the child and to allow the
child to remain safely with the child's family;
(ii) [or (B)] a pregnant or parenting
foster youth;
(iii) in joint managing conservatorship
with the Department of Family and Protective Services under Section
262.352 or in the relinquishment avoidance program under Section
262.353; or
(iv) the subject of an investigation of
abuse or neglect that resulted in a disposition of reason to believe
abuse or neglect occurred and, absent the provision of services, is
a child the department plans to remove from the child's home; and
(B) enhanced in-home support services and
nonrecurring financial support to promote safe and stable families.
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 263, Family Code, is
amended by adding Section 263.0022 to read as follows:
Sec. 263.0022. TEMPORARY EMERGENCY SUPERVISION. (a) In
this section, "temporary emergency supervision" means the
supervision and care provided by the department for a child without
placement for whom the department has been appointed as the
temporary or permanent managing conservator.
(b) The department may not advocate for and a court may not
render an order placing a child in temporary emergency supervision
if a safe and appropriate placement is available.
SECTION 3. Section 264.1261(b), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) Appropriate department management personnel from a
child protective services region in which community-based care has
not been implemented, in collaboration with foster care providers,
faith-based organizations [entities], and child advocates in that
region, shall use data collected by the department on foster care
capacity needs and availability of each type of foster care and
kinship placement in the region to create a plan to address the
substitute care capacity needs in the region. The plan must
identify both short-term and long-term goals and strategies for
addressing those capacity needs.
SECTION 4. Section 264.152, Family Code, is amended by
amending Subdivision (2) and adding Subdivisions (5) and (6) to
read as follows:
(2) "Case management" means the provision of case
management services to a child for whom the department has been
appointed temporary or permanent managing conservator or to the
child's family, a young adult in extended foster care, a relative or
kinship caregiver, or a child who has been placed in the catchment
area through the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children,
and includes:
(A) caseworker visits with the child;
(B) family and caregiver visits;
(C) convening and conducting permanency planning
meetings;
(D) the development and revision of child and
family plans of service, including a permanency plan and goals for a
child or young adult in care;
(E) the coordination and monitoring of services
required by the child and the child's family or caregivers,
including:
(i) pre-adoption and post-adoption
assistance; and
(ii) services for children in the
conservatorship of the department who must transition to
independent living;
(F) the assumption of court-related duties
regarding the child, including:
(i) providing any required notifications or
consultations;
(ii) preparing court reports;
(iii) attending judicial and permanency
hearings, trials, and mediations;
(iv) complying with applicable court
orders; and
(v) ensuring the child is progressing
toward the goal of permanency within state and federally mandated
guidelines; and
(G) any other function or service that the
department determines necessary to allow a single source continuum
contractor to assume responsibility for case management.
(5) "Faith-based organization" means a religious or
denominational institution or organization, including an
organization operated for religious, educational, or charitable
purposes and operated, supervised, or controlled, in whole or in
part, by or in connection with a religious organization.
(6) "Family preservation service" means time-limited,
family-focused services, including:
(A) services subject to the Family First
Prevention Services Act (Title VII, Div. E, Pub. L. No. 115-123),
family-based safety services, and services approved under the Title
IV-E state plan provided to the family of a child who is:
(i) a candidate for foster care to prevent
or eliminate the need to remove the child and to allow the child to
remain safely with the child's family;
(ii) a pregnant or parenting foster youth;
(iii) in joint managing conservatorship
with the Department of Family and Protective Services under Section
262.352; or
(iv) the subject of an investigation of
abuse or neglect that resulted in a disposition of reason to believe
abuse or neglect occurred and, absent the provision of services, is
a child the department plans to remove from the child's home; and
(B) enhanced in-home support services and
nonrecurring financial support to promote safe and stable families.
SECTION 5. The heading to Section 264.155, Family Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 264.155. [REQUIRED] CONTRACT PROVISIONS.
SECTION 6. Section 264.155, Family Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-1) to read as
follows:
(a) A contract with a single source continuum contractor to
provide community-based care services in a catchment area must
include provisions that:
(1) establish a timeline for the implementation of
community-based care in the catchment area, including a timeline
for implementing:
(A) family preservation services;
(B) case management services for children,
families, and relative and kinship caregivers receiving services in
the catchment area; and
(C) [(B)] family reunification support services
to be provided after a child receiving services from the contractor
is returned to the child's family;
(2) establish conditions for the single source
continuum contractor's access to relevant department data and
require the participation of the contractor in the data access and
standards governance council created under Section 264.159;
(3) require the single source continuum contractor to
create a single process for the training and use of alternative
caregivers for all child-placing agencies in the catchment area to
facilitate reciprocity of licenses for alternative caregivers
between agencies, including respite and overnight care providers,
as those terms are defined by department rule;
(4) require the single source continuum contractor to
maintain a diverse network of service providers that offer a range
of foster capacity options and that can accommodate children from
diverse cultural backgrounds;
(5) allow the department to conduct a performance
review of the contractor beginning 18 months after the contractor
has begun providing case management and family reunification
support services to all children and families in the catchment area
and determine if the contractor has achieved any performance
outcomes specified in the contract;
(6) following the review under Subdivision (5), allow
the department to:
(A) impose financial penalties on the contractor
for failing to meet any specified performance outcomes; or
(B) award financial incentives to the contractor
for exceeding any specified performance outcomes;
(7) following the review under Subdivision (5),
transfer the provision of family preservation services to the
contractor;
(8) require the contractor to give preference for
employment to employees of the department:
(A) whose position at the department is impacted
by the implementation of community-based care; and
(B) who are considered by the department to be
employees in good standing;
(9) [(8)] require the contractor to provide
preliminary and ongoing community engagement plans to ensure
communication and collaboration with local stakeholders in the
catchment area, including any of the following:
(A) community faith-based organizations
[entities];
(B) the judiciary;
(C) court-appointed special advocates;
(D) child advocacy centers;
(E) service providers;
(F) foster families;
(G) biological parents;
(H) foster youth and former foster youth;
(I) relative or kinship caregivers;
(J) child welfare boards, if applicable;
(K) attorneys ad litem;
(L) attorneys that represent parents involved in
suits filed by the department; and
(M) any other stakeholders, as determined by the
contractor; and
(10) [(9)] require that the contractor comply with any
applicable court order issued by a court of competent jurisdiction
in the case of a child for whom the contractor has assumed case
management responsibilities or an order imposing a requirement on
the department that relates to functions assumed by the contractor.
(a-1) A contract with a single source continuum contractor
to provide community-based care services in a catchment area may
include provisions that require the contractor to develop a program
to recruit and retain foster parents from faith-based
organizations, including requirements for the contractor to:
(1) collaborate with faith-based organizations to
inform prospective foster parents about:
(A) the need for foster parents in the community;
(B) the requirements for becoming a foster
parent; and
(C) any other aspect of the foster care program
that is necessary to recruit foster parents;
(2) provide training for prospective foster parents;
and
(3) identify and recommend ways in which faith-based
organizations may support persons as they are recruited, are
trained, and serve as foster parents.
SECTION 7. Section 264.156(a), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The department shall develop a formal review process to
assess the ability of a single source continuum contractor to
satisfy the responsibilities and administrative requirements of
delivering foster care services and services for relative and
kinship caregivers, including the contractor's ability to provide:
(1) family preservation services;
(2) case management services for children and
families;
(3) [(2)] evidence-based, promising practice, or
evidence-informed supports for children and families; and
(4) [(3)] sufficient available capacity for inpatient
and outpatient services and supports for children at all service
levels who have previously been placed in the catchment area.
SECTION 8. Sections 264.158(a) and (b), Family Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) In each initial catchment area where community-based
care has been implemented or a contract with a single source
continuum contractor has been executed before September 1, 2017,
the department shall transfer to the single source continuum
contractor providing foster care services in that area:
(1) family preservation services;
(2) the case management of children, relative and
kinship caregivers, and families receiving services from that
contractor; and
(3) [(2)] family reunification support services to be
provided after a child receiving services from the contractor is
returned to the child's family for the period of time ordered by the
court.
(b) The commission shall include a provision in a contract
with a single source continuum contractor to provide foster care
services and services for relative and kinship caregivers in a
catchment area to which community-based care is expanded after
September 1, 2017, that requires the transfer to the contractor of
the provision of:
(1) family preservation services;
(2) the case management services for children,
relative and kinship caregivers, and families in the catchment area
where the contractor will be operating; and
(3) [(2)] family reunification support services to be
provided after a child receiving services from the contractor is
returned to the child's family.
SECTION 9. Sections 264.113(a), (b), and (c), Family Code,
are repealed.
SECTION 10. (a) Section 263.0022, Family Code, as added by
this Act, applies to a placement review hearing of a child
regardless of the date on which the Department of Family and
Protective Services is named the child's managing conservator.
(b) Sections 264.152, 264.155, 264.156(a), and 264.158(a)
and (b), Family Code, as amended by this Act, apply only to a
contract with a single source continuum contractor entered into on
or after the effective date of this Act. A contract with a single
source continuum contractor entered into before the effective date
of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the contract
was entered into, and the former law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 11. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.