89R20567 AMF-F
By: Shaheen, Luther H.B. No. 1106
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1106:
By: Hull C.S.H.B. No. 1106
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the definitions of child abuse and neglect.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 261.001, Family Code, is amended by
adding Subdivision (1-a) and amending Subdivision (4) to read as
follows:
(1-a) "Abuse" does not include the refusal by a person
responsible for a child's care, custody, or welfare to affirm:
(A) a child's perception of the child's gender,
including a refusal to use a child's preferred name or pronouns,
regardless of whether the child's name has been legally changed; or
(B) a child's expressed sexual orientation.
(4) "Neglect" means an act or failure to act by a
person responsible for a child's care, custody, or welfare
evidencing the person's blatant disregard for the consequences of
the act or failure to act that results in harm to the child or that
creates an immediate danger to the child's physical health or
safety and:
(A) includes:
(i) the leaving of a child in a situation
where the child would be exposed to an immediate danger of physical
or mental harm, without arranging for necessary care for the child,
and the demonstration of an intent not to return by a parent,
guardian, or managing or possessory conservator of the child;
(ii) the following acts or omissions by a
person:
(a) placing a child in or failing to
remove a child from a situation that a reasonable person would
realize requires judgment or actions beyond the child's level of
maturity, physical condition, or mental abilities and that results
in bodily injury or an immediate danger of harm to the child;
(b) failing to seek, obtain, or follow
through with medical care for a child, with the failure resulting in
or presenting an immediate danger of death, disfigurement, or
bodily injury or with the failure resulting in an observable and
material impairment to the growth, development, or functioning of
the child;
(c) the failure to provide a child
with food, clothing, or shelter necessary to sustain the life or
health of the child, excluding failure caused primarily by
financial inability unless relief services had been offered and
refused;
(d) placing a child in or failing to
remove the child from a situation in which the child would be
exposed to an immediate danger of sexual conduct harmful to the
child; or
(e) placing a child in or failing to
remove the child from a situation in which the child would be
exposed to acts or omissions that constitute abuse under
Subdivision (1)(E), (F), (G), (H), or (K) committed against another
child;
(iii) the failure by the person responsible
for a child's care, custody, or welfare to permit the child to
return to the child's home without arranging for the necessary care
for the child after the child has been absent from the home for any
reason, including having been in residential placement or having
run away; or
(iv) a negligent act or omission by an
employee, volunteer, or other individual working under the auspices
of a facility or program, including failure to comply with an
individual treatment plan, plan of care, or individualized service
plan, that causes or may cause substantial emotional harm or
physical injury to, or the death of, a child served by the facility
or program as further described by rule or policy; and
(B) does not include:
(i) the refusal by a person responsible for
a child's care, custody, or welfare to permit the child to remain in
or return to the child's home resulting in the placement of the
child in the conservatorship of the department if:
(a) the child has a severe emotional
disturbance;
(b) the person's refusal is based
solely on the person's inability to obtain mental health services
necessary to protect the safety and well-being of the child; and
(c) the person has exhausted all
reasonable means available to the person to obtain the mental
health services described by Sub-subparagraph (b);
(ii) allowing the child to engage in
independent activities that are appropriate and typical for the
child's level of maturity, physical condition, developmental
abilities, or culture; [or]
(iii) a decision by a person responsible
for a child's care, custody, or welfare to:
(a) obtain an opinion from more than
one medical provider relating to the child's medical care;
(b) transfer the child's medical care
to a new medical provider; or
(c) transfer the child to another
health care facility; or
(iv) the refusal by a person responsible
for a child's care, custody, or welfare to affirm:
(a) a child's perception of the
child's gender, including a refusal to use a child's preferred name
or pronouns, regardless of whether the child's name has been
legally changed; or
(b) a child's expressed sexual
orientation.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.