Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HB2632 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R13597 AMF-F
2	2	By: Campos H.B. No. 2632
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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, is amended to
15	15	read as follows:
16	16	(4) "Neglect" means an act or failure to act by a
17	17	person responsible for a child's care, custody, or welfare
18	18	evidencing the person's blatant disregard for the consequences of
19	19	the act or failure to act that results in harm to the child or that
20	20	creates an immediate danger to the child's physical health or
21	21	safety and:
22	22	(A) includes:
23	23	(i) the leaving of a child in a situation
24	24	where the child would be exposed to an immediate danger of physical
25	25	or mental harm, without arranging for necessary care for the child,
26	26	and the demonstration of an intent not to return by a parent,
27	27	guardian, or managing or possessory conservator of the child;
28	28	(ii) the following acts or omissions by a
29	29	person:
30	30	(a) placing a child in or failing to
31	31	remove a child from a situation that a reasonable person would
32	32	realize requires judgment or actions beyond the child's level of
33	33	maturity, physical condition, or mental abilities and that results
34	34	in bodily injury or an immediate danger of harm to the child;
35	35	(b) failing to seek, obtain, or follow
36	36	through with medical care for a child, with the failure resulting in
37	37	or presenting an immediate danger of death, disfigurement, or
38	38	bodily injury or with the failure resulting in an observable and
39	39	material impairment to the growth, development, or functioning of
40	40	the child;
41	41	(c) the failure to provide a child
42	42	with food, clothing, or shelter necessary to sustain the life or
43	43	health of the child, excluding failure caused primarily by
44	44	financial inability unless relief services had been offered and
45	45	refused;
46	46	(d) placing a child in or failing to
47	47	remove the child from a situation in which the child would be
48	48	exposed to an immediate danger of sexual conduct harmful to the
49	49	child; or
50	50	(e) placing a child in or failing to
51	51	remove the child from a situation in which the child would be
52	52	exposed to acts or omissions that constitute abuse under
53	53	Subdivision (1)(E), (F), (G), (H), or (K) committed against another
54	54	child;
55	55	(iii) the failure by the person responsible
56	56	for a child's care, custody, or welfare to permit the child to
57	57	return to the child's home without arranging for the necessary care
58	58	for the child after the child has been absent from the home for any
59	59	reason, including having been in residential placement or having
60	60	run away; or
61	61	(iv) a negligent act or omission by an
62	62	employee, volunteer, or other individual working under the auspices
63	63	of a facility or program, including failure to comply with an
64	64	individual treatment plan, plan of care, or individualized service
65	65	plan, that causes or may cause substantial emotional harm or
66	66	physical injury to, or the death of, a child served by the facility
67	67	or program as further described by rule or policy; and
68	68	(B) does not include:
69	69	(i) the refusal by a person responsible for
70	70	a child's care, custody, or welfare to permit the child to remain in
71	71	or return to the child's home resulting in the placement of the
72	72	child in the conservatorship of the department, including joint
73	73	managing conservatorship under Section 262.352, if:
74	74	(a) the child has a severe emotional
75	75	disturbance;
76	76	(b) the person's refusal is based
77	77	solely on the person's inability to obtain mental health services
78	78	necessary to protect the safety and well-being of the child; and
79	79	(c) the person has exhausted all
80	80	reasonable means available to the person to obtain the mental
81	81	health services described by Sub-subparagraph (b);
82	82	(ii) allowing the child to engage in
83	83	independent activities that are appropriate and typical for the
84	84	child's level of maturity, physical condition, developmental
85	85	abilities, or culture; or
86	86	(iii) a decision by a person responsible
87	87	for a child's care, custody, or welfare to:
88	88	(a) obtain an opinion from more than
89	89	one medical provider relating to the child's medical care;
90	90	(b) transfer the child's medical care
91	91	to a new medical provider; or
92	92	(c) transfer the child to another
93	93	health care facility.
94	94	SECTION 2. Section 262.352, Family Code, is amended to read
95	95	as follows:
96	96	Sec. 262.352. JOINT MANAGING CONSERVATORSHIP OF CHILD. (a)
97	97	In this section, "hotel" has the meaning assigned by Section
98	98	792.001, Health and Safety Code.
99	99	(b) Before the department files a suit affecting the
100	100	parent-child relationship requesting managing conservatorship of a
101	101	child who suffers from a severe emotional disturbance in order to
102	102	obtain mental health services for the child, the department must,
103	103	unless it is not in the best interest of the child, discuss with the
104	104	child's parent or legal guardian the option of seeking a court order
105	105	for joint managing conservatorship of the child with the
106	106	department.
107	107	(c) A court shall enter an order appointing the department
108	108	and the child's parent or legal guardian as joint managing
109	109	conservators of the child if the court finds sufficient evidence to
110	110	satisfy a person of ordinary prudence and caution that:
111	111	(1) the child's parent or legal guardian has exhausted
112	112	all reasonable means available to the parent or legal guardian to
113	113	obtain mental health services to meet the child's needs;
114	114	(2) the child's parent or legal guardian has agreed to
115	115	actively participate in the child's service plan in preparation for
116	116	the child's return to the parent or legal guardian;
117	117	(3) the department is able to provide services
118	118	necessary to meet the child's mental health needs;
119	119	(4) the department has identified an available
120	120	licensed placement or a relative or other designated caregiver for
121	121	the child to meet the child's mental health needs; and
122	122	(5) joint managing conservatorship of the child is in
123	123	the child's best interest.
124	124	(d) A child in the joint managing conservatorship of the
125	125	department and the child's parent or legal guardian may not receive
126	126	temporary emergency care under Section 264.107(g) in a hotel or
127	127	other unlicensed setting.
128	128	(e) To offset the cost of services and care provided to a
129	129	child in the joint managing conservatorship of the department and
130	130	the child's parent or legal guardian, the court shall order the
131	131	parent to pay child support and medical support to the department in
132	132	an amount equal to the cost of the services and care, unless the
133	133	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 and the child's
137	137	parent or legal guardian, the court shall:
138	138	(1) order the child to be placed with the child's
139	139	parent or legal guardian until the department identifies an
140	140	available licensed placement for the child; or
141	141	(2) remove the department as a joint managing
142	142	conservator of the child and dismiss the suit affecting the
143	143	parent-child relationship.
144	144	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.