89R13597 AMF-F
By: Campos H.B. No. 2632
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the definition of child neglect and to the appointment
of the Department of Family and Protective Services and a child's
parent or legal guardian as joint managing conservators of the
child.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 261.001(4), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(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, including joint
managing conservatorship under Section 262.352, 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.
SECTION 2. Section 262.352, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 262.352. JOINT MANAGING CONSERVATORSHIP OF CHILD. (a)
In this section, "hotel" has the meaning assigned by Section
792.001, Health and Safety Code.
(b) Before the department files a suit affecting the
parent-child relationship requesting managing conservatorship of a
child who suffers from a severe emotional disturbance in order to
obtain mental health services for the child, the department must,
unless it is not in the best interest of the child, discuss with the
child's parent or legal guardian the option of seeking a court order
for joint managing conservatorship of the child with the
department.
(c) A court shall enter an order appointing the department
and the child's parent or legal guardian as joint managing
conservators of the child if the court finds sufficient evidence to
satisfy a person of ordinary prudence and caution that:
(1) the child's parent or legal guardian has exhausted
all reasonable means available to the parent or legal guardian to
obtain mental health services to meet the child's needs;
(2) the child's parent or legal guardian has agreed to
actively participate in the child's service plan in preparation for
the child's return to the parent or legal guardian;
(3) the department is able to provide services
necessary to meet the child's mental health needs;
(4) the department has identified an available
licensed placement or a relative or other designated caregiver for
the child to meet the child's mental health needs; and
(5) joint managing conservatorship of the child is in
the child's best interest.
(d) A child in the joint managing conservatorship of the
department and the child's parent or legal guardian may not receive
temporary emergency care under Section 264.107(g) in a hotel or
other unlicensed setting.
(e) To offset the cost of services and care provided to a
child in the joint managing conservatorship of the department and
the child's parent or legal guardian, the court shall order the
parent to pay child support and medical support to the department in
an amount equal to the cost of the services and care, unless the
court finds that the parent is indigent.
(f) If the department is unable to identify an available
licensed placement to meet the mental health needs of a child in the
joint managing conservatorship of the department and the child's
parent or legal guardian, the court shall:
(1) order the child to be placed with the child's
parent or legal guardian until the department identifies an
available licensed placement for the child; or
(2) remove the department as a joint managing
conservator of the child and dismiss the suit affecting the
parent-child relationship.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.