Bill Text: TX SB1853 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: 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 family preservation services and community-based foster care.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 4-1)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2023-05-23 - Placed on General State Calendar [SB1853 Detail]

Download: Texas-2023-SB1853-Introduced.html
  2023S0220-1 02/27/23
 
  By: Kolkhorst S.B. No. 1853
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to children placed in the conservatorship of the
  Department of Family and Protective Services, including the
  provision of community-based foster care.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 263, Family Code, is
  amended by adding Section 263.0022 to read as follows:
         Sec. 263.0022.  TEMPORARY EMERGENCY CARE. (a) In this
  section, "temporary emergency care" 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 care if a
  safe and appropriate placement is available.
         SECTION 2.  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 3.  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 a
  time-limited, family-focused service, including:
                     (A)  a service subject to the Family First
  Prevention Services Act (Title VII, Div. E, Pub. L. No. 115-123),
  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; or
                           (ii)  a pregnant or parenting foster youth;
                     (B)  enhanced in-home support services and
  nonrecurring financial support to promote safe and stable families;
  and
                     (C)  services to promote self-sufficiency and
  prevent further need for interaction in the child welfare system.
         SECTION 4.  The heading to Section 264.155, Family Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 264.155.  [REQUIRED] CONTRACT PROVISIONS.
         SECTION 5.  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)  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;
               (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
               (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 6.  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 7.  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 8.  Sections 264.113(a), (b), and (c), Family Code,
  are repealed.
         SECTION 9.  (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 10.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
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