Campos bill on parents of children in crisis

The text as introduced · 1,170 words

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.