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  85R25538 MM-D
 
  By: Giddings H.B. No. 3109
 
  Substitute the following for H.B. No. 3109:
 
  By:  Minjarez C.S.H.B. No. 3109
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the appointment of a guardian ad litem or an attorney ad
  litem for a child in the conservatorship of the Department of Family
  and Protective Services.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 107.016, Family Code, is amended to read
  as follows:
         Sec. 107.016.  CONTINUED REPRESENTATION; DURATION OF
  APPOINTMENT. In a suit filed by a governmental entity in which
  termination of the parent-child relationship or appointment of the
  entity as conservator of the child is requested:
               (1)  an order appointing the Department of Family and
  Protective Services as the child's managing conservator may provide
  for the continuation of the appointment of the guardian ad litem [or
  attorney ad litem] for the child for any period during the time the
  child remains in the conservatorship of the department, as set by
  the court; [and]
               (2)  subject to Section 263.4042, an order appointing
  the Department of Family and Protective Services as the child's
  managing conservator shall provide for the continuation of the
  appointment of the attorney ad litem for the child as long as the
  child remains in the conservatorship of the department; and
               (3)  an attorney appointed under this subchapter to
  serve as an attorney ad litem for a parent or an alleged father
  continues to serve in that capacity until the earliest of:
                     (A)  the date the suit affecting the parent-child
  relationship is dismissed;
                     (B)  the date all appeals in relation to any final
  order terminating parental rights are exhausted or waived; or
                     (C)  the date the attorney is relieved of the
  attorney's duties or replaced by another attorney after a finding
  of good cause is rendered by the court on the record.
         SECTION 2.  Subchapter E, Chapter 263, Family Code, is
  amended by adding Section 263.4042 to read as follows:
         Sec. 263.4042.  CONTINUED APPOINTMENT OF ATTORNEY AD LITEM
  AFTER FINAL ORDER.  (a)  On the entry of a final order terminating
  the parent-child relationship and naming the Department of Family
  and Protective Services as the child's managing conservator, the
  court may discharge the attorney ad litem appointed for the child if
  the court finds that:
               (1)  the child has a representative authorized by the
  court to represent the legal interests of the child and discharge of
  the attorney ad litem is in the child's best interest; or
               (2)  the child:
                     (A)  resides in the home identified in the child's
  permanency plan as the child's permanent home;
                     (B)  has an attorney ad litem or guardian ad litem
  who does not object to the child's permanency plan; and
                     (C)  has resided in the home described by
  Paragraph (A) for at least three months.
         (b)  If a court renders an order discharging a child's
  attorney ad litem under Subsection (a), at each permanency hearing
  following the final order held under Section 263.501, the court
  shall make the findings required by Section 263.5031.
         SECTION 3.  Section 263.5031, Family Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 263.5031.  PERMANENCY HEARINGS FOLLOWING FINAL ORDER.  
  (a)  At each permanency hearing after the court renders a final
  order, the court shall:
               (1)  identify all persons and parties present at the
  hearing;
               (2)  review the efforts of the department or other
  agency in notifying persons entitled to notice under Section
  263.0021; and
               (3)  review the permanency progress report to
  determine:
                     (A)  the safety and well-being of the child and
  whether the child's needs, including any medical or special needs,
  are being adequately addressed;
                     (B)  the continuing necessity and appropriateness
  of the placement of the child, including with respect to a child who
  has been placed outside of this state, whether the placement
  continues to be in the best interest of the child;
                     (C)  if the child is placed in institutional care,
  whether efforts have been made to ensure that the child is placed in
  the least restrictive environment consistent with the child's best
  interest and special needs;
                     (D)  the appropriateness of the primary and
  alternative permanency goals for the child, whether the department
  has made reasonable efforts to finalize the permanency plan,
  including the concurrent permanency goals, in effect for the child,
  and whether:
                           (i)  the department has exercised due
  diligence in attempting to place the child for adoption if parental
  rights to the child have been terminated and the child is eligible
  for adoption; or
                           (ii)  another permanent placement,
  including appointing a relative as permanent managing conservator
  or returning the child to a parent, is appropriate for the child;
                     (E)  for a child whose permanency goal is another
  planned permanent living arrangement:
                           (i)  the desired permanency outcome for the
  child, by asking the child; and
                           (ii)  whether, as of the date of the hearing,
  another planned permanent living arrangement is the best permanency
  plan for the child and, if so, provide compelling reasons why it
  continues to not be in the best interest of the child to:
                                 (a)  return home;
                                 (b)  be placed for adoption;
                                 (c)  be placed with a legal guardian;
  or
                                 (d)  be placed with a fit and willing
  relative;
                     (F)  if the child is 14 years of age or older,
  whether services that are needed to assist the child in
  transitioning from substitute care to independent living are
  available in the child's community;
                     (G)  whether the child is receiving appropriate
  medical care and has been provided the opportunity, in a
  developmentally appropriate manner, to express the child's opinion
  on any medical care provided;
                     (H)  for a child receiving psychotropic
  medication, whether the child:
                           (i)  has been provided appropriate
  nonpharmacological interventions, therapies, or strategies to meet
  the child's needs; or
                           (ii)  has been seen by the prescribing
  physician, physician assistant, or advanced practice nurse at least
  once every 90 days;
                     (I)  whether an education decision-maker for the
  child has been identified, the child's education needs and goals
  have been identified and addressed, and there are major changes in
  the child's school performance or there have been serious
  disciplinary events;
                     (J)  for a child for whom the department has been
  named managing conservator in a final order that does not include
  termination of parental rights, whether to order the department to
  provide services to a parent for not more than six months after the
  date of the permanency hearing if:
                           (i)  the child has not been placed with a
  relative or other individual, including a foster parent, who is
  seeking permanent managing conservatorship of the child; and
                           (ii)  the court determines that further
  efforts at reunification with a parent are:
                                 (a)  in the best interest of the child;
  and
                                 (b)  likely to result in the child's
  safe return to the child's parent; and
                     (K)  whether the department has identified a
  family or other caring adult who has made a permanent commitment to
  the child.
         (b)  At each permanency hearing after the court renders a
  final order, the court:
               (1)  for a child who is not represented by an attorney
  ad litem shall:
                     (A)  determine whether the child requires
  representation by an attorney ad litem under Section 107.016; and
                     (B)  if the court declines to appoint an attorney
  ad litem for the child, state the reason for declining to appoint an
  attorney ad litem; and
               (2)  for a child who is represented by an attorney ad
  litem:
                     (A)  shall consider the need for continued
  appointment of the attorney ad litem for the child; and
                     (B)  may discharge the attorney ad litem appointed
  for the child if the court finds that:
                           (i)  the child is eligible for adoption and
  living in the home identified in the permanency plan as the child's
  permanent home;
                           (ii)  the child's attorney ad litem or
  guardian ad litem does not object to the child's permanency plan;
  and
                           (iii)  the child has resided in the home
  described by Subparagraph (i) for at least three months.
         SECTION 4.  The changes in law made by this Act apply to a
  suit affecting the parent-child relationship filed before, on, or
  after the effective date of this Act.
         SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.