Mike Toomey Lobbyist News: Texas 83rd Legislative Session Report on HB 165
HB165 by Flynn (Relating to suits affecting the parent-child relationship and placement decisions for children in foster care.), As Introduced
This bill seeks to change the Family Code to lower the minimum time period before foster parents would have legal standing to bring suits that would affect a parent child relationship. Current law allows such suits only after a child has been in the foster home for 12 months. The bill seeks to lower that time to six months or three months if the child was placed in foster care before the child was two months old.
Fiscal analysis notes that these changes will result in more paid foster care days for the state, as children would remain in foster care during the time of the suit. However, these costs would be offset by adoptions that would occur sooner than they normal, reducing the number of foster care days.
Read full details here.