HBA-EDN, KDB H.B. 706 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 706 By: Morrison Juvenile Justice & Family Issues 2/18/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Under current law, an emergency medical services provider (provider) is required to take possession of a child 30 days old or younger if the child is voluntarily delivered to the provider by the child's parent, and the parent does not express an intent to return for the child. The provider is required to notify the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services (DPRS), and DPRS is required to assume the care, custody, and control of the child. If a person chooses to voluntarily deliver the child to a provider, it is an affirmative defense to prosecution for abandonment or endangerment of a child. House Bill 706 enhances protection for a newborn by expediting permanency placement and increases protection for mothers who choose a responsible alternative to newborn abandonment. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS House Bill 706 amends the Family and Penal codes in relation to the emergency possession of and termination of the parent-child relationship of certain abandoned children. The bill amends the Family Code to require the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services (DPRS) to file a suit that seeks to terminate the parent-child relationship no later than the 45th day after DPRS assumes the care, control, and custody of an abandoned child. H.B. 706 authorizes the court to waive the written notice requirement if DPRS or another agency took emergency possession of an abandoned child. The bill requires a court that finds that DPRS took emergency possession of an abandoned child to waive the requirement of a service plan and the requirement to make reasonable efforts to return the child to a parent, and to accelerate the trial schedule to result in a final order. The bill requires the court, at any time before the 30th day after the date of the finding, to conduct an initial permanency hearing. The bill authorizes separate notice of the permanency plan to be given with notice of a hearing and requires DPRS to make reasonable efforts to finalize the permanent placement of a child and expedite the adoption process. The bill also requires the court to set the suit for trial on the merits as required by permanency hearings to facilitate permanent placement of the child. H.B. 706 requires an emergency medical services provider (provider) to take possession of a child who appears to be 30 days old or younger. The bill prohibits the provider from pursuing the parent who delivers the child or preventing the parent from leaving, unless the provider suspects the child of being abused or neglected and authorizes the parent to remain anonymous. H.B. 706 requires DPRS, immediately after assuming care, control, and custody of a child, to report the child to appropriate state and local law enforcement agencies as a potential missing child. The bill also requires a law enforcement agency that receives a report from DPRS to investigate whether the child is reported as missing. In preparing the permanency plan for an abandoned child taken into emergency possession, DPRS is not required to conduct a search for or give preference to the child's relatives for purposes of permanent placement if DPRS does not have information concerning the child's identity or the identities of the child's parents. H.B. 706 provides that, in a suit to terminate the parent-child relationship, there is a rebuttable presumption that a parent who delivers a child to a provider consents to the termination of parental rights with regard to the child. The bill requires the court to order genetic testing for parentage determination, if a person claims to be a parent of an abandoned child taken into emergency possession before the court renders a final order terminating the parental rights of the child's parents, unless parentage has previously been established. The bill also requires the court to hold the petition for termination of the parent-child relationship in abeyance for a period not to exceed 60 days pending the results of the genetic testing. H.B. 706 amends the Penal Code to provide that it is no longer an affirmative defense to prosecution of abandoning or endangering a child but rather an exception to the application of prosecution, if the actor voluntarily delivers a child to a provider. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.