| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the foster care payment rate for certain foster parents |
|
|
and the reimbursement of certain expenses for the foster parent; |
|
|
creating a criminal offense. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Section 264.101, Family Code, is amended by |
|
|
adding Subsection (a-3) to read as follows: |
|
|
(a-3) If the department places one or more children assigned |
|
|
a basic or moderate service level with a foster parent, the |
|
|
department shall pay the foster parent the cost of foster care in |
|
|
accordance with the following schedule: |
|
|
(1) 100 percent of the daily foster care reimbursement |
|
|
rate for the first child placed with the foster parent; |
|
|
(2) 80 percent of the daily foster care reimbursement |
|
|
rate for the second child placed with the foster parent; |
|
|
(3) 60 percent of the daily foster care reimbursement |
|
|
rate for the third child placed with the foster parent; |
|
|
(4) 40 percent of the daily foster care reimbursement |
|
|
rate for the fourth child placed with the foster parent; |
|
|
(5) 20 percent of the daily foster care reimbursement |
|
|
rate for the fifth child placed with the foster parent; and |
|
|
(6) the foster parent will not receive any additional |
|
|
payment if the department places more than five children with the |
|
|
foster parent. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 264, Family Code, is |
|
|
amended by adding Section 264.1252 to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 264.1252. REIMBURSEMENT FOR ENRICHMENT ACTIVITIES; |
|
|
CRIMINAL OFFENSE. (a) In this section, "enrichment activities" |
|
|
includes athletic camps and competition, art and music classes and |
|
|
camps, school-related extracurricular activities, faith-based |
|
|
camps or mission trips, and the Boy Scouts of America and the Girl |
|
|
Scouts of the United States of America, or similar organizations |
|
|
and activities. The term does not include entertainment activities |
|
|
that a child participates in solely with the child's foster parent. |
|
|
(b) At the foster parent's discretion, the foster parent may |
|
|
enroll a foster child in age-appropriate enrichment activities. |
|
|
(c) The department shall reimburse a foster parent for any |
|
|
monetary expenses relating to the participation of a child in |
|
|
enrichment activities. The foster parent must provide the |
|
|
department with receipts for any expenses under this subsection to |
|
|
receive reimbursement. |
|
|
(d) A person commits an offense if, with intent to defraud |
|
|
or deceive the department, the person knowingly makes or causes to |
|
|
be made a false statement or misrepresentation of a material fact |
|
|
that allows a person to receive a reimbursement under Subsection |
|
|
(c). An offense under this subsection is a Class C misdemeanor. |
|
|
SECTION 3. As soon as possible after the effective date of |
|
|
this Act, the executive commissioner of the Health and Human |
|
|
Services Commission shall increase the 24-hour residential child |
|
|
care rates paid to a foster family for a child by 20 percent. |
|
|
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017. |