During the 2021 Texas Legislative Session, the THSC and the THSC Watchmen analyzed the 8,000 bills filed including in depth reviews of 2,000 bills that could possibly affect families.

300 of the bills pertaining to parental rights or homeschooling. A handful were especially important (either because they were really good bills or because they caused problems that needed to be addressed).

Here’s a recap.

CPS Bills

1. Child Trauma Prevention Act – PASSED

The Child Trauma Prevention Act (HB 567/SB 190) implements specific reforms that would protect children and families who are involved in CPS cases. The bill includes a series of specific due-process protections that would limit the trauma caused by unnecessary child removals. The bill also includes reforms that would aid reunification efforts and allow children to return home as soon as it is safe for them to do so.

The Child Trauma Prevention Act was passed by the legislature and approved by the governor.

2. Abuse Registry Reform – DIED

The Abuse Registry Reform bill ( HB 1190/SB 1603) would have established due process procedures for placing a person’s name on and removing a person’s name from the child abuse registry. This comes after the Pardo family’s high profile fight last year to be removed from the registry after being found innocent in court.

Unfortunately, the bill did not pass because CPS told the legislature that it would cost the state over $100 million. This was their estimate of what it would cost for CPS to wait to place a person’s name on the child abuse registry until after a court had found that they really did commit abuse.

3. Reinstatement of Parental Rights – PASSED

The Reinstatement of Parental Rights bill (HB 2926) allows certain parties to petition for reinstatement of their parental rights. This would apply when a parent has been rehabilitated after previously having their parental rights terminated.

The bill was passed by the legislature and is currently on the governor’s desk.

4. Medical Investigation Reform – PASSED

The Medical Investigation Reform bill (SB 1578) provides many due process protections for families facing CPS investigations that are based on a child’s medical issues.

For example, a Child Abuse Pediatrician is a doctor who specializes in identifying child abuse. The bill prohibits CPS from removing a child based solely on the opinion of a Child Abuse Pediatrician who did not actually examine the child.

The bill also serves to reduce the number of improper removals of children from their families because of the misdiagnosis of symptoms. It accomplishes this by updating the requirements for specialty consultations in investigations.

SB 1578 was passed by the legislature and is currently on the governor’s desk.

5. Notification of Rights – DIED

The Notification of Rights bill (HB 2737/SB 647) would have required CPS to notify parents of their rights in investigations when they first communicate with the parents.

HB 2737 progressed out of the house committee, but was not placed on the calendar to be voted on by the entire house in time for the bill to pass. So unfortunately, the bill did not pass.

6. Notification of Right to Record – PASSED

The Notification of Right to Record bill (HB 135) requires CPS to inform parents that they have the right to record interviews with CPS before CPS can interview them. It also requires CPS to inform parents that they have the right to contest CPS’s findings by requesting an administrative review of those findings.

The bill was passed by the legislature and is currently on the governor’s desk.

7. Second Medical Opinions – PASSED

The Second Medical Opinions bill (HB 2536) clarifies a parent’s decision to get a second opinion about their child’s medical issue does not constitute neglect or grounds for either removal or termination of parental rights.

HB 2536 was passed by the legislature and signed by the governor.

8. Grounds for Termination – PASSED

The Grounds for Termination (HB 2924) bill reforms a rule which allows a parent’s rights to be terminated if those rights had previously been terminated with another child. The bill restricts a court’s ability to use this as a reason for termination of parental rights.

The bill was passed by the legislature and is currently on the governor’s desk.

9. Mandatory Reporting Reform – PASSED

The Mandatory Reporting Reform bill (HB 3379) reforms the mandatory child abuse reporting statute so that a person is only required to report child abuse or neglect if they actually have reasonable cause to believe that the abuse or neglect occurred.

The bill was passed by the legislature and is currently on the governor’s desk.

Family Law Bills

1. Family Unity Act – DIED

The Family Unity Act (HB 3231/SB 1178) would have codified existing constitutional case law that governs the means by which a court must determine the best interest of a child in custody cases. This would have protected a parent’s decisions regarding the best interest of a child from being haphazardly overruled by a judge who disagreed with those decisions.

The House bill was heard in the House committee but never voted on. The Senate bill was passed out of Senate committee but was never brought up for a vote on the Senate floor because there were not enough Senators that supported the bill in order to pass it. So unfortunately, the bill did not pass.

2. Grandparent Access – DIED

HB 756 would have significantly endangered parents by removing restrictions and standards of evidence that protect fit parents in access and possession suits filed by in-laws.

The bill was heard in the House committee but was never voted on by the committee, so fortunately the bill did not pass.

3. Juvenile Justice Diversion Program – DIED

HB 3660/SB 512 would have created a diversion program for certain students in the juvenile justice system. As originally written, the bill could have been construed to allow a school district or juvenile justice agency to monitor the education of homeschooled students.

Both the House and Senate authors were very eager to ensure that the bill could not be construed to negatively impact homeschooling and worked with THSC on an amendment to ensure that the bill did allow educational monitoring of homeschooled students.

The bill, as amended, ultimately was not voted on by the Senate so it did not pass.

Education and Miscellaneous Bills

1. UIL Equal Access Bill – PASSED

The UIL Equal Access Bill (HB 547/SB 491) will allow school districts to give homeschool students in their district the opportunity to try out for and participate in public school extracurricular activities.

The bill was passed by the legislature and was signed by Governor Abbott in June of 2021.

2. Juvenile Curfew Repeal – DIED

The Juvenile Curfew Repeal bill (HB 561/SB 1486) would have repealed Texas statutes that currently allow counties, cities, and municipalities to establish daytime and nighttime curfews for juveniles. The bill would have also explicitly prohibited local governmental entities from establishing these curfews in the future.

The House bill was scheduled for a floor vote but was not ultimately voted on due to House deadlines. The Senate bill was passed by the Senate but was not received by the House committee in time to be voted out. So unfortunately, the bill did not pass.

3. Learning Pods and Homeschool Co-ops – PASSED

This bill (SB 1955) protects groups of students who meet together to learn, including homeschool and private school students. SB 1955 exempts these groups (known as learning pods) from being treated as local day care facilities with regards to day care licensing and protects them from other local regulations as well.

The bill was passed by the legislature and is currently on the governor’s desk.

4. Student Contact Information – AMENDED and PASSED

SB 746 would have required families to grant school districts direct contact info for students, rather than just parents. This could have allowed school districts to contact a student directly to pressure the student to re-enroll after that student had withdrawn to homeschool or to attempt to investigate the homeschool program of the family through direct contact with the student.

Pro-homeschool senators worked with THSC to pass amendments to resolve this problem, thereby protecting homeschool families.

The bill, as amended, was passed by the legislature and is currently on the governor’s desk.

We at THSC are thrilled by the overwhelming victories for Texas families, particularly the victories in CPS reform, during the legislative session.  THSC’s work to protect and advocate for families during Texas legislative sessions would not be possible without the support of the homeschool community. We sincerely appreciate your support.

To help THSC continue our work for the next legislative session, consider supporting THSC by making a financial contribution today! By doing this you are helping our mission of Keeping Texas Families Free!

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