As the Texas legislature prepares to convene in January 2021, several legislators have already begun their work to protect Texas families by filing bills that would protect family and homeschooling rights.
Stopping Drawn-Out CPS Lawsuits
The first pro-family bill filed was SB 185 by Sen. Charles Perry, which would ensure that trials in Child Protective Services (CPS) cases are completed within reasonable amounts of time. Representative James White filed an identical bill in the Texas House.
Under current law, there is currently no deadline by which trials for CPS cases must be completed.
This means that even if a trial starts on time, it can continue for months or even years before finally concluding.
These delays harm children and families. The uncertainty about the future during the trial comes at a high cost, both emotionally and financially.
SB 185 and HB 576 would remedy the problem of long, drawn-out trials by establishing a deadline by which CPS trials, once commenced, must be completed.
Broad CPS Reform to Protect Families and Children
Representative James Frank and State Senator Bryan Hughes have filed the Child Trauma Prevention Act (CTPA) in the House and Senate.
The CTPA is the result of nearly four years of work by THSC and the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) to pass reforms that protect parents and children. After the 2019 legislative session, THSC and TPPF worked with numerous stakeholders to obtain consensus on the language of the bill.
The bill includes numerous provisions that would protect Texas families from unnecessary trauma in the CPS system.
If passed, the bill would help end the current CPS practice of copying and pasting all twenty-one of the available accusations from the Texas family code and accusing parents of all of them.
This practice has been widely adopted to cut down on paperwork, but results in parents being regularly accused of numerous crimes that nobody actually believes they commited.
The CTPA would also require that a serious risk of abuse or neglect be found before a court is allowed to force a family to complete CPS services (such as counseling, parenting classes, or ordering that a particular resident leave the home).
Currently, families can be forced into CPS services, and ultimately lose their children if they fail to complete those services, even if no serious risk of abuse or neglect exists.
The bill includes numerous other protections for Texas families as well.
Allowing Homeschoolers Equal Access to Extracurricular Activities
The second pro-family bill filed was HB 547 by Rep. James B. Frank, which would allow homeschooled students to compete in extracurricular activities through the University Interscholastic League (UIL).
Right now, homeschooled students in Texas aren’t allowed to participate in UIL extracurricular programs like debate, orchestra, or sports through their local public schools.
Although homeschooling families pay taxes to support UIL programs, the UIL won’t let homeschool students to participate. 35 other states currently allow similar participation for homeschool students.
For homeschool students who live in rural parts of the state where private extracurricular options are few or non-existent, this is especially problematic.
Even though the activities families fund through the public school may be across the street, their kids are excluded.
Working alongside education and legal experts, THSC drafted HB 547 to solve this problem by allowing homeschool students to try out for UIL activities in the public school district where they live.
This would allow individual families, not the government, to determine the educational and developmental activities in which their children participate.
To stay up-to-date on these and other important pro-family bills, you can sign up for email legislative alerts and join us in Keeping Texas Families Free!
As the Texas legislature prepares to convene in January 2021, several legislators have already begun their work to protect Texas families by filing bills that would protect family and homeschooling rights.
Stopping Drawn-Out CPS Lawsuits
The first pro-family bill filed was SB 185 by Sen. Charles Perry, which would ensure that trials in Child Protective Services (CPS) cases are completed within reasonable amounts of time. Representative James White filed an identical bill in the Texas House.
Under current law, there is currently no deadline by which trials for CPS cases must be completed.
This means that even if a trial starts on time, it can continue for months or even years before finally concluding.
These delays harm children and families. The uncertainty about the future during the trial comes at a high cost, both emotionally and financially.
SB 185 and HB 576 would remedy the problem of long, drawn-out trials by establishing a deadline by which CPS trials, once commenced, must be completed.
Broad CPS Reform to Protect Families and Children
Representative James Frank and State Senator Bryan Hughes have filed the Child Trauma Prevention Act (CTPA) in the House and Senate.
The CTPA is the result of nearly four years of work by THSC and the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) to pass reforms that protect parents and children. After the 2019 legislative session, THSC and TPPF worked with numerous stakeholders to obtain consensus on the language of the bill.
The bill includes numerous provisions that would protect Texas families from unnecessary trauma in the CPS system.
If passed, the bill would help end the current CPS practice of copying and pasting all twenty-one of the available accusations from the Texas family code and accusing parents of all of them.
This practice has been widely adopted to cut down on paperwork, but results in parents being regularly accused of numerous crimes that nobody actually believes they commited.
The CTPA would also require that a serious risk of abuse or neglect be found before a court is allowed to force a family to complete CPS services (such as counseling, parenting classes, or ordering that a particular resident leave the home).
Currently, families can be forced into CPS services, and ultimately lose their children if they fail to complete those services, even if no serious risk of abuse or neglect exists.
The bill includes numerous other protections for Texas families as well.
Allowing Homeschoolers Equal Access to Extracurricular Activities
The second pro-family bill filed was HB 547 by Rep. James B. Frank, which would allow homeschooled students to compete in extracurricular activities through the University Interscholastic League (UIL).
Right now, homeschooled students in Texas aren’t allowed to participate in UIL extracurricular programs like debate, orchestra, or sports through their local public schools.
Although homeschooling families pay taxes to support UIL programs, the UIL won’t let homeschool students to participate. 35 other states currently allow similar participation for homeschool students.
For homeschool students who live in rural parts of the state where private extracurricular options are few or non-existent, this is especially problematic.
Even though the activities families fund through the public school may be across the street, their kids are excluded.
Working alongside education and legal experts, THSC drafted HB 547 to solve this problem by allowing homeschool students to try out for UIL activities in the public school district where they live.
This would allow individual families, not the government, to determine the educational and developmental activities in which their children participate.
To stay up-to-date on these and other important pro-family bills, you can sign up for email legislative alerts and join us in Keeping Texas Families Free!
