Bill Caption

Relating to removing the deadline for the Department of Family and Protective Services to enter into permanency care assistance agreements. 

Fiscal Notes

From the LBB: Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for HB 511, As Introduced: a positive impact of $3,401,204 through the biennium ending August 31, 2019.

Bill Analysis

Under current law, the deadline for the Department of Family and Protective Services to enter into new permanency care agreements is August 31, 2017. This bill would remove that deadline altogether, allowing the department to continue entering into such agreements beyond August of this year. 

Vote Recommendation Notes

Permanency care agreements help to place children in long term kinship care that is usually with family members such as grandparents, aunts, uncles, or occasionally adult siblings. These agreements help to keep children placed with family members when they would otherwise bounce around the foster system leading to worse outcomes for the foster children and higher costs to the taxpayers. This bill is in keeping with our limited government principle since it helps an essential state agency fulfill its mission more efficiently, at less cost to the taxpayer, and yielding better results. For these reasons we support HB 511.