Sec. 531.156. DESIGNATION OF ADVOCATE. (a) The Department of Aging and Disability Services shall designate a person, including a member of a community-based organization, to serve as a volunteer advocate for a child residing in an institution to assist in developing a permanency plan for the child if:

(1) the child's parent or guardian requests the assistance of an advocate;

(2) the institution in which the child is placed cannot locate the child's parent or guardian; or

(3) the child resides in an institution operated by the department.

(b) The person designated to serve as the child's volunteer advocate under this section may be:

(1) a person selected by the child's parent or guardian, except that the person may not be employed by or under a contract with the institution in which the child resides;

(2) an adult relative of the child; or

(3) a representative of a child advocacy group.

(c) The Department of Aging and Disability Services shall provide to each person designated to serve as a child's volunteer advocate information regarding permanency planning under this subchapter.

Added by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 590, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.

Amended by:

Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1 (S.B. 219), Sec. 2.164, eff. April 2, 2015.

Sec. 531.157. COMMUNITY-BASED SERVICES. A state agency that receives notice of a child's placement in an institution shall ensure that, on or before the third day after the date the agency is notified of the child's placement in the institution, the child is also placed on a waiting list for waiver program services under Section 1915(c) of the federal Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Section 1396n), as amended, appropriate to the child's needs.

Added by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 590, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.