Current through Reg. 49, No. 38; September 20, 2024
(a) Neglect is defined in Texas Family Code
(TFC) §261.001(4) as an act or failure to act by a person responsible for
a child's care, custody, or welfare evidencing the person 's blatant disregard
for the consequences of the act or failure to act that results in harm to the
child or that creates an immediate danger to the child's physical health or
safety. Neglectful supervision is a subset of the statutory definition of
neglect and involves the following acts or omissions by a person:
(1) Placing a child in or failing to remove a
child from a situation that a reasonable person would realize requires judgment
or actions beyond the child's level of maturity, physical condition, or mental
abilities and that results in bodily injury or an immediate danger of harm to
the child;
(2) Placing a child in
or failing to remove the child from a situation in which the child would be
exposed to an immediate danger a substantial risk of sexual conduct harmful to
the child; or
(3) Placing a child
in or failing to remove the child from a situation in which the child would be
exposed to acts or omissions that constitute abuse under TFC
§261.001(1)(E), (F), (G), (H), or (K) committed against another
child.
(b) Neglectful
supervision as defined in paragraph (1) of subsection (a) excludes the
following:
(1) An accident.
(2) Pursuant to TFC §261.001(4)(B),
allowing the child to engage in independent activities that are appropriate and
typical for the child's level of maturity, physical condition, developmental
abilities or culture.
(c) For purposes of evaluating an allegation
of "neglectful supervision", we will consider the following factors when
assessing immediate danger:
(1) The child's
age;
(2) Any arrangements the
parents made to ensure the child's safety;
(3) The child's physical condition,
psychological functioning, and level of maturity;
(4) Any intellectual, physical, or medical
disability the child has;
(5) Any
previous history or patterns of abuse or neglect;
(6) The frequency and duration of similar
incidents; and
(7) The overall
safety of the child's environment.
(d) In the case of prenatal use of alcohol or
a controlled substance that was not lawfully prescribed by a medical
practitioner, was lawfully prescribed as a result of the mother seeking out
multiple health care providers as a means of exceeding ordinary dosages, or was
not being used in accordance with a lawfully issued prescription, the mother is
responsible for neglectful supervision under paragraph (1) of subsection (a)
if:
(1) The mother knew or reasonably should
have known she was pregnant; and
(2) It appears that the mother's use
endangered the physical and emotional well-being of the infant. It is not
necessary that the infant actually suffers from an injury.
(A) For the limited purpose of this
subsection, "endangered" means that the mother's prenatal use exposed the
infant to loss or injury or jeopardized the infant's emotional or physical
health.
(B) "Endangered" includes
but is not limited to a consideration of the following factors: evidence the
mother extensively used alcohol or regularly or extensively used a controlled
substance over the course of the pregnancy or in close proximity to the child's
expected birth date, evidence that the mother has an alcohol or drug addiction,
or evidence that the infant was in immediate danger of harm from the mother's
use of alcohol or a controlled substance.
