Relating to the definitions of child abuse and neglect, the official text

H.B. No. 1106

AN ACT

relating to the definitions of child abuse and neglect.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 261.001, Family Code, is amended by

adding Subdivision (1-a) and amending Subdivision (4) to read as

follows:

(1-a) "Abuse" does not include the refusal by a person

responsible for a child's care, custody, or welfare to affirm:

(A) a child's perception of the child's gender,

including a refusal to use a child's preferred name or pronouns,

regardless of whether the child's name has been legally changed; or

(B) a child's expressed sexual orientation.

(4) "Neglect" means 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 and:

(A) includes:

(i) the leaving of a child in a situation

where the child would be exposed to an immediate danger of physical

or mental harm, without arranging for necessary care for the child,

and the demonstration of an intent not to return by a parent,

guardian, or managing or possessory conservator of the child;

(ii) the following acts or omissions by a

person:

(a) 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;

(b) failing to seek, obtain, or follow

through with medical care for a child, with the failure resulting in

or presenting an immediate danger of death, disfigurement, or

bodily injury or with the failure resulting in an observable and

material impairment to the growth, development, or functioning of

the child;

(c) the failure to provide a child

with food, clothing, or shelter necessary to sustain the life or

health of the child, excluding failure caused primarily by

financial inability unless relief services had been offered and

refused;

(d) placing a child in or failing to

remove the child from a situation in which the child would be

exposed to an immediate danger of sexual conduct harmful to the

child; or

(e) 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

Subdivision (1)(E), (F), (G), (H), or (K) committed against another

child;

(iii) the failure by the person responsible

for a child's care, custody, or welfare to permit the child to

return to the child's home without arranging for the necessary care

for the child after the child has been absent from the home for any

reason, including having been in residential placement or having

run away; or

(iv) a negligent act or omission by an

employee, volunteer, or other individual working under the auspices

of a facility or program, including failure to comply with an

individual treatment plan, plan of care, or individualized service

plan, that causes or may cause substantial emotional harm or

physical injury to, or the death of, a child served by the facility

or program as further described by rule or policy; and

(B) does not include:

(i) the refusal by a person responsible for

a child's care, custody, or welfare to permit the child to remain in

or return to the child's home resulting in the placement of the

child in the conservatorship of the department if:

(a) the child has a severe emotional

disturbance;

(b) the person's refusal is based

solely on the person's inability to obtain mental health services

necessary to protect the safety and well-being of the child; and

(c) the person has exhausted all

reasonable means available to the person to obtain the mental

health services described by Sub-subparagraph (b);

(ii) 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; [or]

(iii) a decision by a person responsible

for a child's care, custody, or welfare to:

(a) obtain an opinion from more than

one medical provider relating to the child's medical care;

(b) transfer the child's medical care

to a new medical provider; or

(c) transfer the child to another

health care facility; or

(iv) the refusal by a person responsible

for a child's care, custody, or welfare to affirm:

(a) a child's perception of the

child's gender, including a refusal to use a child's preferred name

or pronouns, regardless of whether the child's name has been

legally changed; or

(b) a child's expressed sexual

orientation.

SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.

______________________________
______________________________

President of the Senate
Speaker of the House

I certify that H.B. No. 1106 was passed by the House on May

14, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 85, Nays 59, 2 present, not

voting.

______________________________

Chief Clerk of the House

I certify that H.B. No. 1106 was passed by the Senate on May

28, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 20, Nays 11.

______________________________

Secretary of the Senate

APPROVED: _____________________

Date

_____________________

Governor