Text of section effective until April 01, 2025
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.
Repealed by Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 769 (H.B. 4611), Sec. 3.01(2), eff. April 1, 2025.