82R6043 TJB-F
By: Zerwas H.B. No. 1194
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to investigations and other procedures with respect to
allegations of child abuse and neglect.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 261.002, Family Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (d) and (e) to read
as follows:
(b) The department may adopt rules necessary to carry out
this section. The rules shall provide for procedural protections
for individuals reported to have committed abuse or neglect,
cooperation with local child service agencies, including
hospitals, clinics, and schools, and cooperation with other states
in exchanging reports to effect a national registration system.
(d) Before the department may add a record of a case of child
abuse or neglect to the central registry, the department must
provide to the individual reported to have committed the abuse or
neglect:
(1) written notice that information regarding the
report will be added to the registry;
(2) a copy of the record that will be added to the
registry; and
(3) the opportunity to appeal the department's finding
of abuse or neglect as provided by Subsection (e).
(e) An individual described by Subsection (d) may appeal the
department's finding of abuse or neglect by requesting a hearing
conducted by the State Office of Administrative Hearings. An
appeal under this subsection is a contested case under Chapter
2001, Government Code. The department may not include in the
central registry a record of a report of child abuse or neglect if
the department's finding of abuse or neglect is not sustained by an
administrative law judge following a hearing under this section.
SECTION 2. Section 261.103, Family Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) The department or other entity receiving a report of
abuse or neglect shall maintain each report until the second
anniversary of the date the department or other entity receives the
report.
SECTION 3. Sections 261.201(b) and (c), Family Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(b) A court shall [may] order the disclosure of information
that is confidential under this section if:
(1) a motion has been filed with the court requesting
the release of the information;
(2) a notice of hearing has been served on the
investigating agency and all other interested parties; and
(3) after hearing and an in camera review of the
requested information, the court determines that the disclosure of
the requested information is[:
[(A) essential to the administration of justice;
and
[(B)] not likely to endanger the life or safety
of:
(A) [(i)] a child who is the subject of the
report of alleged or suspected abuse or neglect;
(B) [(ii)] a person who makes a report of
alleged or suspected abuse or neglect; or
(C) [(iii)] any other person who participates
in an investigation of reported abuse or neglect or who provides
care for the child.
(c) In addition to Subsection (b), a court, on its own
motion, may order disclosure of information that is confidential
under this section if:
(1) the order is rendered at a hearing for which all
parties have been given notice;
(2) the court finds that disclosure of the information
is[:
[(A) essential to the administration of justice;
and
[(B)] not likely to endanger the life or safety
of:
(A) [(i)] a child who is the subject of the
report of alleged or suspected abuse or neglect;
(B) [(ii)] a person who makes a report of
alleged or suspected abuse or neglect; or
(C) [(iii)] any other person who participates
in an investigation of reported abuse or neglect or who provides
care for the child; and
(3) the order is reduced to writing or made on the
record in open court.
SECTION 4. Section 261.302, Family Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a) and (f) and adding Subsections (e-1),
(e-2), and (e-3) to read as follows:
(a) The investigation may include:
(1) a visit to the child's home, unless the alleged
abuse or neglect can be confirmed or clearly ruled out without a
home visit; and
(2) an interview with and examination of the subject
child, any other child in the home, or the child's parents, which
may include a medical, psychological, or psychiatric examination as
authorized by Subsection (e-1).
(e-1) Except as provided by Subsection (e-2), an
investigation that includes an examination of the subject child or
any other child in the household may not include a medical,
psychological, or psychiatric examination of the child unless:
(1) the child's parent, conservator, or legal guardian
consents in writing to the examination; or
(2) the department obtains a court order for the
medical, psychological, or psychiatric examination.
(e-2) If during the investigation a department investigator
believes that a child needs emergency medical attention before a
representative of a law enforcement agency is able to arrive, the
investigator may obtain medical assistance for the child from
emergency medical services personnel, as defined by Section
773.003, Health and Safety Code.
(e-3) This section does not limit the authority of a law
enforcement agency to perform its duties under any other law.
(f) A person commits an offense if the person is notified of
the time of the transport of a child by the department and the
location from which the transport is initiated and the person is
present at the location when the transport is initiated and
attempts to interfere with the department's investigation. An
offense under this subsection is a Class B misdemeanor. It is an
exception to the application of this subsection that the department
requested the person to be present at the site of the transport.
This subsection applies only when the department has taken custody
of a child under Section 262.104, an ongoing court-ordered
investigation is being conducted, or the child's parent,
conservator, or legal guardian has consented to the transport.
SECTION 5. Section 261.3021, Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 261.3021. CASEWORK DOCUMENTATION AND MANAGEMENT. (a)
Subject to the appropriation of money for these purposes, the
department shall:
(1) identify critical investigation actions that
impact child safety and require department caseworkers to document
those actions in a child's case file not later than the day after
the action occurs;
(2) identify and develop a comprehensive set of
casework quality indicators that must be reported in real time to
support timely management oversight;
(3) provide department supervisors with access to
casework quality indicators and train department supervisors on the
use of that information in the daily supervision of caseworkers;
(4) develop a case tracking system that notifies
department supervisors and management when a case is not
progressing in a timely manner;
(5) use current data reporting systems to provide
department supervisors and management with easier access to
information; and
(6) train department supervisors and management on the
use of data to monitor cases and make decisions.
(b) The department shall record and maintain all interviews
and documents pertaining to an investigation, including original
notes.
SECTION 6. Section 261.307(a), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) As soon as possible after initiating an investigation of
a parent or other person having legal custody of a child, the
department shall provide to the person:
(1) a summary that:
(A) is brief and easily understood;
(B) is written in a language that the person
understands, or if the person is illiterate, is read to the person
in a language that the person understands; and
(C) contains the following information:
(i) the department's procedures for
conducting an investigation of alleged child abuse or neglect,
including:
(a) a description of the
circumstances under which the department would request to remove
the child from the home through the judicial system; and
(b) an explanation that the law
requires the department to refer all reports of alleged child abuse
or neglect to a law enforcement agency for a separate determination
of whether a criminal violation occurred;
(ii) the person's right to file a complaint
with the department or to request a review of the findings made by
the department in the investigation;
(iii) the person's right to review all
records of the investigation unless the review would jeopardize an
ongoing criminal investigation or the child's safety;
(iv) the person's right to seek legal
counsel;
(v) references to the statutory and
regulatory provisions governing child abuse and neglect and how the
person may obtain copies of those provisions; [and]
(vi) the process the person may use to
acquire access to the child if the child is removed from the home;
and
(vii) a list of the specific allegations on
which the investigation is based, including the date and a detailed
description of each allegation that the department is
investigating;
(2) if the department determines that removal of the
child may be warranted, a proposed child placement resources form
that:
(A) instructs the parent or other person having
legal custody of the child to:
(i) complete and return the form to the
department or agency; and
(ii) identify in the form three individuals
who reside in the state within 100 miles from the child's primary
residence who could serve as [be] relative caregivers or designated
caregivers, as those terms are defined by Section 264.751, before a
suit affecting the parent-child relationship is filed and until the
suit is dismissed; and
(B) informs the parent or other person of a
location that is available to the parent or other person to submit
the information in the form 24 hours a day either in person or by
facsimile machine or e-mail; and
(3) an informational manual required by Section
261.3071.
SECTION 7. Section 261.309, Family Code, is amended by
adding Subsections (b-1), (c-1), (c-2), and (e-1) and amending
Subsections (c) and (d) to read as follows:
(b-1) The immediate supervisor shall submit a written
report at the conclusion of the informal review under Subsection
(b). The report must summarize the person's case or complaint and
contain the supervisor's findings relating to the person's case or
complaint. Not later than the 20th day after the date the
supervisor submits the report, the department shall make the
written report available to the person under investigation.
(c) If, after the department's investigation, the person
who is alleged to have abused or neglected a child disputes the
department's determination of whether child abuse or neglect
occurred, the person may request an administrative review of the
findings. The department shall provide a copy of the file relating
to the person who requests the review to the person not later than
the 30th day before the date of the review. A department employee
in administration who was not involved in or did not directly
supervise the investigation shall conduct the review. The review
must sustain, alter, or reverse the department's original findings
in the investigation.
(c-1) At the administrative review under Subsection (c),
the person conducting the review for the department shall allow the
person challenging the findings to bring witnesses, submit
evidence, and question the investigative workers and immediate
supervisors who developed the department's findings. The
department may postpone the administrative review for not more than
30 days to ensure attendance of necessary investigative workers and
immediate supervisors.
(c-2) The department shall make an audio recording of the
administrative review and preserve the recording until the first
anniversary of the date the administrative review concludes. The
department shall make the audio recording available to any party
involved in the review not later than the 10th day after the date
the person requests access to the recording.
(d) Unless a civil or criminal court proceeding or an
ongoing criminal investigation relating to the alleged abuse or
neglect investigated by the department is pending, the department
employee shall conduct the review prescribed by Subsection (c) as
soon as possible but not later than the 45th day after the date the
department receives the request. If a civil court proceeding
initiated by the department, a [or] criminal court proceeding, or
an ongoing criminal investigation is pending, the department may
postpone the review until the court proceeding is completed. The
department shall conduct the review not later than the 45th day
after the date the court proceeding or investigation is completed.
(e-1) A person under investigation for allegedly abusing or
neglecting the person's child is not subject to, and cannot be
required to submit to, the jurisdiction of the State Office of
Administrative Hearings in any proceeding in connection to the
alleged abuse or neglect.
SECTION 8. Section 261.310(d), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(d) The standards shall:
(1) recommend that videotaped and audiotaped
interviews be uninterrupted;
(2) recommend a maximum number of interviews with and
examinations of a suspected victim;
(3) provide procedures to preserve evidence,
including the original audio recordings of the intake telephone
calls, original notes, e-mails, videotapes, and other audiotapes,
until the second anniversary of the later of the date the evidence
is created or the date of a final judgment in a case for which the
evidence is created [for one year]; and
(4) provide that an investigator of suspected child
abuse or neglect make a reasonable effort to locate and inform each
parent of a child of any report of abuse or neglect relating to the
child.
SECTION 9. Section 261.302(c), Family Code, is repealed.
SECTION 10. The changes in law made by this Act apply only
to an investigation of a report of child abuse or neglect that is
made, or a suit affecting the parent-child relationship that is
commenced, on or after the effective date of this Act. A report
that is made or a suit that is commenced before the effective date
of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the report
was made or the suit was commenced, and the former law is continued
in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 11. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.