83R5305 MCK-D
By: Dukes H.B. No. 1633
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to creating an advisory committee to study child abuse and
neglect fatalities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. COMMISSION TO ELIMINATE CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT
FATALITIES. (a) The Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and
Neglect Fatalities consists of the following 12 members:
(1) six members appointed by the governor;
(2) three members appointed by the lieutenant
governor; and
(3) three members appointed by the speaker of the
house of representatives.
(b) The governor, lieutenant governor, and speaker of the
house of representatives shall appoint members to the commission
not later than December 31, 2013.
SECTION 2. QUALIFICATIONS. Each member appointed to the
commission must have experience in one or more of the following
areas:
(1) child welfare administration;
(2) child welfare research;
(3) child development;
(4) legislation, including legislation involving
child welfare matters;
(5) trauma and crisis intervention;
(6) pediatrics;
(7) psychology and mental health;
(8) emergency medicine;
(9) forensic pathology or medical investigation of
injury and fatality;
(10) social work, with field experience;
(11) law enforcement, with experience handling child
abuse and neglect matters;
(12) civil law, with experience handling child abuse
and neglect matters;
(13) criminal law, with experience handling child
abuse and neglect matters;
(14) substance abuse treatment;
(15) education at an elementary school or secondary
school;
(16) education at an institution of higher education;
(17) epidemiology; or
(18) computer science or software engineering, with a
background in interoperability standards.
SECTION 3. DIVERSITY OF QUALIFICATIONS. In making
appointments to the commission, the governor, lieutenant governor,
and speaker of the house of representatives shall make every effort
to select individuals whose qualifications are not already
represented by other members of the commission.
SECTION 4. PRESIDING OFFICER. The governor shall designate
one of the governor's appointees as presiding officer of the
commission.
SECTION 5. VACANCY. A vacancy on the commission shall be
filled in the same manner as the original appointment.
SECTION 6. MEETINGS. (a) Not later than the 30th day after
the date on which a majority of the members of the commission have
been appointed, the commission shall hold its first meeting.
(b) The commission shall meet regularly as necessary at the
call of the presiding officer.
(c) The commission may take testimony and receive evidence
the commission considers advisable to carry out its duties.
SECTION 7. COMPENSATION. Members of the commission serve
without compensation and are not entitled to reimbursement for
expenses.
SECTION 8. DUTIES OF COMMISSION. The commission shall
study the relationship between child protective services and child
welfare services and the rate of child abuse and neglect
fatalities. The commission shall review:
(1) the effectiveness of child protective services and
child welfare services in preventing child fatalities that are
intentionally caused or that occur due to negligence, neglect, or a
failure to exercise proper care;
(2) the effectiveness of the Department of Family and
Protective Services' policies and systems aimed at collecting
accurate, uniform data on child fatalities in a coordinated
fashion, including the identification of the most and least
effective policies and systems in practice;
(3) any existing barriers to preventing fatalities
from child abuse and neglect, and how to improve child welfare
outcomes;
(4) trends in demographic and other risk factors that
may predict or that are related to child abuse, including age of the
child, child behavior, family structure, parental stress, and
poverty;
(5) methods of prioritizing child abuse and neglect
prevention for families with the highest need; and
(6) methods of improving data collection and use,
including increasing interoperability among state, local, and
other data systems.
SECTION 9. RECOMMENDATIONS. The commission shall:
(1) develop recommendations to reduce fatalities from
child abuse and neglect for implementation by state and local
agencies and private sector and nonprofit organizations, including
recommendations to implement a comprehensive statewide strategy
for reducing those fatalities; and
(2) develop guidelines for the types of information
that should be tracked to improve interventions to prevent
fatalities from child abuse and neglect.
SECTION 10. GIFTS. The commission may accept gifts and
grants of money, property, and services from any source to be used
to conduct a function of the commission.
SECTION 11. REPORT. Not later than December 1, 2014, the
commission shall submit to the governor, lieutenant governor, and
speaker of the house of representatives a report containing:
(1) the commission's findings and recommendations;
(2) a complete explanation of each of the commission's
recommendations;
(3) proposed legislation necessary to implement the
recommendations made in the report; and
(4) any administrative recommendations proposed by
the commission.
SECTION 12. APPLICATION OF LAW GOVERNING ADVISORY
COMMITTEES. The commission is not subject to Chapter 2110,
Government Code.
SECTION 13. EXPIRATION DATE. The Commission to Eliminate
Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities is abolished and this Act
expires September 1, 2015.
SECTION 14. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act takes effect
September 1, 2013.