Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas House Bill HB3097 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	85R13081 MK-D
2	2	By: Burkett H.B. No. 3097
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the procedures following a child fatality or near
8	8	fatality and the relating investigation by the Department of Family
9	9	and Protective Services.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Article 49.10, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
12	12	amended by adding Subsection (i-1) to read as follows:
13	13	(i-1) Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, if the
14	14	deceased was a child younger than six years of age whose death is
15	15	determined under Section 264.514, Family Code, to be unexpected or
16	16	the result of abuse or neglect, a justice of the peace must order a
17	17	complete autopsy of the deceased.
18	18	SECTION 2. Section 9(a), Article 49.25, Code of Criminal
19	19	Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
20	20	(a) If the cause of death shall be determined beyond a
21	21	reasonable doubt as a result of the investigation, the medical
22	22	examiner shall file a report thereof setting forth specifically the
23	23	cause of death with the district attorney or criminal district
24	24	attorney, or in a county in which there is no district attorney or
25	25	criminal district attorney with the county attorney, of the county
26	26	in which the death occurred. If in the opinion of the medical
27	27	examiner an autopsy is necessary, or if such is requested by the
28	28	district attorney or criminal district attorney, or county attorney
29	29	where there is no district attorney or criminal district attorney,
30	30	the autopsy shall be immediately performed by the medical examiner
31	31	or a duly authorized deputy. In those cases where a complete
32	32	autopsy is deemed unnecessary by the medical examiner to ascertain
33	33	the cause of death, the medical examiner may perform a limited
34	34	autopsy involving the taking of blood samples or any other samples
35	35	of body fluids, tissues or organs, in order to ascertain the cause
36	36	of death or whether a crime has been committed. If the deceased was
37	37	a child younger than six years of age and the death is determined
38	38	under Section 264.514, Family Code, to be unexpected or the result
39	39	of abuse or neglect, the medical examiner shall perform a complete
40	40	autopsy. In the case of a body of a human being whose identity is
41	41	unknown, the medical examiner may authorize such investigative and
42	42	laboratory tests and processes as are required to determine its
43	43	identity as well as the cause of death. In performing an autopsy
44	44	the medical examiner or authorized deputy may use the facilities of
45	45	any city or county hospital within the county or such other
46	46	facilities as are made available. Upon completion of the autopsy,
47	47	the medical examiner shall file a report setting forth the findings
48	48	in detail with the office of the district attorney or criminal
49	49	district attorney of the county, or if there is no district attorney
50	50	or criminal district attorney, with the county attorney of the
51	51	county.
52	52	SECTION 3. Subchapter C, Chapter 261, Family Code, is
53	53	amended by adding Section 261.2031 to read as follows:
54	54	Sec. 261.2031. DESIGNATED CHILD FATALITY INVESTIGATION
55	55	CASEWORKERS. The department shall designate caseworkers or create
56	56	a specialized unit of department employees to conduct
57	57	investigations involving child fatalities. Caseworkers or
58	58	employees designated for child fatality investigations shall be
59	59	assigned based on experience and length of time working for the
60	60	department.
61	61	SECTION 4. Sections 264.502(a) and (b), Family Code, are
62	62	amended to read as follows:
63	63	(a) The child fatality review team committee is composed of:
64	64	(1) a person appointed by and representing the state
65	65	registrar of vital statistics;
66	66	(2) a person appointed by and representing the
67	67	commissioner of the department;
68	68	(3) a person appointed by and representing the Title V
69	69	director of the Department of State Health Services; [and]
70	70	(4) a person appointed by and representing the speaker
71	71	of the house of representatives;
72	72	(5) a person appointed by and representing the
73	73	lieutenant governor;
74	74	(6) a person appointed by and representing the
75	75	governor; and
76	76	(7) individuals selected under Subsection (b).
77	77	(b) The members of the committee who serve under Subsections
78	78	(a)(1) through (6) [(3)] shall select the following additional
79	79	committee members:
80	80	(1) a criminal prosecutor involved in prosecuting
81	81	crimes against children;
82	82	(2) a sheriff;
83	83	(3) a justice of the peace;
84	84	(4) a medical examiner;
85	85	(5) a police chief;
86	86	(6) a pediatrician experienced in diagnosing and
87	87	treating child abuse and neglect;
88	88	(7) a child educator;
89	89	(8) a child mental health provider;
90	90	(9) a public health professional;
91	91	(10) a child protective services specialist;
92	92	(11) a sudden infant death syndrome family service
93	93	provider;
94	94	(12) a neonatologist;
95	95	(13) a child advocate;
96	96	(14) a chief juvenile probation officer;
97	97	(15) a child abuse prevention specialist;
98	98	(16) a representative of the Department of Public
99	99	Safety;
100	100	(17) a representative of the Texas Department of
101	101	Transportation;
102	102	(18) an emergency medical services provider; and
103	103	(19) a provider of services to, or an advocate for,
104	104	victims of family violence.
105	105	SECTION 5. Section 264.503, Family Code, is amended by
106	106	amending Subsections (d) and (e) and adding Subsection (h) to read
107	107	as follows:
108	108	(d) The Department of State Health Services shall:
109	109	(1) recognize the creation and participation of review
110	110	teams;
111	111	(2) promote and coordinate training to assist the
112	112	review teams in carrying out their duties;
113	113	(3) assist the committee in developing model protocols
114	114	for:
115	115	(A) the reporting and investigating of child
116	116	fatalities for law enforcement agencies, child protective
117	117	services, justices of the peace and medical examiners, and other
118	118	professionals involved in the investigations of child deaths;
119	119	(B) the collection of data regarding child
120	120	deaths; and
121	121	(C) the operation of the review teams;
122	122	(4) develop and implement procedures necessary for the
123	123	operation of the committee; [and]
124	124	(5) develop and implement training for justices of the
125	125	peace and medical examiners regarding inquests in child death
126	126	cases; and
127	127	(6) promote education of the public regarding the
128	128	incidence and causes of child deaths, the public role in preventing
129	129	child deaths, and specific steps the public can undertake to
130	130	prevent child deaths.
131	131	(e) In addition to the duties under Subsection (d), the
132	132	Department of State Health Services shall:
133	133	(1) collect data under this subchapter and coordinate
134	134	the collection of data under this subchapter with other data
135	135	collection activities; [and]
136	136	(2) perform annual statistical studies of the
137	137	incidence and causes of child fatalities using the data collected
138	138	under this subchapter; and
139	139	(3) evaluate the available child fatality data and use
140	140	the data to create public health strategies for the prevention of
141	141	child fatalities.
142	142	(h) Each member of the committee must be a member of the
143	143	child fatality review team in the county where the committee member
144	144	resides.
145	145	SECTION 6. Subchapter F, Chapter 264, Family Code, is
146	146	amended by adding Sections 264.5031 and 264.5032 to read as
147	147	follows:
148	148	Sec. 264.5031. COLLECTION OF NEAR FATALITY DATA. (a) The
149	149	Department of State Health Services shall develop a definition for
150	150	the term "near fatality" to allow for statewide consistency in
151	151	child fatality investigations.
152	152	(b) The Department of State Health Services shall include
153	153	near fatality child abuse or neglect cases in the child fatality
154	154	case database, for cases in which child abuse or neglect is
155	155	determined to have been the cause of the near fatality. The
156	156	Department of State Health Services must also develop a data
157	157	collection strategy for near fatality child abuse or neglect cases.
158	158	Sec. 264.5032. TRACKING OF CHILD FATALITY AND NEAR FATALITY
159	159	DATA. (a) The department shall produce a report relating to child
160	160	fatality and near fatality cases resulting from child abuse or
161	161	neglect containing the following information:
162	162	(1) any prior contact the department had with the
163	163	child's family and the manner in which the case was disposed,
164	164	including cases in which the department made the following
165	165	dispositions:
166	166	(A) priority none or administrative closure;
167	167	(B) call screened out;
168	168	(C) alternative or differential response
169	169	provided;
170	170	(D) unable to complete the investigation;
171	171	(E) unable to determine whether abuse or neglect
172	172	occurred;
173	173	(F) reason to believe abuse or neglect occurred;
174	174	or
175	175	(G) child removed and placed into substitute
176	176	care;
177	177	(2) for any case investigated by the department
178	178	involving the child or the child's family:
179	179	(A) the number of caseworkers assigned to the
180	180	case before the fatality or near fatality occurred;
181	181	(B) the level of education for each caseworker
182	182	assigned to the case and the caseworker's employment tenure; and
183	183	(C) the caseworker's caseload at the time the
184	184	case was opened and at the time the case was closed;
185	185	(3) for any case in which the department investigation
186	186	concluded that there was reason to believe that abuse or neglect
187	187	occurred, and the family was referred to family-based safety
188	188	services:
189	189	(A) the safety plan provided to the family;
190	190	(B) the services offered to the family; and
191	191	(C) the level of compliance with the safety plan
192	192	or completion of the services by the family;
193	193	(4) the number of contacts the department made with
194	194	children and families in family-based safety services cases; and
195	195	(5) the initial and attempted contacts the department
196	196	made with child abuse and neglect victims.
197	197	(b) The department shall make the data collected under
198	198	Subsection (a) available to allow research into the determining
199	199	factors related to child abuse fatalities or near fatalities, with
200	200	the purpose of:
201	201	(1) reducing child fatalities or near fatalities and
202	202	repeated referrals of a child or family to the department; and
203	203	(2) predicting future occurrences of child fatalities
204	204	and near fatalities to improve prevention and early intervention
205	205	strategies.
206	206	SECTION 7. Sections 264.505(a) and (c), Family Code, are
207	207	amended to read as follows:
208	208	(a) A multidisciplinary and multiagency child fatality
209	209	review team may be established for a county to review child deaths
210	210	in that county. A [review team for a] county [with a population of
211	211	less than 50,000] may join with an adjacent county or counties to
212	212	establish a combined review team.
213	213	(c) A review team must reflect the diversity of the county's
214	214	population and may include:
215	215	(1) a criminal prosecutor involved in prosecuting
216	216	crimes against children;
217	217	(2) a sheriff;
218	218	(3) a justice of the peace or medical examiner;
219	219	(4) a police chief;
220	220	(5) a pediatrician experienced in diagnosing and
221	221	treating child abuse and neglect;
222	222	(6) a child educator;
223	223	(7) a child mental health provider;
224	224	(8) a public health professional;
225	225	(9) a child protective services specialist;
226	226	(10) a sudden infant death syndrome family service
227	227	provider;
228	228	(11) a neonatologist;
229	229	(12) a child advocate;
230	230	(13) a chief juvenile probation officer; and
231	231	(14) a child abuse prevention specialist.
232	232	SECTION 8. Section 264.506(b), Family Code, is amended to
233	233	read as follows:
234	234	(b) To achieve its purpose, a review team shall:
235	235	(1) adapt and implement, according to local needs and
236	236	resources, the model protocols developed by the department and the
237	237	committee;
238	238	(2) meet on a regular basis to review child fatality
239	239	cases and recommend methods to improve coordination of services and
240	240	investigations between agencies that are represented on the team;
241	241	(3) collect and maintain data as required by the
242	242	committee; [and]
243	243	(4) review and analyze the collected data to identify
244	244	any demographic trends in child fatality cases, including whether
245	245	there is a disproportionate number of child fatalities in a
246	246	particular population group or geographic area; and
247	247	(5) submit to the vital statistics unit data reports
248	248	on deaths reviewed as specified by the committee.
249	249	SECTION 9. Section 264.509, Family Code, is amended by
250	250	adding Subsection (b-1) to read as follows:
251	251	(b-1) The Department of State Health Services shall provide
252	252	a review team with electronic access to the preliminary death
253	253	certificate for a deceased child.
254	254	SECTION 10. (a) Section 264.514, Family Code, is amended by
255	255	adding Subsection (a-1) and amending Subsection (b) to read as
256	256	follows:
257	257	(a-1) The commissioners court of a county shall adopt
258	258	regulations relating to the timeliness for conducting an inquest
259	259	into the death of a child. The regulations adopted under this
260	260	subsection must be as stringent as the standards issued by the
261	261	National Association of Medical Examiners unless the commissioners
262	262	court determines that it would be cost prohibitive for the county to
263	263	comply with those standards.
264	264	(b) The medical examiner or justice of the peace shall
265	265	immediately notify an appropriate local law enforcement agency if
266	266	the medical examiner or justice of the peace determines that the
267	267	death is unexpected or the result of abuse or neglect, and that
268	268	agency shall investigate the child's death. The medical examiner or
269	269	justice of the peace shall notify the appropriate county child
270	270	fatality review team of the child's death not later than the 120th
271	271	day after the date the death is reported.
272	272	(b) A county must attempt to implement the timeliness
273	273	standards for inquests as described by Section 264.514(a-1), Family
274	274	Code, as added by this Act, as soon as possible after the effective
275	275	date of this Act.
276	276	SECTION 11. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.