88R14243 MLH-D
By: Gervin-Hawkins H.B. No. 3692
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the Department of Family and Protective Services'
annual report of key performance measures and data elements for
child protection; authorizing a penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 264.017, Family Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (f) to read as
follows:
(b) The department shall provide the report required by
Subsection (a) to the legislature and shall publish the report and
make the report available electronically to the public, including
by posting the report on the department's Internet website, not
later than February 1 of each year. The report must include, with
respect to the preceding year:
(1) information on the number and disposition of
reports of child abuse and neglect received by the department;
(2) information on the number of clients for whom the
department took protective action, including investigations,
alternative responses, and court-ordered removals;
(3) information on the number of clients for whom the
department provided services in each program administered by the
child protective services division, including investigations,
alternative responses, family-based safety services,
conservatorship, post-adoption services, and transitional living
services;
(4) the number of children in this state who died as a
result of child abuse or neglect;
(5) the number of children described by Subdivision
(4) for whom the department was the children's managing conservator
at the time of death;
(6) information on the timeliness of the department's
initial contact in an investigation or alternative response;
(7) information on the response time by the department
in commencing services to families and children for whom an
allegation of child abuse or neglect has been made;
(8) information regarding child protection staffing
and caseloads by program area;
(9) information on the permanency goals in place and
achieved for children in the managing conservatorship of the
department, including information on the timeliness of achieving
the goals, the stability of the children's placement in foster
care, and the proximity of placements to the children's home
counties;
(10) the number of children who suffer from a severe
emotional disturbance and for whom the department is appointed
managing conservator, including statistics on appointments as
joint managing conservator, due to an individual voluntarily
relinquishing custody of a child solely to obtain mental health
services for the child;
(11) the number of children who are pregnant or a
parent while in the managing conservatorship of the department and
the number of the children born to a parent in the managing
conservatorship of the department who are placed in the managing
conservatorship of the department;
(12) the number of children who are missing from the
children's substitute care provider while in the managing
conservatorship of the department; [and]
(13) the number of children who were victims of
trafficking under Chapter 20A, Penal Code, while in the managing
conservatorship of the department; and
(14) information on the state's kinship care program.
(f) The comptroller shall assess a penalty against the
department in the amount of $1,000 for each day after February 1 the
department has not filed the report under Subsection (b). The
comptroller shall reallocate the amount assessed as a penalty under
this subsection as necessary to allow the department to use the
money to provide financial assistance to relative and other
designated caregivers under Section 264.755.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.