89R3730 RAL-D
By: Gervin-Hawkins H.B. No. 1440
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 264.001, Family Code, is amended by
adding Subdivision (6) to read as follows:
(6) "Substitute care" has the meaning assigned by
Section 263.001.
SECTION 2. Section 264.017, Family Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (g) 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 children [clients]
for whom the department took protective action, including
investigations, alternative responses, and court-ordered removals;
(3) information on the number of children [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) of the children identified under Subdivision
(12):
(A) the number of children who were located and
returned to substitute care;
(B) the actions taken by the department to locate
those children; and
(C) the outcome of each child's case;
(14) the number of children who were victims of
trafficking under Chapter 20A, Penal Code, while in the managing
conservatorship of the department;
(15) of the children identified under Subdivision
(14):
(A) the actions taken by the department to
resolve each case; and
(B) the outcome of each child's case;
(16) information on the program under Subchapter I,
including:
(A) the number of children placed with a relative
or designated caregiver;
(B) the percentage of children in the managing
conservatorship of the department who are placed with a relative or
designated caregiver;
(C) statistics on the age and race of the
children placed with a relative or designated caregiver;
(D) the number of children placed with a relative
or designated caregiver who were part of a sibling group;
(E) the number of relative or designated
caregivers who receive financial assistance; and
(F) outcome information for children placed with
a relative or designated caregiver including:
(i) how many months children spent with a
relative or designated caregiver before a case was closed;
(ii) the rates of types of resolutions for
closed cases; and
(iii) statistics comparing the outcomes for
relative or designated caregiver placements with and without
financial assistance;
(17) information on the number of substitute care
providers, other than relative or designated caregivers, who
received financial assistance;
(18) the number of complaints brought against
substitute care providers;
(19) the number of children in relative or designated
caregiver placements reunified with their families; and
(20) the number of children in substitute care, other
than relative or designated caregiver placements, reunified with
their families.
(g) 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 monetary assistance to relative and other
designated caregivers under Section 264.755.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.