Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1502 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R3095 DNC-D
2	2	By: Noble H.B. No. 1502
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7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to the creation of the child and adult protective
10	10	investigations advisory committee in the Department of Family and
11	11	Protective Services.
12	12	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	13	SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 40, Human Resources Code,
14	14	is amended by adding Section 40.031 to read as follows:
15	15	Sec. 40.031. CHILD AND ADULT PROTECTIVE INVESTIGATIONS
16	16	ADVISORY COMMITTEE. (a) The commissioner shall establish an
17	17	advisory committee on child and adult protective investigations to
18	18	improve the accuracy and standardization of the application of
19	19	investigative legal requirements and department investigative
20	20	policies and procedures during child or adult abuse, neglect, and
21	21	exploitation investigations. The advisory committee shall advise
22	22	the department on:
23	23	(1) developing policies and procedures to increase the
24	24	accuracy and consistency of abuse, neglect, and exploitation
25	25	investigation processes and procedures;
26	26	(2) developing a model for conducting investigations
27	27	that ensures compliance with due process requirements;
28	28	(3) developing a consistent engagement model for
29	29	interacting with legal advocates, courts, and judicial branch
30	30	procedures;
31	31	(4) developing effective training for all
32	32	investigative employees;
33	33	(5) increasing compliance with investigation
34	34	procedures and processes;
35	35	(6) developing a data-informed model for conducting
36	36	investigations; and
37	37	(7) providing a forum for public input on problems or
38	38	concerns related to investigations.
39	39	(b) The advisory committee shall:
40	40	(1) make recommendations for:
41	41	(A) conducting investigations;
42	42	(B) overseeing compliance with investigative
43	43	requirements under state and federal law;
44	44	(C) developing policies and procedures to
45	45	protect the due process rights of individuals subject to:
46	46	(i) adult abuse or neglect investigations;
47	47	and
48	48	(ii) child abuse or neglect investigations;
49	49	and
50	50	(D) consistently executing policies and
51	51	procedures across all department jurisdictions regardless of the
52	52	race, gender, age, and socioeconomic status of the subject of an
53	53	investigation;
54	54	(2) identify any challenges or barriers to:
55	55	(A) the standardization of investigative
56	56	practices and procedures; and
57	57	(B) the application and implementation in the
58	58	field of legal requirements and department investigative policies
59	59	and procedures in child or adult abuse and neglect investigations;
60	60	(3) make recommendations to address issues identified
61	61	under Subdivision (2), including any human resource accountability
62	62	measures to address those issues; and
63	63	(4) supervise any external organizations that
64	64	participate in the investigation processes and make
65	65	recommendations for legal procedures for the operations of those
66	66	organizations.
67	67	(c) The advisory committee is composed of the following 13
68	68	members:
69	69	(1) one member from the governor's office, who shall
70	70	serve as the chair, appointed by the governor;
71	71	(2) one member from the lieutenant governor's office,
72	72	who shall serve as the vice chair, appointed by the lieutenant
73	73	governor;
74	74	(3) one member from the office of the speaker of the
75	75	house of representatives appointed by the speaker;
76	76	(4) one member appointed by the commissioner;
77	77	(5) the department's deputy commissioner for child
78	78	protective investigations;
79	79	(6) a regional director of investigations appointed by
80	80	the commissioner;
81	81	(7) at least one child protective investigations
82	82	supervisor and investigator appointed by the commissioner from each
83	83	of the following:
84	84	(A) a rural region; and
85	85	(B) an urban region;
86	86	(8) a district judge appointed by the governor;
87	87	(9) one parent or caregiver, who has been involved in a
88	88	child protective services legal case, appointed by the
89	89	commissioner; and
90	90	(10) three members appointed by the commissioner who
91	91	are a current or former:
92	92	(A) county district attorney;
93	93	(B) attorney assigned to represent caregivers in
94	94	legal cases involving the department;
95	95	(C) attorney assigned to represent children in
96	96	legal cases involving the department;
97	97	(D) associate judge who hears or has heard child
98	98	protective services legal cases; or
99	99	(E) state or local law enforcement officer.
100	100	(d) In appointing the members of the advisory committee
101	101	under Subsection (c)(10), the commissioner may select only one
102	102	person from each group described by Subsection (c)(10)(A)-(E).
103	103	(e) An individual may not serve on the advisory committee as
104	104	a member appointed under Subsection (c)(1), (2), (3), (4), (8),
105	105	(9), or (10) if the individual is:
106	106	(1) employed by a state agency or contracts with the
107	107	department, child welfare vendors, or behavioral health providers
108	108	and organizations contracted with the department or the Health and
109	109	Human Services Commission, notwithstanding approved department
110	110	personnel; or
111	111	(2) related within the third degree of consanguinity
112	112	of individuals who work at the department or for organizations that
113	113	contract with the department or hold contracts with vendors of the
114	114	department, including vendors in community-based care.
115	115	(f) Members of the advisory committee shall recuse
116	116	themselves from the committee's deliberation regarding
117	117	recommendations that directly relate to a case that involves the
118	118	member.
119	119	(g) The chair of the advisory committee shall direct the
120	120	advisory committee and the department shall provide administrative
121	121	support and resources to the advisory committee as necessary for
122	122	the advisory committee to perform the advisory committee's duties
123	123	under this section.
124	124	(h) The advisory committee shall meet quarterly in Austin or
125	125	at another location determined by the chair. A meeting of the
126	126	advisory committee under this section is subject to Chapter 551,
127	127	Government Code. The advisory committee shall receive public
128	128	testimony at each public meeting. The department shall stream live
129	129	video and audio of each advisory committee meeting over the
130	130	Internet and make available on the department's Internet website
131	131	archived video and audio of each advisory committee meeting. The
132	132	department shall maintain the archived video and audio of the
133	133	meeting on the department's Internet website until the seventh
134	134	anniversary of the date of the meeting.
135	135	(i) Not later than August 31st of each year, the advisory
136	136	committee shall submit a report to the governor, the lieutenant
137	137	governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, members of
138	138	the legislature, and the commissioner. The department shall
139	139	publish the report on the department's Internet website. The
140	140	report must include the following information for the state and for
141	141	each department region:
142	142	(1) the number of:
143	143	(A) phone calls made to the agency that resulted
144	144	in an investigation for child or adult abuse or neglect;
145	145	(B) completed investigations for child or adult
146	146	abuse or neglect;
147	147	(C) each type of case disposition;
148	148	(D) administrative closures;
149	149	(E) abbreviated investigations;
150	150	(F) children removed from the child's home;
151	151	(G) children placed in foster care;
152	152	(H) cases in which the child was not removed from
153	153	the child's home but the family received family-based safety
154	154	services or family preservation services;
155	155	(I) cases per investigator in unspecialized
156	156	investigative units; and
157	157	(J) cases per investigator in specialized
158	158	investigative units;
159	159	(2) the average employment rate for unspecialized
160	160	investigators and supervisors and specialized investigators and
161	161	supervisors;
162	162	(3) the average amount of time to complete
163	163	investigations for each level of investigation;
164	164	(4) the total number of administrative reviews of
165	165	investigation findings and the results of those investigations for
166	166	that year;
167	167	(5) the number of complaints filed with the office of
168	168	consumer affairs of the department and the Office of Inspector
169	169	General;
170	170	(6) any identified challenges to:
171	171	(A) the standardization of an investigative
172	172	training program; and
173	173	(B) the application and implantation in the field
174	174	or of legal requirements and department investigative policies and
175	175	procedures in child or adult abuse and neglect investigations;
176	176	(7) the committee's recommendations for improving any
177	177	identified challenges under Subdivision (6), including any human
178	178	resource accountability measures to address those issues; and
179	179	(8) recommendations on human resource accountability
180	180	measures for individuals investigating or supervising the
181	181	investigation of cases of suspected child or adult abuse or
182	182	neglect.
183	183	(j) The advisory committee is abolished and this section
184	184	expires on September 1, 2029.
185	185	SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.