89R15504 MM-D
By: Meyer H.B. No. 5607
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to establishing a procedure for the Department of Family
and Protective Services to respond to and issue findings on reports
of abuse or neglect made by certain professionals.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 261, Family Code, is
amended by adding Section 261.1012 to read as follows:
Sec. 261.1012. ENHANCED DEPARTMENT RESPONSE TO REPORT BY
PROFESSIONAL. The department shall establish a procedure for
enhanced response to a report of abuse or neglect made by a
professional under Section 261.101. The procedure must require:
(1) the department to contact the professional who
made the report of abuse or neglect by phone as soon as practicable
after receiving the report and before initiating an investigation;
(2) the department employee who contacts the
professional under Subdivision (1) to gather additional
information to inform the initiation of the investigation and
investigational procedures;
(3) the department to notify the professional who made
the report of abuse or neglect of the department's findings and
decision regarding any investigation resulting from the report;
(4) the department to establish a process to allow a
professional who receives information under Subdivision (3) to
request an administrative review of the department's investigation
if the professional believes the investigation was not conducted
appropriately based on the allegation; and
(5) the department to automatically dispose of a case
with a finding of reason to believe that abuse or neglect occurred
if the professional's report on which the department's
investigation is based includes evidence that the person who is the
subject of the investigation disclosed to the professional that the
person abused or neglected the child who is the subject of the
professional's report.
SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
a report of suspected abuse or neglect of a child that is made on or
after the effective date of this Act. A report of suspected abuse
or neglect that is made before that date is governed by the law in
effect on the date the report was made, and that law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.