By: West, Menéndez S.B. No. 596
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to reporting certain information regarding the placement
of children and suits filed by the Department of Family and
Protective Services.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 264.017(b) and (f), Family Code, are
amended 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 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 outcome of each suit filed by
the department and the type of placement of the child during the
pendency of the suit.
(f) In addition to the other reports required by this
section, the department shall publish on the department's Internet
website a monthly report containing the following information for
the preceding month:
(1) with respect to parental child safety placement
agreements:
(A) [(1)] the number of children placed under a
parental child safety placement agreement, disaggregated by:
(i) the child's age, race, gender,
ethnicity, and county of residence;
(ii) the annualized incomes of the parent
or other person with whom the child resides and the caregiver of the
child; and
(iii) whether the child has previously been
in the managing conservatorship of the department;
(B) the number of parental child safety placement
agreements in effect on the last day of the month;
(C) [(2)] the average duration of a placement
under a parental child safety placement agreement;
(D) [(3)] the average duration of a placement
under a parental child safety placement agreement during an
investigation; and
(E) [(4)] the percentage of children removed
from a placement under a parental child safety placement agreement
and placed in the managing conservatorship of the department; and
(2) by child protective services region with respect
to:
(A) authorization agreements executed under
Chapter 34 regarding a child who is the subject of an investigation
of abuse or neglect, a suit filed by the department, or an agreement
under which the department provides services to the child's parent:
(i) the number of authorization agreements
executed;
(ii) the number of children subject to
authorization agreements, disaggregated by the child's race and
gender; and
(iii) the average duration of an
authorization agreement; and
(B) court orders for temporary authorization for
care of a child under Chapter 35 regarding a child who is the
subject of an investigation of abuse or neglect, a suit filed by the
department, or an agreement under which the department provides
services to the child's parent:
(i) the number of orders signed;
(ii) the number of children subject to
orders, disaggregated by the child's race and gender; and
(iii) the average duration of an order.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.