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House Bill 1227 |
House Author: Dukes |
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Effective: 9-1-13 |
Senate Sponsor: Williams et al. |
House Bill 1227 amends the Family Code to require the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS), subject to the availability of money, to develop an Internet application that allows a court-appointed volunteer advocate representing a child in the managing conservatorship of DFPS to access the child's case file through the department's automated case tracking and information management system and to add the volunteer advocate's findings and reports to the child's case file. The bill requires the court-appointed volunteer advocate to maintain the required confidentiality for the information accessed by the advocate through the system. The bill authorizes DFPS to use money appropriated to DFPS and money received as a gift, grant, or donation to pay for the costs of developing and maintaining the Internet application and authorizes DFPS to solicit and accept gifts, grants, and donations for such purposes. The bill requires the executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission to adopt rules necessary to implement the bill's provisions.