Enrolled Bill Summary

House Bill 263 amends provisions of the Family Code relating to the establishment and operation of children's advocacy centers. The bill adds community members to those executing a memorandum of understanding to establish advocacy centers and specifies that a center may serve a single county. It changes requirements relating to the composition of a center's governing board and to the composition of a center's multidisciplinary team and the team's duties, including regularly scheduled meetings to review child abuse cases and to coordinate the investigation and prosecution of those cases. House Bill 263 limits public entities that are eligible for certain state administrative contracts to those operating before November 1, 1995, and adds requirements relating to the operation of a center to the list of eligibility provisions. The bill amends the Government Code to add employees, volunteers, and applicant volunteers of a children's advocacy center to the list of persons about which the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services is entitled to obtain criminal history record information.