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Senate Bill 206 |
Senate Author: Schwertner et al. |
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Effective: See below |
House Sponsor: Burkett et al. |
Effective September 1, 2015, Senate Bill 206 amends the provisions of the Education Code, Family Code, Government Code, and Human Resources Code relating to the functions and administration of the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS). The bill revises and streamlines agency procedures involved in adoption cases and child protective services cases by changing various record keeping, notification, and casework documentation requirements and provisions governing the investigation of a report of abuse, neglect, or exploitation of a child and by condensing and updating provisions governing procedures in a child protection suit, including adversary and permanency hearings, and the performance of a child placement review for a child under DFPS care. The bill establishes annual reporting requirements for DFPS regarding key performance measures and data elements for child protection and sets out notification requirements relating to significant events for a child in DFPS conservatorship involving the child's placement, medical condition, prescribed drugs, and school performance; revises provisions governing foster care, including requirements that foster children be provided access to certain personal information and documents; and sets out requirements for implementing foster care redesign. The bill consolidates and restructures provisions regarding prevention and early intervention services, including the child abuse and neglect primary prevention program, and requires the development and implementation of a strategic plan for those services within DFPS. The bill revises provisions relating to public school admission and attendance of, and eligibility for an exemption from tuition and fees for, students under DFPS conservatorship.
The bill broadens the authority of DFPS to obtain criminal history record information regarding certain persons; authorizes the executive commissioner to adopt rules regarding the purpose, structure, and use of advisory committees by DFPS; and requires the development and implementation of an annual business plan for the child protective services program to prioritize the department's activities and resources to improve the program. The bill provides for an enforcement policy for the regulation of certain child-care facilities, homes, and agencies and revises provisions governing administrative remedies for those regulated entities.
The bill requires DFPS to study whether provisions governing authorization agreements between the parent of a child and a nonparent relative should be expanded to include authorization agreements between a parent of a child and a person who is unrelated to the child. Effective September 1, 2016, the bill updates provisions governing the licensing and certification of certain child-care facilities, homes, and agencies.