Enrolled Bill Summary

            Senate Bill 664 amends Subchapter E, Chapter 261, Family Code, relating to investigations of child abuse or neglect in facilities operated, licensed, certified, or registered by state agencies. The bill explicitly adds child exploitation to the acts covered under the subchapter. The Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) is required to adopt minimum standards for investigations of reported abuse, neglect, or exploitation, and the rules and policies of agencies and institutions covered under the subchapter are required to be consistent with those standards. The bill also requires HHSC to adopt uniform procedures for collecting information related to those investigations and to receive and compile information on investigations. The bill makes the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired and the Texas School for the Deaf subject to the same requirements as state agencies covered under the subchapter and specifies that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the Texas Youth Commission, and the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission are not covered by HHSC's standards and procedures. The board of the Texas Youth Commission is required to adopt standards for investigation and compiling information on incidents in facilities under its jurisdiction.

            The bill also amends the Human Resources Code to require HHSC to adopt minimum standards for investigation or suspected abuse, neglect, or exploitation of an elderly or disabled person in a covered facility.