BILL ANALYSIS C.S.S.B. 81 By: Shapiro (Brady) 05-08-95 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND Currently, there is no statutory mechanism to coordinate the efforts of the parties involved in child abuse cases. This lack of coordination can increase the victim's distress by forcing them to undergo interviews with several different officials (15 to 20 is not unusual) and can contribute to the unnecessary duplication of effort by the agencies involved and decrease prosecution rates. PURPOSE This bill would enable local entities to work together to deal with child abuse cases. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Adds Subchapter E., titled "Children's Advocacy Centers," to Chapter 264 of the Family Code, as added by H.B. 655, Acts of the 74th Legislature, Regular Session, 1995. Sec. 264.401 Defines "center" to mean a children's advocacy center. Sec. 264.402 establishment of Children's Advocacy Center. Allows participating entities to establish a children's advocacy center to serve two or more contiguous counties upon the executive of a memorandum of understanding (MOU). Sec. 264.403 Requires (a) that the MOU be executed among the child abuse professionals of the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services, county and municipal law enforcement agencies, county or district attorney's office, and any other governmental entity that wants to participate. (b) Requires that the participating entities agree: to develop a cooperative, team approach to investigating cases; as much as possible, reduce the number of interviews required of the child; administer the center to emphasize the best interests of the child, and provide investigative and rehabilitative services. (c) Allows for the provision of office space and administrative services. Sec. 264.404 Board; Administration of Center. (a) The executive officer or board of each participating entity shall appoint a member to serve on the center's governing board. (b) Board members serve at their pleasure of the appointing executive or board. (c) Service on a center's board by a public officer or employee is an additional duty of office or employment. Sec. 264.405 Duties. A center will: assess victims of child abuse and their families to determine their need for services; provide services and a facility for multidisciplinary teams to meet; and coordinate the activities of the entities involved in child abuse investigations and the delivery of services. Sec. 264.406 Multidisciplinary Team. (a) Multidisciplinary teams will be appointed by the center's board to review child abuse cases and coordinate case activity. (b) The alleged perpetrator does not have to have custody of the child for the multidisciplinary team to review the case. (c) A team will consist of the people involved in investigating and prosecuting the case, and providing services to the victims or their families. (d) The board will call a team to meet when a new child abuse case is received or a pending case needs attention. (e) The team will discuss each active case at each meeting, including the actions of the entities involved. Sec. 264.407 Liability. (a) Grants limited liability to people acting as part of a multidisciplinary team. (b) Limited liability does not apply if the person's actions constitute gross negligence. §34.708 State funding of centers. Allows the state to offer $50,000 in matching funds to provide for startup costs of Advocacy centers. This money will pay for 20 centers over the next biennium. SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 1995. SECTION 3. Emergency clause. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.S.B. 81 conforms the original version to the recodification of Title 2 of the Family Code as enacted by H.B. 655, Acts of the 74th Legislature, Regular Session, 1995. SUMMARY OF COMMITTEE ACTION S.B. 81 was considered in a public hearing on May 3, 1995. The committee considered a complete substitute which was adopted without objection. S.B. 81 was reported favorably as substituted with the recommendation that it do pass and be printed by a record vote of 8 ayes, 0 nays, 0 pnv, 1 absent.