80R8278 MCK-D
 
  By: Nelson S.B. No. 758
 
 
 
   
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to child protective services.
       BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
       SECTION 1.  Chapter 261.301(a), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
       (a)  With assistance from the appropriate state or local law
enforcement agency as provided by this section, the department or
designated agency shall make a prompt and thorough investigation of
a report of child abuse or neglect allegedly committed by a person
responsible for a child's care, custody, or welfare. The
investigation shall be conducted without regard to any pending suit
affecting the parent-child relationship. The department may
contract with a local law enforcement agency to provide forensic
investigation support and assist case workers with assessment
decisions and intervention activities. The department shall ensure
that a law enforcement officer who conducts an investigation under
a contract with the department receives the training described by
Section 261.3011(b).
       SECTION 2.  Section 261.303, Family Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsection (e) to read as
follows:
       (d)  A person, including a medical facility, that makes a
report under Subchapter B shall release to the department or
designated agency, as part of the required report under Section
261.103, records that directly relate to the suspected abuse or
neglect without requiring parental consent or a court order. If a
child is transferred from a reporting medical facility to another
medical facility to treat the injury or condition that formed the
basis for the original report, the transferee medical facility
shall, at the department's request, release to the department
records relating to the injury or condition without requiring
parental consent or a court order.
       (e)  A person, including a utility company, that has
confidential locating or identifying information regarding a
family that is the subject of an investigation under this chapter
shall release that information to the department.
       SECTION 3. Section 263.102, Family Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
       (f)  In developing the service plan for a child under two
years of age, the department shall consult with relevant
professionals to determine the skills or knowledge that the child's
parents must learn or acquire to meet the goals of the service plan.
The service plan must require therapeutic family visits between the
child and the child's parents supervised by a licensed psychologist
to promote family reunification and to educate the parents about
issues relating to the removal of the child.
       SECTION 4. Section 264.012, Family Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (a-1) and amending Subsection (b) to read as
follows:
       (a-1)  The department shall spend money appropriated for the
child protective services program to pay reasonable and necessary
burial expenses for a person for whom the department is paying for
foster care under Section 264.101(a-1)(2) and who dies while in
foster care unless there is money in the person's estate or other
money available to pay the person's burial expenses.
       (b)  The department may accept donations, gifts, or in-kind
contributions to cover the costs of any burial expenses paid by the
department under this section [for children for whom the department
has been appointed managing conservator].
       SECTION 5. Sections 264.106(b), (e), (g), (i), (j), and (k),
Family Code, are amended to read as follows:
       (b)  The department shall, in accordance with Section
45.004, Human Resources Code:
             (1)  assess the need for substitute care and case
management services throughout the state;
             (2)  [either] contract [directly] with private
agencies as part of regional community-centered networks for the
provision of:
                   (A)  all necessary substitute care services; and
                   (B)  case management services in at least 10
percent of the cases in the state [or use an independent
administrator to contract for those services];
             (3)  [contract with an independent administrator, if
cost beneficial, to coordinate and manage all services needed for
children in the temporary or permanent managing conservatorship of
the department in a designated geographic area;
             [(4)]  monitor the quality of services for which the
department contracts [and each independent administrator contract]
under this section; and
             (4) [(5)]  ensure that the services are provided in
accordance with federal law and the laws of this state, including
department rules and rules of the Department of State Health
Services and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
       (e)  In addition to the requirements of Section 40.058(b),
Human Resources Code, a contract with a private agency [an
independent administrator] must include provisions that:
             (1)  enable the department to monitor the effectiveness
of the services;
             (2)  specify performance outcomes;
             (3)  authorize the department to terminate the contract
or impose sanctions for a violation of a provision of the contract
that specifies performance criteria;
             (4)  ensure that a private agency [an independent
administrator] may not refuse to accept a client who is referred for
services or reject a client who is receiving services unless the
department has reviewed the private agency's [independent
administrator's] decision and approved the decision in writing;
             (5)  authorize the department, an agent of the
department, and the state auditor to inspect all books, records,
and files maintained by a private agency [an independent
administrator] relating to the contract; and
             (6)  the department determines are necessary to ensure
accountability for the delivery of services and for the expenditure
of public funds.
       (g)  In determining whether to contract with a substitute
care provider [or an independent administrator], the department
shall consider the provider's [or administrator's] performance
under any previous contract between the department and the provider
[or administrator].
       (i)  Except as provided by Subsections (j) and (k) and
notwithstanding any other law, on and after September 1, 2009 
[2011], the department may not directly provide substitute care
[and case management] services for children for whom the department
has been appointed temporary or permanent managing conservator.
       (j)  On and after September 1, 2009 [2011], the department
may provide substitute care [and case management] services in an
emergency. The executive commissioner shall adopt rules describing
the circumstances in which the department may provide those
services.
       (k)  The department may provide substitute care [and case
management] services as a provider of last resort in any region of
the state in which the department [or an independent administrator
contracting with the department] is unable to contract with a
private agency to provide those services.
       SECTION 6.  Section 264.1062, Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
       Sec. 264.1062.  CONTRACT FOR CASE MANAGEMENT SERVICES
[EVALUATION OF INDEPENDENT ADMINISTRATORS]. Not later than
September 1, 2009, the [The] department shall contract with private
agencies to provide case management services in at least 10 percent
of the cases in the state.  The department shall select the private
agencies through a competitive procurement process [develop and
implement a comprehensive multidisciplinary team to monitor and
evaluate the performance of independent administrators. The team
must consist of specialized staff who can enable the department to
measure critical dimensions of community-based organization
performance, obtained through the quality assurance functions of
the independent administrator, including:
             [(1)achievement of client and system outcomes;
             [(2)  compliance with contractual terms and
conditions; and
             [(3)  any history of the community-based organization's
noncompliance with the department's licensing standards].
       SECTION 7.  Section 264.1063, Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
       Sec. 264.1063.  MONITORING PERFORMANCE OF SUBSTITUTE CARE
AND CASE MANAGEMENT PROVIDERS. (a)  The department, in
consultation with private entities under contract with [either an
independent administrator or] the department to provide substitute
care or case management services, shall establish a quality
assurance program that uses comprehensive, multitiered assurance
and improvement systems based, subject to the availability of
funds, on real-time data to evaluate performance.
       (b)  The contract performance outcomes specified in a
contract under Section 264.106 must be consistent with the fiscal
goals of privatizing substitute care and case management services
and must be within the contractor's authority to deliver. The
contract must clearly define the manner in which the substitute
care or case management provider's performance will be measured and
identify the information sources the department [and, if
applicable, the independent administrator] will use to evaluate the
performance.
       SECTION 8.  Sections 264.107(c), (d), (e), and (f), Family
Code, are amended to read as follows:
       (c)  The department shall institute [contract between the
department and an independent administrator or other authorized
entity must require, not later than September 1, 2009,] the use of
real-time technology in the department's [independent
administrator's or other authorized entity's] placement system to
screen possible placement options for a child and match the child's
needs with the most qualified providers with vacancies.
       (d)  The department shall [institute a quality assurance
system in monitoring the independent administrators or other
authorized entities to] ensure that placement decisions are
reliable and are made in a consistent manner.
       (e)  In making placement decisions, the department [an
independent administrator or other authorized entity] shall:
             (1)  consult with the child's caseworker and the
child's guardian ad litem or court-appointed volunteer advocate;
and
             (2)  use clinical protocols to match a child to the most
appropriate placement resource.
       (f)  The department may create a regional advisory council in
a region to assist the department [and independent administrator or
other authorized entity] in:
             (1)  assessing the need for resources in the region;
and
             (2)  locating substitute care services in the region
for hard-to-place children.
       SECTION 9.  Subchapter B, Chapter 264, Family Code, is
amended by adding Section 264.1071 to read as follows:
       Sec. 264.1071.  PLACEMENT FOR CHILDREN UNDER AGE TWO. In
making a placement decision for a child under two years of age, the
department shall ensure that the child is placed with a person who
will provide a safe and emotionally stable environment for the
child and who will be able to provide care for the child without
disruption until the child is returned to the child's parents or the
department makes a permanent placement for the child.
       SECTION 10.  Section 264.113, Family Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
       (c)  The department shall work with the Department of
Assistive and Rehabilitative Services to recruit foster parents and
adoptive parents who have skills, training, or experience suitable
to care for children with hearing impairments.
       SECTION 11.  Section 264.121, Family Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
       (c)  At the time a child enters the Preparation for Adult
Living Program, the department shall provide an information booklet
to the child and the foster parent describing the program and the
benefits available to the child, including extended Medicaid
coverage until age 21, priority status with the Texas Workforce
Commission, and the exemption from the payment of tuition and fees
at institutions of higher education as defined by Section 61.003,
Education Code.
       SECTION 12.  Subchapter C, Chapter 264, Family Code, is
amended by adding Section 264.2011 to read as follows:
       Sec. 264.2011.  ENHANCED IN-HOME SUPPORT PROGRAM. (a) To
the extent that funding is available, the department shall develop
a program to strengthen families through enhanced in-home support.
The program shall assist certain low-income families and children
in child neglect cases in which poverty is believed to be a
significant underlying cause of the neglect and in which the
enhancement of in-home support appears likely to prevent removal of
the child from the home or to speed reunification of the child with
the family.
       (b)  A family that meets eligibility criteria for inclusion
in the program is eligible to receive limited funding from a
flexible fund account to cover nonrecurring expenses that are
designed to help the family accomplish the objectives included in
the family's service plan.
       (c)  The executive commissioner shall adopt rules
establishing:
             (1)  specific eligibility criteria for the program
described in this section;
             (2)  the maximum amount of money that may be made
available to a family through the flexible fund account; and
             (3)  the purposes for which money made available under
the program may be spent.
       (d)  The department shall evaluate the results of the program
to determine whether the program is successful in safely keeping
families together. If the department determines that the program is
successful, the department shall continue the program to the extent
that funding is available.
       SECTION 13.  Section 264.203(a), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
       (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (d), the court on
request of the department may order the parent, managing
conservator, guardian, or other member of the subject [abused or
neglected] child's household to:
             (1)  participate in the services the department
provides or purchases for:
                   (A)  alleviating the effects of the abuse or
neglect that has occurred; or
                   (B)  reducing the reasonable likelihood that the
child may be abused or neglected in the immediate or foreseeable
future; and
             (2)  [to] permit the child and any siblings of the child
to receive the services.
       SECTION 14.  Chapter 266, Family Code, as added by Chapter
268, Acts of the 79th Legislature, Regular Session, 2005, is
amended by adding Section 266.0031 to read as follows:
       Sec. 266.0031.  COMMITTEE ON MEDICAL AND FINANCIAL ISSUES
RELATING TO ABUSE AND NEGLECT. (a)  The committee on medical and
financial issues relating to abuse and neglect is composed of nine
members appointed by the executive commissioner. The members must
include:
             (1)  a representative of the attorney general's office;
             (2)  a representative of the Department of State Health
Services;
             (3)  a representative of the Department of Family and
Protective Services;
             (4)  a representative of the Health and Human Services
Commission;
             (5)  a representative of a child advocacy center;
             (6)  a physician representative who specializes in
pediatrics;
             (7)  a representative from a children's hospital; and
             (8)  two additional representatives, each of whom
represents one of the interests described by Subdivisions (1)
through (7).
       (b)  The executive commissioner shall designate a member
representing the Department of State Health Services as the
presiding officer of the committee.
       (c)  The committee shall:
             (1)  develop procedures and protocols for physicians,
nurses, hospitals, and other health care providers to follow in
detecting child abuse and neglect; and
             (2)  recommend methods to finance programs that:
                   (A)  provide medical services to abused and
neglected children; and
                   (B)  assist the department in investigating and
proving allegations of abuse and neglect.
       (d)  The committee shall report its findings and
recommendations to the department and the legislature not later
than September 1, 2009.
       (e)  This section expires January 1, 2010.
       SECTION 15.  Section 2155.1442(a), Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
       (a)  Subject to Subsection (e), the state auditor shall
conduct a management review of the residential contract management
employees of the Health and Human Services Commission and the
Department of Family and Protective Services and make
recommendations regarding the organization of, and skills and
educational requirements for, those employees. The state auditor
shall also make recommendations regarding the implementation of
financial accountability provisions and processes to ensure
effective and efficient expenditure of state and other contract
funds. [The state auditor shall report annually to the governor,
the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of
representatives, and the comptroller on the auditor's
recommendations and the commission's and department's
implementation of each recommendation.]
       SECTION 16.  Section 40.071, Human Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
       Sec. 40.071.  DRUG-ENDANGERED CHILD INITIATIVE.  The
department shall establish a drug-endangered child initiative
aimed at protecting children who are exposed to heroin, cocaine or
any of its forms, or methamphetamine or to chemicals and other
hazardous materials used in the illicit manufacture of
methamphetamine.
       SECTION 17.  (a) Subchapter B, Chapter 42, Human Resources
Code, is amended by adding Section 42.0211 to read as follows:
       Sec. 42.0211. SAFETY SPECIALISTS, RISK ANALYSTS, AND
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT. (a)  The division shall employ at least one
specially trained investigation safety specialist, whose duties
include the duty to:
             (1)  review and evaluate the intake of reports that
include allegations associated with a higher risk of harm to the
child; and
             (2)  consult with the assigned investigator to provide
specialized guidance and resources to assist the investigation.
       (b)  The division shall employ at least one risk analyst,
whose duties include the duty to:
             (1)  identify facilities, including child-placing
agencies, whose compliance histories indicate the potential for a
higher risk of harm to children in the care of the facility;
             (2)  review the monitoring and inspection reports for
any facilities described by Subdivision (1) to assess the quality
of the investigation or monitoring; and
             (3)  identify any additional monitoring or enforcement
action that may be appropriate to ensure the safety of a child in
the care of the facility.
       (c)  The division must include a performance management unit
with duties that include:
             (1)  conducting quality assurance reviews of randomly
selected monitoring and investigative reports to ensure compliance
with all relevant laws, rules, and agency policies; and
             (2)  making recommendations to improve the quality and
consistency of monitoring and investigations.
       (b)  The Department of Family and Protective Services shall
implement the change in law made by the enactment of Section
42.0211, Human Resources Code, only to the extent that funding is
available.
       SECTION 18.  Subchapter B, Chapter 42, Human Resources Code,
is amended by adding Section 42.0221 to read as follows:
       Sec. 42.0221.  COMMITTEE ON LICENSING STANDARDS. (a) The
committee on licensing standards shall review the standards
relating to each license issued by the department.
       (b)  The committee is composed of six members appointed by
the governor as follows:
             (1)  one member who operates a facility licensed by the
department;
             (2)  one member who is a parent, guardian, or custodian
of a child who uses a facility licensed by the department;
             (3)  one member who is an expert in the field of child
care and child development; and
             (4)  three members employed by the department who work
with facilities licensed by the department.
       (c)  Members of the committee serve two-year terms, with the
terms of three members expiring February 1 of each year.
       (d)  The committee shall review and analyze the information
provided by the department under Section 42.0455 and shall make
recommendations for policy and statutory changes relating to
licensing standards and facility inspections.
       (e)  The committee shall report its findings and
recommendations to the department and the legislature not later
than December 1 of each year.
       SECTION 19.  (a) Section 42.044, Human Resources Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (b-1) and amending Subsection (e) to
read as follows:
       (b-1)  At least one of the unannounced, annual inspections of
a residential child-care facility must be conducted by a team of at
least two residential child-care monitoring staff, and, if
feasible, members of the inspection team must be from different
residential child-care monitoring units.
       (e)  In addition to the department's responsibility to
investigate an agency foster home or agency foster group home under
Subsection (c), the [The] department shall:
             (1)  periodically conduct inspections of a random
sample of agency foster homes and agency foster group homes;
             (2)  investigate any report of a serious incident in an
agency foster home or agency foster group home that pertains to a
child under the age of six;
             (3)  investigate any alleged violation of a minimum
standard by an agency foster home or agency foster group home that
poses a high degree of risk to a child in the care of the home who is
under the age of six; and
             (4)  conduct at least one annual enforcement team
conference for each child-placing agency to thoroughly review the
investigations or inspections of the child-placing agency and all
of its agency homes [. The department shall use the inspections] to
monitor and enforce compliance by a child-placing agency with rules
and standards established under Section 42.042.
       (b)  The executive commissioner of the Health and Human
Services Commission shall adopt rules specifying the types of
alleged minimum standards violations that are considered to pose a
high degree of risk to a child in the care of an agency foster home
or agency foster group home under the age of six and must be
investigated by the department under Section 42.044(e)(3), Human
Resources Code, as added by this Act.
       (c)  The Department of Family and Protective Services shall
implement the change in law made by this Act to Section 42.044,
Human Resources Code, only to the extent that funding is available.
If funding is not available, the executive commissioner of the
Health and Human Services Commission is not required to adopt rules
as directed by Subsection (b) of this section.
       SECTION 20.  Subchapter C, Chapter 42, Human Resources Code,
is amended by adding Section 42.0455 to read as follows:
       Sec. 42.0455.  FACILITY EVALUATION FORM. (a) The department
shall develop an evaluation form to be completed by each facility
regulated under this chapter or registered family home after an
inspection of the facility or home.
       (b)  The evaluation form must allow the facility or home to
provide comments and suggest policy and statutory changes relating
to licensing standards and inspection procedures.
       (c)  The department shall compile the information from the
evaluations and provide the information to the committee on
licensing standards for review.
       SECTION 21.  Subchapter C, Chapter 42, Human Resources Code,
is amended by adding Section 42.064 to read as follows:
       Sec. 42.064.  PROVIDER INFORMATION DATABASE. (a) The
department shall maintain a database containing:
             (1)  the name of each person who was denied a license to
operate a foster home under this chapter; and
             (2)  information relating to each complaint filed with
the department against a person licensed to operate a foster home,
including the manner in which the complaint was resolved and any
disciplinary action taken against the license holder.
       (b)  When the department denies, cancels, or refuses to renew
a license to operate a foster home, the department shall maintain
that information in the database established under this section.
       (c)  The department shall make the information in the
database established under this section available to child-placing
agencies.
       SECTION 22.  Section 45.002, Human Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
       Sec. 45.002.  PRIVATIZING SUBSTITUTE CARE AND CASE
MANAGEMENT SERVICES; DEPARTMENT DUTIES.  (a)  Not later than
September 1, 2009 [2011], the department shall:
             (1)  complete the statewide privatization of the
provision of substitute care services; and
             (2)  privatize case management services in at least 10
percent of the cases in this state.
       (b)  On and after September 1, 2009 [2011]:
             (1)  all substitute care services and at least 10
percent of the case management services provided in the state for
children for whom the department has been appointed temporary or
permanent managing conservator must be provided by child-care
institutions and child-placing agencies;
             (2)  all substitute care and case management service
providers shall, to the best extent possible, honor the cultural
and religious affiliations of a child placed in the service
provider's care, regardless of the religious affiliation of the
service provider; and
             (3)  except as provided by Subsections (d) and (e) and
notwithstanding any other law, the department may not directly
provide substitute care [and case management] services.
       (c)  On and after September 1, 2009 [2011], the department
shall:
             (1)  monitor the quality of services for which the
department contracts [and each independent administrator contract]
under this chapter; and
             (2)  ensure that the services are provided in
accordance with federal law and the laws of this state, including
department rules and rules of the Department of State Health
Services and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
       (d)  On and after September 1, 2009 [2011], the department
may provide substitute care [and case management] services in an
emergency. The executive commissioner shall adopt rules describing
the circumstances in which the department may provide those
services.
       (e)  The department may provide substitute care [and case
management] services as a provider of last resort as provided by
Section 264.106(k), Family Code.
       SECTION 23.  Section 45.004, Human Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
       Sec. 45.004.  [INDEPENDENT ADMINISTRATORS;] DEPARTMENT
DATA SYSTEM DUTIES.  [(a) The department shall research and develop
a comprehensive strategy for contracting for management support
services from independent administrators on a regional basis. If
the department determines that an independent administrator could
manage and procure substitute care and case management services
contracts with private agencies and conduct placement assessments
in a more cost-beneficial manner, the department shall implement a
transition plan to transfer the procurement, management, and
oversight of substitute care and case management services from the
department to an independent administrator, as well as
responsibility for placement assessments. If the department
determines that contracting for management support from an
independent administrator is not cost beneficial, the
privatization of substitute care and case management services will
occur as provided by Section 45.002(b).
       [(b)The comprehensive strategy, at a minimum, must:
             [(1)  use competitively procured independent
administrators to procure and manage substitute care and case
management providers in a geographic region designated by the
department;
             [(2)  require independent administrators to contract
with private agencies that will:
                   [(A)  increase local foster and adoptive
placement options for all children, especially teenagers, sibling
groups, children whose race or ethnicity is disproportionately
represented in foster care, children with severe or multiple
disabilities, and other children who are difficult to place; and
                   [(B)  expand efforts to recruit foster families,
adoptive families, and alternative care providers through
faith-based and other targeted recruitment programs; and
             [(3)  allow permanency services providers to enter
client, service, and outcome information into the department's
client data system.
       [(c)]  Subject to the appropriation of funds, the department
shall:
             (1)  enhance existing data systems to include contract
performance information; and
             (2)  implement a contracting data system developed or
procured by the department, to track quality assurance and other
contracting tools to effectively manage, monitor, and evaluate
performance-based contracting functions.
       SECTION 24.  Section 45.052, Human Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
       Sec. 45.052.  FINANCING. The department shall create
financing and payment arrangements that provide incentives for [an
independent administrator and] substitute care and case management
providers to achieve safety, permanency, and well-being outcomes
and improved system performance. In developing this financing
arrangement, the department shall examine:
             (1)  the use of case rates or performance-based
fee-for-service contracts that include incentive payments or
payment schedules that link reimbursement to results; and
             (2)  ways to reduce a contractor's financial risk that
could jeopardize the solvency of the contractor, including the use
of a risk-reward corridor that limits risk of loss and potential
profits or the establishment of a statewide risk pool.
       SECTION 25.  The heading to Section 45.054, Human Resources
Code, is amended to read as follows:
       Sec. 45.054.  EVALUATION OF CASE MANAGEMENT SERVICES 
[REGIONAL IMPLEMENTATION].
       SECTION 26.  Sections 45.054(c) and (d), Human Resources
Code, are amended to read as follows:
       (c)  Not later than the second [first] anniversary of the
date the department enters into the first contract for [substitute
care and] case management services under this section, the
department shall contract with a qualified, independent third party
to evaluate each phase of the privatization of [substitute care
and] case management services. Each evaluation must:
             (1)  assess the performance of [substitute care and]
case management services based on compliance with defined quality
outcomes for children;
             (2)  assess the achievement of performance measures;
             (3)  compare for quality the performance of [substitute
care and] case management services provided by contractors to
[substitute care and] case management services provided by the
department [in similar regions];
             (4)  determine if contracted services are cost
beneficial; and
             (5)  assess the private sector's ability to meet the
performance measures[, including service capacity, for the
remaining regions].
       (d)  The independent third party with whom the department
contracts under Subsection (c) shall submit its reports and
recommendations to the House Human Services Committee, or its
successor, and the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, or
its successor, not later than September 1, 2011.
       SECTION 27.  Section 45.101, Human Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
       Sec. 45.101.  GOALS FOR PRIVATIZATION.  In privatizing
substitute care and case management services, the department [The
transition plan adopted under Section 45.053] must provide for a
new structural model for the community-centered delivery of
substitute care and case management services that is based on a goal
of improving protective services, achieving timely permanency for
children in substitute care, including family reunification,
placement with a relative, or adoption, and improving the overall
well-being of children in substitute care consistent with federal
and state mandates.
       SECTION 28.  (a)  The Department of Family and Protective
Services shall develop a child protective services improvement plan
that is designed to build on the child protective services reform
elements added by Chapter 268, Acts of the 79th Legislature,
Regular Session, 2005. In developing the plan, the department
shall seek to expand on or modify initiatives that have resulted in
demonstrable improvements and that serve the primary goals of:
             (1)  keeping families together while ensuring child
safety in the home;
             (2)  reducing the length of time children remain in
state care; and
             (3)  improving the quality and accountability of foster
care.
       (b)  The improvement plan must include:
             (1)  expanding the use of family group decision making;
             (2)  reducing caseloads for caseworkers providing
family-based safety services and ongoing substitute care services;
             (3)  implementing an enhanced in-home support program,
as enacted by Section 264.2011, Family Code, as added by this Act,
to provide enhanced in-home supports to certain families;
             (4)  providing additional purchased client services
designed to keep families together and to reunite families more
quickly while ensuring child safety;
             (5)  enhancing support of kinship placements by hiring
additional kinship workers to provide additional support and
education to relative placements and purchasing additional support
services for relative placements;
             (6)  enhancing services needed to support court
services and preparation of records for adoptive placement;
             (7)  transitioning all Department of Family and
Protective Services foster and adoptive homes to private
child-placing agencies, while enhancing the quality and
accountability of those services through performance-based
contracting and enhanced contract monitoring and enforcement;
             (8)  improving the quality and accountability of
child-care licensing monitoring and investigations by assigning
those functions to separate staff, providing specialized training
to staff who perform each function, performing additional
investigations of certain reports involving young children, and
providing additional support and oversight to both functions;
             (9)  expanding substitute and adoptive placement
quality and capacity in local communities through the procurement
of a statewide needs assessment and through implementation of
recommendations for expanding and improving provider capabilities;
             (10)  streamlining criminal history background checks
to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of those checks;
             (11)  improving the quality of services delivered by
the Department of Family and Protective Services through expanded
use of mobile technology and enhancements to the department's CLASS
and IMPACT database systems and operations;
             (12)  expanding implementation of the remediation plan
required under Section 1.54, Chapter 268, Acts of the 79th
Legislature, Regular Session, 2005, to address racial or ethnic
disparities in foster care; and
             (13)  implementing a statewide pilot program for a
time-limited, posthospitalization "step-down" rate, approved by
the executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services
Commission, to support the successful transition of children who
have experienced or are likely to experience multiple inpatient
admissions in a psychiatric hospital to an appropriate level of
care.
       (c)  The Department of Family and Protective Services shall
implement the improvement plan described by this section only to
the extent that funds are available for that purpose. If funds are
available to support some, but not all, elements of the plan, the
department shall implement only those parts of the plan for which
funding is available. To the extent feasible, the department shall
contract for services needed to implement elements of the
improvement plan, including the services needed to expand family
group decision making, family-based safety services, kinship
support services, and purchased client services.
       SECTION 29.  (a)  Not later than December 31, 2007, the
Department of Family and Protective Services shall prepare and
submit a detailed plan for:
             (1)  the implementation of each element of the child
protective services improvement plan required by Section 29 of this
Act for which funding has been obtained; and
             (2)  the continued implementation of all child
protective services reform activities required by Chapter 268, Acts
of the 79th Legislature, Regular Session, 2005, as modified by this
Act.
       (b)  At the end of each fiscal year beginning August 31,
2008, the Department of Family and Protective Services shall
prepare and submit a progress report that details the department's
activities in implementing the plan described by Subsection (a)(1)
of this section. The progress report must include the department's
calculation of cost savings from reduced stays in foster care and
any other cost savings that can be attributed to the implementation
of the improvement plan and continued child protective services
reforms.
       (c)  The Department of Family and Protective Services shall
submit the implementation plan and periodic progress reports
required by this section to:
             (1)  the governor;
             (2)  the lieutenant governor;
             (3)  the speaker of the house of representatives;
             (4)  appropriate oversight committees of the
legislature;
             (5)  the Legislative Budget Board; and
             (6)  the state auditor.
       (d)  This section expires September 1, 2010.
       SECTION 30.  The following sections are repealed:
             (1)  Sections 264.106(a)(2) and (4), Family Code;
             (2)  Sections 264.106(c) and (d), Family Code;
             (3)  Sections 45.001(6), (9), and (11), Human Resources
Code;
             (4)  Sections 45.054(a), (b), (e), (f), (g), and (h),
Human Resources Code; and
             (5)  Section 45.102, Human Resources Code.
       SECTION 31.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2007.