By: Nichols  S.B. No. 802
         (In the Senate - Filed February 21, 2007; March 7, 2007,
  read first time and referred to Committee on Health and Human
  Services; March 26, 2007, reported favorably by the following
  vote:  Yeas 9, Nays 0; March 26, 2007, sent to printer.)
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to the child fatality review process, including the
  composition and functions of the child fatality review team
  committee.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subsections (a), (b), (c), (e), and (h), Section
  264.502, Family Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  The child fatality review team committee is composed of:
               (1)  a person appointed by and representing the state
  registrar [for the bureau] of vital statistics;
               (2)  a person appointed by and representing the
  commissioner [director of protective services for families and
  children] of the department;
               (3)  a person appointed by and representing the Title V
  director of the [bureau of epidemiology of the Texas] Department of
  State Health Services; and
               (4)  individuals selected under Subsection (b).
         (b)  The members of the committee who serve under Subsections
  (a)(1) through (3) shall select the following additional committee
  members:
               (1)  a criminal prosecutor involved in prosecuting
  crimes against children;
               (2)  a sheriff;
               (3)  a justice of the peace;
               (4)  a medical examiner;
               (5)  a police chief;
               (6)  a pediatrician experienced in diagnosing and
  treating child abuse and neglect;
               (7)  a child educator;
               (8)  a child mental health provider;
               (9)  a public health professional;
               (10)  a child protective services specialist;
               (11)  a sudden infant death syndrome family service
  provider;
               (12)  a neonatologist;
               (13)  a child advocate;
               (14)  a chief juvenile probation officer; [and]
               (15)  a child abuse prevention specialist;
               (16)  a representative of the Department of Public
  Safety; and
               (17)  a representative of the Texas Department of
  Transportation.
         (c)  Members of the committee selected under Subsection (b)
  serve three-year [two-year] terms with the terms of five or six
  members, as appropriate, expiring [that expire on] February 1 [of]
  each [even-numbered] year.
         (e)  An appointment to a vacancy on the committee shall be
  made in the same manner as the original appointment. A member is
  eligible for reappointment.
         (h)  A member of the committee is not entitled to
  compensation for serving on the committee but is entitled to
  reimbursement for the member's travel expenses as provided in the
  General Appropriations Act. Reimbursement under this subsection
  for a person serving on the committee under Subsection (a)(2)
  [(a)(1) or (3)] shall be paid from funds appropriated to the
  department [Texas Department of Health]. Reimbursement for other
  persons serving on the committee shall be paid from funds
  appropriated to the Department of State Health Services
  [department].
         SECTION 2.  Subsections (c), (d), and (f), Section 264.503,
  Family Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (c)  The department shall work cooperatively with:
               (1)  the Department of State Health Services [recognize
  the creation and participation of review teams]; [and]
               (2)  [work cooperatively with] the committee; and
               (3)  [with] individual child fatality review teams.
         (d)  The Department of State Health Services shall:
               (1)  recognize the creation and participation of review
  teams;
               (2) promote and coordinate training to assist the
  review teams in carrying out their duties;
               (3) [(2)]  assist the committee in developing model
  protocols for:
                     (A)  the reporting and investigating of child
  fatalities for law enforcement agencies, child protective
  services, justices of the peace and medical examiners, and other
  professionals involved in the investigations of child deaths;
                     (B)  the collection of data regarding child
  deaths; and
                     (C)  the operation of the review teams;
               (4) [(3)]  develop and implement procedures necessary
  for the operation of the committee; and
               (5) [(4)]  promote education of the public regarding
  the incidence and causes of child deaths, the public role in
  preventing child deaths, and specific steps the public can
  undertake to prevent child deaths.
         (f)  The committee shall issue a report for each preventable
  child death. The report must include findings related to the
  child's death, recommendations on how to prevent similar deaths,
  and details surrounding the department's involvement with the child
  prior to the child's death. Not later than April [December] 1 of
  each year, the committee shall publish a compilation of the reports
  published under this subsection during the year, submit a copy of
  the compilation to the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of
  the house of representatives, and department, and make the
  compilation available to the public. Not later than October [June]
  1 of each year, the department shall submit a written response on
  the compilation from the previous year to the committee, governor,
  lieutenant governor, and speaker of the house of representatives
  describing which of the committee's recommendations regarding the
  operation of the child protective services system the department
  will implement and the methods of implementation.
         SECTION 3.  (a)  The child fatality review team committee
  member serving under Subdivision (3), Subsection (a), Section
  264.502, Family Code, immediately before the effective date of this
  Act shall continue to serve as a committee member on and after that
  date until the date a new member is appointed by the Title V
  director of the Department of State Health Services.
         (b)  The terms of the members of the child fatality review
  team committee appointed under Subsection (b), Section 264.502,
  Family Code, and serving immediately before the effective date of
  this Act expire February 1, 2008. Not later than February 1, 2008,
  the committee members appointed under Subdivisions (1), (2), and
  (3), Subsection (a), Section 264.502, Family Code, as amended by
  this Act, shall appoint committee members under Subsection (b),
  Section 264.502, Family Code, as amended by this Act.
         (c)  The initial terms of the members appointed under
  Subsection (b) of this section shall be determined by drawing lots
  as follows:
               (1)  five members shall serve terms expiring February
  1, 2009;
               (2)  six members shall serve terms expiring February 1,
  2010; and
               (3)  six members shall serve terms expiring February 1,
  2011.
         SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2007.
 
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