By: Burkett, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Kolkhorst) H.B. No. 1549

(In the Senate - Received from the House May 8, 2017; May 9, 2017, read first time and referred to Committee on Health & Human Services; May 22, 2017, reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 8, Nays 0; May 22, 2017, sent to printer.) Click here to see the committee vote

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 1549 By: Kolkhorst

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the provision of services by the Department of Family and Protective Services, including child protective services and prevention and early intervention services.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 261.204(a), Family Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) Not later than March 1 of each year, the [The] department shall publish an [annual] aggregated report using information compiled from each child fatality investigation for which the department made a finding regarding abuse or neglect, including cases in which the department determined the fatality was not the result of abuse or neglect. The report must protect the identity of individuals involved and contain the following information:

(1) the age and sex of the child and the county in which the fatality occurred;

(2) whether the state was the managing conservator of the child or whether the child resided with the child's parent, managing conservator, guardian, or other person entitled to the possession of the child at the time of the fatality;

(3) the relationship to the child of the individual alleged to have abused or neglected the child, if any;

(4) the number of any department abuse or neglect investigations involving the child or the individual alleged to have abused or neglected the child during the two years preceding the date of the fatality and the results of the investigations;

(5) whether the department offered family-based safety services or conservatorship services to the child or family;

(6) the types of abuse and neglect alleged in the reported investigations, if any; and

(7) any trends identified in the investigations contained in the report.

SECTION 2. Section 261.301, Family Code, is amended by adding Subsection (j) to read as follows:

(j) In geographic areas with demonstrated need, the department shall designate employees to serve specifically as investigators and responders for after-hours reports of child abuse or neglect.

SECTION 3. Subchapter B, Chapter 264, Family Code, is amended by adding Section 264.1261 to read as follows:

Sec. 264.1261. FOSTER CARE CAPACITY NEEDS PLAN. (a) In this section, "community-based foster care" means the redesigned foster care services system required by Chapter 598 (S.B. 218), Acts of the 82nd Legislature, Regular Session, 2011.

(b) Appropriate department management personnel from a child protective services region in which community-based foster care has not been implemented, in collaboration with foster care providers, faith-based entities, and child advocates in that region, shall use data collected by the department on foster care capacity needs and availability of each type of foster care and kinship placement in the region to create a plan to address the substitute care capacity needs in the region. The plan must identify both short-term and long-term goals and strategies for addressing those capacity needs.

(c) A foster care capacity needs plan developed under Subsection (b) must be:

(1) submitted to and approved by the commissioner; and

(2) updated annually.

(d) The department shall publish each initial foster care capacity needs plan and each annual update to a plan on the department's Internet website.

SECTION 4. Sections 264.502(a) and (b), 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 of vital statistics;

(2) a person appointed by and representing the commissioner of the department;

(3) a person appointed by and representing the Title V director of the Department of State Health Services; [and]

(4) a person appointed by and representing the speaker of the house of representatives;

(5) a person appointed by and representing the lieutenant governor;

(6) a person appointed by and representing the governor; and

(7) individuals selected under Subsection (b).

(b) The members of the committee who serve under Subsections (a)(1) through (6) [(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;

(15) a child abuse prevention specialist;

(16) a representative of the Department of Public Safety;

(17) a representative of the Texas Department of Transportation;

(18) an emergency medical services provider; and

(19) a provider of services to, or an advocate for, victims of family violence.

SECTION 5. Section 264.503, Family Code, is amended by amending Subsections (d) and (e) and adding Subsection (h) to read as follows:

(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) 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) develop and implement procedures necessary for the operation of the committee; [and]

(5) develop and make available training for justices of the peace and medical examiners regarding inquests in child death cases; and

(6) 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.

(e) In addition to the duties under Subsection (d), the Department of State Health Services shall:

(1) collect data under this subchapter and coordinate the collection of data under this subchapter with other data collection activities; [and]

(2) perform annual statistical studies of the incidence and causes of child fatalities using the data collected under this subchapter; and

(3) evaluate the available child fatality data and use the data to create public health strategies for the prevention of child fatalities.

(h) Each member of the committee must be a member of the child fatality review team in the county where the committee member resides unless the committee member is an appointed representative of a state agency.

SECTION 6. Subchapter F, Chapter 264, Family Code, is amended by adding Sections 264.5031 and 264.5032 to read as follows:

Sec. 264.5031. COLLECTION OF NEAR FATALITY DATA. (a) In this section, "near fatality" means a case where a physician has certified that a child is in critical or serious condition, and a caseworker determines that the child's condition was caused by the abuse or neglect of the child.

(b) The department shall include near fatality child abuse or neglect cases in the child fatality case database, for cases in which child abuse or neglect is determined to have been the cause of the near fatality. The department must also develop a data collection strategy for near fatality child abuse or neglect cases.

Sec. 264.5032. REPORT ON CHILD FATALITY AND NEAR FATALITY DATA. (a) The department shall produce an aggregated report relating to child fatality and near fatality cases resulting from child abuse or neglect containing the following information:

(1) any prior contact the department had with the child's family and the manner in which the case was disposed, including cases in which the department made the following dispositions:

(A) priority none or administrative closure;

(B) call screened out;

(C) alternative or differential response provided;

(D) unable to complete the investigation;

(E) unable to determine whether abuse or neglect occurred;

(F) reason to believe abuse or neglect occurred; or

(G) child removed and placed into substitute care;

(2) for any case investigated by the department involving the child or the child's family:

(A) the number of caseworkers assigned to the case before the fatality or near fatality occurred; and

(B) the caseworker's caseload at the time the case was opened and at the time the case was closed;

(3) for any case in which the department investigation concluded that there was reason to believe that abuse or neglect occurred, and the family was referred to family-based safety services:

(A) the safety plan provided to the family;

(B) the services offered to the family; and

(C) the level of compliance with the safety plan or completion of the services by the family;

(4) the number of contacts the department made with children and families in family-based safety services cases; and

(5) the initial and attempted contacts the department made with child abuse and neglect victims.

(b) In preparing the part of the report required by Subsection (a)(1), the department shall include information contained in department records retained in accordance with the department's records retention schedule.

(c) The report produced under this section must protect the identity of individuals involved in a case that is included in the report.

(d) The department may combine the report required under this section with the annual child fatality report required to be produced under Section 261.204.

SECTION 7. Sections 264.505(a) and (c), Family Code, are amended to read as follows:

(a) A multidisciplinary and multiagency child fatality review team may be established for a county to review child deaths in that county. A [review team for a] county [with a population of less than 50,000] may join with an adjacent county or counties to establish a combined review team.

(c) A review team must reflect the diversity of the county's population and may include:

(1) a criminal prosecutor involved in prosecuting crimes against children;

(2) a sheriff;

(3) a justice of the peace or medical examiner;

(4) a police chief;

(5) a pediatrician experienced in diagnosing and treating child abuse and neglect;

(6) a child educator;

(7) a child mental health provider;

(8) a public health professional;

(9) a child protective services specialist;

(10) a sudden infant death syndrome family service provider;

(11) a neonatologist;

(12) a child advocate;

(13) a chief juvenile probation officer; and

(14) a child abuse prevention specialist.

SECTION 8. Section 264.506(b), Family Code, is amended to read as follows:

(b) To achieve its purpose, a review team shall:

(1) adapt and implement, according to local needs and resources, the model protocols developed by the department and the committee;

(2) meet on a regular basis to review child fatality cases and recommend methods to improve coordination of services and investigations between agencies that are represented on the team;

(3) collect and maintain data as required by the committee; [and]

(4) review and analyze the collected data to identify any demographic trends in child fatality cases, including whether there is a disproportionate number of child fatalities in a particular population group or geographic area; and

(5) submit to the vital statistics unit data reports on deaths reviewed as specified by the committee.

SECTION 9. Section 264.509, Family Code, is amended by adding Subsection (b-1) to read as follows:

(b-1) The Department of State Health Services shall provide a review team with electronic access to the preliminary death certificate for a deceased child.

SECTION 10. (a) Section 264.514, Family Code, is amended by adding Subsection (a-1) and amending Subsection (b) to read as follows:

(a-1) The commissioners court of a county shall adopt regulations relating to the timeliness for conducting an inquest into the death of a child. The regulations adopted under this subsection must be as stringent as the standards issued by the National Association of Medical Examiners unless the commissioners court determines that it would be cost prohibitive for the county to comply with those standards.

(b) The medical examiner or justice of the peace shall immediately notify an appropriate local law enforcement agency if the medical examiner or justice of the peace determines that the death is unexpected or the result of abuse or neglect, and that agency shall investigate the child's death. The medical examiner or justice of the peace shall notify the appropriate county child fatality review team of the child's death not later than the 120th day after the date the death is reported.

(b) A county must attempt to implement the timeliness standards for inquests as described by Section 264.514(a-1), Family Code, as added by this Act, as soon as possible after the effective date of this Act.

SECTION 11. Section 264.903, Family Code, is amended by adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:

(a-1) The department shall expedite the evaluation of a potential caregiver under this section to ensure that the child is placed with a caregiver who has the ability to protect the child from the alleged perpetrator of abuse or neglect against the child.

SECTION 12. Section 265.005(b), Family Code, is amended to read as follows:

(b) A strategic plan required under this section must:

(1) identify methods to leverage other sources of funding or provide support for existing community-based prevention efforts;

(2) include a needs assessment that identifies programs to best target the needs of the highest risk populations and geographic areas;

(3) identify the goals and priorities for the department's overall prevention efforts;

(4) report the results of previous prevention efforts using available information in the plan;

(5) identify additional methods of measuring program effectiveness and results or outcomes;

(6) identify methods to collaborate with other state agencies on prevention efforts; [and]

(7) identify specific strategies to implement the plan and to develop measures for reporting on the overall progress toward the plan's goals; and

(8) identify strategies to increase the number of high-risk families and communities receiving prevention and early intervention services each year, subject to the availability of funds.

SECTION 13. Subchapter B, Chapter 40, Human Resources Code, is amended by adding Section 40.038 to read as follows:

Sec. 40.038. SECONDARY TRAUMA SUPPORT FOR CASEWORKERS. (a) In this section, "secondary trauma" means trauma incurred as a consequence of a person's exposure to acute or chronic trauma.

(b) The department shall develop and make available a program to provide ongoing support to caseworkers who experience secondary trauma resulting from exposure to trauma in the course of the caseworker's employment. The program must include critical incident stress debriefing. The department may not require that a caseworker participate in the program.

SECTION 14. Subchapter C, Chapter 40, Human Resources Code, is amended by adding Section 40.0516 to read as follows:

Sec. 40.0516. COLLECTION OF DATA; ANNUAL REPORT. (a) The department shall collect and compile the following data on the state and county level:

(1) the following information for reports of abuse and neglect in residential child-care facilities, as defined by Section 42.002:

(A) the number of reports of abuse and neglect made to the department hotline;

(B) the types of abuse and neglect reported;

(C) the investigation priority level assigned to each report;

(D) the investigation response times, sorted by investigation priority;

(E) the disposition of each investigation;

(F) the number of reports of abuse and neglect to which the department assigned a disposition of call screened out or alternative or differential response provided; and

(G) the overall safety and risk finding for each investigation;

(2) the number of families referred to family preservation services, organized by the risk level assigned to each family through structured decision-making;

(3) the number of children removed from the child's home as the result of an investigation of a report of abuse or neglect and the primary circumstances that contributed to the removal;

(4) the number of children placed in substitute care, organized by type of placement;

(5) the number of children placed out of the child's home county or region;

(6) the number of children in the conservatorship of the department at each service level;

(7) the number of children in the conservatorship of the department who are pregnant or who are a parent;

(8) the number of children in the managing conservatorship of the department who are the parent of a child who is also in the managing conservatorship of the department;

(9) the recurrence of child abuse or neglect in a household in which the department investigated a report of abuse or neglect within six months and one year of the date the case was closed separated by the following type of case:

(A) cases that were administratively closed without further action;

(B) cases in which the child was removed and placed in the managing conservatorship of the department; and

(C) cases in which the department provided family preservation services;

(10) the recurrence of child abuse and neglect in a household within five years of the date the case was closed for cases described by Subdivisions (9)(B) and (C); and

(11) workforce turnover data for child protective services employees, including the average tenure of caseworkers and supervisors and the average salary of caseworkers and supervisors.

(b) Not later than February 1 of each year, the department shall publish a report containing data collected under this section. The report must include the statewide data and the data reported by county.

SECTION 15. Subchapter C, Chapter 40, Human Resources Code, is amended by adding Section 40.0529 to read as follows:

Sec. 40.0529. CASELOAD MANAGEMENT. (a) Subject to a specific appropriation for that purpose, the department shall develop and implement a caseload management system for child protective services caseworkers and managers that:

(1) ensures equity in the distribution of workload, based on the complexity of each case;

(2) calculates caseloads based on the number of individual caseworkers who are available to handle cases;

(3) includes geographic case assignment in areas with concentrated high risk populations, to ensure that an adequate number of caseworkers and managers with expertise and specialized training are available;

(4) includes a plan to deploy master investigators in anticipation of emergency shortages of personnel; and

(5) anticipates vacancies in caseworker positions in areas of the state with high caseworker turnover to ensure the timely hiring of new caseworkers in those areas.

(b) In calculating the caseworker caseload under Subsection (a)(2), the department shall consider at least the following:

(1) caseworkers who are on extended leave;

(2) caseworkers who worked hours beyond a normal work week; and

(3) caseworkers who are on a reduced workload.

SECTION 16. Subchapter C, Chapter 40, Human Resources Code, is amended by adding Section 40.078 to read as follows:

Sec. 40.078. PREVENTION TASK FORCE. (a) In this section, "task force" means the Prevention Task Force.

(b) The commissioner shall establish the Prevention Task Force to make recommendations to the department for changes to law, policy, and practices regarding:

(1) the prevention of child abuse and neglect;

(2) the implementation of the changes in law made by H.B. 1549, Acts of the 85th Legislature, Regular Session, 2017; and

(3) the implementation of the department's five-year strategic plan for prevention and early intervention services developed under Section 265.005, Family Code.

(c) The commissioner shall determine the number of members on the task force and shall appoint members to the task force accordingly. Members of the task force may include:

(1) a chair of a child fatality review team committee;

(2) a pediatrician;

(3) a judge;

(4) representatives of relevant state agencies;

(5) prosecutors who specialize in child abuse and neglect;

(6) medical examiners;

(7) representatives of service providers to the department; and

(8) policy experts in child abuse and neglect prevention, community advocacy, or related fields.

(d) The commissioner shall select the chair of the task force.

(e) The task force shall meet at times and locations as determined by the chair of the task force.

(f) A vacancy on the task force shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment.

(g) A member of the task force is not entitled to compensation or reimbursement of expenses incurred in performing duties related to the task force.

(h) The department shall provide reasonably necessary administrative and technical support to the task force.

(i) The department may accept on behalf of the task force a gift, grant, or donation from any source to carry out the purposes of the task force.

(j) Chapter 2110, Government Code, does not apply to the task force.

(k) Not later than August 31, 2018, the task force shall submit a report to the commissioner. The report must include:

(1) a description of the activities of the task force; and

(2) the findings and recommendations of the task force.

(l) The task force is abolished and this section expires August 31, 2018.

SECTION 17. As soon as practicable after the effective date of this Act, the commissioner of the Department of Family and Protective Services shall appoint members to the Prevention Task Force created by this Act under Section 40.078, Human Resources Code, as added by this Act.

SECTION 18. This Act takes effect only if a specific appropriation for the implementation of the Act is provided in a general appropriations act of the 85th Legislature. If the legislature does not appropriate money specifically for the purpose of implementing this Act, this Act has no effect.

SECTION 19. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.

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