BILL ANALYSIS

 

 

Senate Research Center	C.S.S.B. 470
86R27654 MM-D	By: Kolkhorst
	Health & Human Services
	4/17/2019
	Committee Report (Substituted)

 

 

 

AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

 

The Family Code allows a county commissioners court to appoint a Child Welfare Board (CWB) for each county. These CWBs oversee a network of volunteers to provide for the welfare of children in foster care in the county served by the CWB. These boards are a governmental unit, and therefore they receive local funding from the counties they serve.

 

Currently the Department of Family and Protective Services does not monitor or coordinate with these boards for the same population that both serve. Therefore, an opportunity is missed to better serve children in foster care while ensuring the most efficient use of state and local dollars.

 

S.B. 470 seeks to guarantee that the State is fully coordinating and collaborating with its county partners to most effectively provide for the needs of some of the most vulnerable children in the state. (Original Author's/Sponsor's Statement of Intent)

 

C.S.S.B. 470 amends current law relating to certain duties of county child welfare boards and of the Department of Family and Protective Services regarding county child welfare boards.

 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

 

This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency.

 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

 

SECTION 1. Amends Section 264.005, Family Code, by amending Subsection (f) and adding Subsections (h), (i), and (j), as follows:

 

(f) Authorizes a county child welfare board (board) member, rather than a county child protective services board member, to receive information that is confidential under Section 40.005 (Confidentiality of Information), Human Resources Code, or Section 261.201 (Confidentiality and Disclosure of Information), Family Code, when the board member is acting in the member's official capacity.

 

(h) Provides that the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS):

 

(1) is required to identify staff to collaborate with boards to coordinate efforts between DFPS and the boards in the provision of services and maximize the resources of DFPS and each board;

 

(2) is authorized to collect publicly available financial information prepared by a board for distribution to the county commissioners court; and

 

(3) is required to create and make available on DFPS's website a standardized form for each board to report the amount and source of funds received by the board during the board's preceding fiscal year and the amount and source of funds expended by the board during the board's preceding fiscal year, including a description of the purpose of each expenditure.

 

(i) Requires each board, not later than November 1 of each year, to report the information described by Subsection (h)(3) on the form created under that subdivision to DFPS and the commissioners court for the county or counties in which the board operates.

 

(j) Requires each board, notwithstanding Subsection (i), not later than January 1, 2020, to submit the initial report required by this section (County Child Welfare Boards). Provides that this subsection expires November 1, 2021.

 

SECTION 2. Requires DFPS to create and distribute the form required by Section 264.005(h), Family Code, as added by this Act, not later than November 1, 2019.

 

SECTION 3. Effective date: September 1, 2019.