BILL ANALYSIS

S.B. 596

By: West

Human Services

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The bill sponsor has informed the committee that, while the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) collects and publishes information on parent-child safety placements and removals under current law, the information is limited, leaving policymakers and child welfare advocates without knowledge of the true number of children that the state's child welfare system has come in contact with or how those cases were resolved. S.B. 596 seeks to address this issue and expand applicable reporting requirements by including in the DFPS report of statistics by county information on the outcome of each suit affecting the parent-child relationship filed by DFPS and the type of placement of the child during the pendency of the suit, by revising the contents of its applicable monthly report containing child welfare services information, and by requiring DFPS to publish the monthly report on its website.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

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.

ANALYSIS

S.B. 596 amends the Family Code to include information on the outcome of each suit affecting the parent-child relationship filed by the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) and the type of placement of the child during the pendency of the suit among the required contents of the report of statistics by county relating to key performance measures and data elements for child protection that DFPS must provide to the legislature and make available electronically to the public not later than February 1 of each year.

S.B. 596, with respect to the requirement for DFPS to publish a monthly report containing certain child welfare services information for the preceding month, specifies that DFPS is required to publish the monthly report on DFPS's website. The bill revises provisions relating to the required contents of the monthly report as follows:

· with respect to parental child safety placement agreements:

o requires the number of children placed under a parental child safety placement agreement, which the report must currently contain, to be disaggregated by the following:

§ the child's age, race, gender, ethnicity, and county of residence;

§ the annualized incomes of the parent or other person with whom the child resides and the caregiver of the child; and

§ whether the child has previously been in the managing conservatorship of DFPS; and

o requires the monthly report to contain the number of parental child safety placement agreements in effect on the last day of the month; and

· requires the monthly report to contain the following, by child protective services region:

o with respect to executed authorization agreements for a nonparent adult caregiver regarding a child who is the subject of an investigation of abuse or neglect, a suit filed by DFPS, or an agreement under which DFPS provides services to the child's parent:

§ the number of authorization agreements executed;

§ the number of children subject to authorization agreements, disaggregated by the child's race and gender; and

§ the average duration of an authorization agreement; and

o with respect to court orders for temporary authorization for care of a minor child regarding a child who is the subject of an investigation of abuse or neglect, a suit filed by DFPS, or an agreement under which DFPS provides services to the child's parent:

§ the number of orders signed;

§ the number of children subject to orders, disaggregated by the child's race and gender; and

§ the average duration of an order.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2025.