89R3730 RAL-D
 
  By: Gervin-Hawkins H.B. No. 1440
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the Department of Family and Protective Services'
  annual report of key performance measures and data elements for
  child protection; authorizing a penalty.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 264.001, Family Code, is amended by
  adding Subdivision (6) to read as follows:
               (6)  "Substitute care" has the meaning assigned by
  Section 263.001.
         SECTION 2.  Section 264.017, Family Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (g) to read as
  follows:
         (b)  The department shall provide the report required by
  Subsection (a) to the legislature and shall publish the report and
  make the report available electronically to the public, including
  by posting the report on the department's Internet website, not
  later than February 1 of each year.  The report must include, with
  respect to the preceding year:
               (1)  information on the number and disposition of
  reports of child abuse and neglect received by the department;
               (2)  information on the number of children [clients]
  for whom the department took protective action, including
  investigations, alternative responses, and court-ordered removals;
               (3)  information on the number of children [clients]
  for whom the department provided services in each program
  administered by the child protective services division, including
  investigations, alternative responses, family-based safety
  services, conservatorship, post-adoption services, and
  transitional living services;
               (4)  the number of children in this state who died as a
  result of child abuse or neglect;
               (5)  the number of children described by Subdivision
  (4) for whom the department was the children's managing conservator
  at the time of death;
               (6)  information on the timeliness of the department's
  initial contact in an investigation or alternative response;
               (7)  information on the response time by the department
  in commencing services to families and children for whom an
  allegation of child abuse or neglect has been made;
               (8)  information regarding child protection staffing
  and caseloads by program area;
               (9)  information on the permanency goals in place and
  achieved for children in the managing conservatorship of the
  department, including information on the timeliness of achieving
  the goals, the stability of the children's placement in foster
  care, and the proximity of placements to the children's home
  counties;
               (10)  the number of children who suffer from a severe
  emotional disturbance and for whom the department is appointed
  managing conservator, including statistics on appointments as
  joint managing conservator, due to an individual voluntarily
  relinquishing custody of a child solely to obtain mental health
  services for the child;
               (11)  the number of children who are pregnant or a
  parent while in the managing conservatorship of the department and
  the number of the children born to a parent in the managing
  conservatorship of the department who are placed in the managing
  conservatorship of the department;
               (12)  the number of children who are missing from the
  children's substitute care provider while in the managing
  conservatorship of the department; [and]
               (13)  of the children identified under Subdivision
  (12):
                     (A)  the number of children who were located and
  returned to substitute care;
                     (B)  the actions taken by the department to locate
  those children; and
                     (C)  the outcome of each child's case;
               (14)  the number of children who were victims of
  trafficking under Chapter 20A, Penal Code, while in the managing
  conservatorship of the department;
               (15)  of the children identified under Subdivision
  (14):
                     (A)  the actions taken by the department to
  resolve each case; and
                     (B)  the outcome of each child's case;
               (16)  information on the program under Subchapter I,
  including:
                     (A)  the number of children placed with a relative
  or designated caregiver;
                     (B)  the percentage of children in the managing
  conservatorship of the department who are placed with a relative or
  designated caregiver;
                     (C)  statistics on the age and race of the
  children placed with a relative or designated caregiver;
                     (D)  the number of children placed with a relative
  or designated caregiver who were part of a sibling group;
                     (E)  the number of relative or designated
  caregivers who receive financial assistance; and
                     (F)  outcome information for children placed with
  a relative or designated caregiver including:
                           (i)  how many months children spent with a
  relative or designated caregiver before a case was closed;
                           (ii)  the rates of types of resolutions for
  closed cases; and
                           (iii)  statistics comparing the outcomes for
  relative or designated caregiver placements with and without
  financial assistance;
               (17)  information on the number of substitute care
  providers, other than relative or designated caregivers, who
  received financial assistance;
               (18)  the number of complaints brought against
  substitute care providers;
               (19)  the number of children in relative or designated
  caregiver placements reunified with their families; and
               (20)  the number of children in substitute care, other
  than relative or designated caregiver placements, reunified with
  their families.
         (g)  The comptroller shall assess a penalty against the
  department in the amount of $1,000 for each day after February 1 the
  department has not filed the report under Subsection (b). The
  comptroller shall reallocate the amount assessed as a penalty under
  this subsection as necessary to allow the department to use the
  money to provide monetary assistance to relative and other
  designated caregivers under Section 264.755.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.