|
|
|
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. |