Bill Text: TX HB4119 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: Relating to investigations of and procedures for reports of child abuse and neglect.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-05-05 - Committee report sent to Calendars [HB4119 Detail]

Download: Texas-2015-HB4119-Comm_Sub.html

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84R21124 YDB-F
By: Hughes, King of Taylor H.B. No. 4119
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 4119:
By: Raymond C.S.H.B. No. 4119

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to investigations of and procedures for reports of child
abuse and neglect.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 261.002(b), Family Code, as amended by
S.B. No. 219, Acts of the 84th Legislature, Regular Session, 2015,
is amended to read as follows:
(b) The executive commissioner may adopt rules necessary to
carry out this section. The rules shall provide for:
(1) procedural protections for individuals reported
to have committed abuse or neglect;
(2) cooperation with local child service agencies,
including hospitals, clinics, and schools;[,] and
(3) cooperation with other states in exchanging
reports to effect a national registration system.
SECTION 2. Section 261.002, Family Code, is amended by
adding Subsections (d) and (e) to read as follows:
(d) Before the department may add to the central registry a
record of a reported case of child abuse or neglect, the department
must provide to the individual reported to have committed the abuse
or neglect:
(1) written notice that information regarding the
reported case will be added to the registry;
(2) a copy of the record that will be added to the
registry; and
(3) the opportunity to appeal the department's finding
of abuse or neglect through the department's administrative
remedies and as provided by Subsection (e).
(e) An individual described by Subsection (d) may appeal the
department's finding of abuse or neglect to a district court in the
county in which the individual resides. The district court may
sustain the department's finding of abuse or neglect only on the
court's finding by clear and convincing evidence that the
individual committed the abuse or neglect. The individual is
entitled to a jury trial. The department may not include in the
central registry a record of a reported case of child abuse or
neglect if the department's finding of abuse or neglect is not
sustained by the district court's finding of abuse or neglect.
SECTION 3. Section 261.103, Family Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) The department or other entity shall maintain each
report until the second anniversary of the date the department or
other entity receives the report.
SECTION 4. Sections 261.201(b) and (c), Family Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(b) A court shall [may] order the disclosure of information
that is confidential under this section if:
(1) a motion has been filed with the court requesting
the release of the information;
(2) a notice of hearing has been served on the
investigating agency and all other interested parties; and
(3) after hearing and an in camera review of the
requested information, the court determines that the disclosure of
the requested information is[:
[(A) essential to the administration of justice;
and
[(B)] not likely to endanger the life or safety
of:
(A) [(i)] a child who is the subject of the
report of alleged or suspected abuse or neglect;
(B) [(ii)] a person who makes a report of
alleged or suspected abuse or neglect; or
(C) [(iii)] any other person who participates
in an investigation of reported abuse or neglect or who provides
care for the child.
(c) In addition to Subsection (b), a court, on its own
motion, may order disclosure of information that is confidential
under this section if:
(1) the order is rendered at a hearing for which all
parties have been given notice;
(2) the court finds that disclosure of the information
is[:
[(A) essential to the administration of justice;
and
[(B)] not likely to endanger the life or safety
of:
(A) [(i)] a child who is the subject of the
report of alleged or suspected abuse or neglect;
(B) [(ii)] a person who makes a report of
alleged or suspected abuse or neglect; or
(C) [(iii)] any other person who participates
in an investigation of reported abuse or neglect or who provides
care for the child; and
(3) the order is reduced to writing or made on the
record in open court.
SECTION 5. Section 261.302, Family Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a) and (f) and adding Subsections (e-1),
(e-2), and (e-3) to read as follows:
(a) The investigation may include:
(1) a visit to the child's home, unless the alleged
abuse or neglect can be confirmed or clearly ruled out without a
home visit; and
(2) an interview with and examination of the subject
child, another child in the home, or the child's parents, which may
include a medical, psychological, or psychiatric examination as
authorized by Subsection (e-1).
(e-1) Except as provided by Subsection (e-2), an
investigation that includes an examination of the subject child or
another child in the home may not include a medical, psychological,
or psychiatric examination of the child unless:
(1) the child's parent, conservator, or legal guardian
consents in writing to the examination; or
(2) the department obtains a court order for the
medical, psychological, or psychiatric examination.
(e-2) If during the investigation a department investigator
believes that a child needs emergency medical attention before a
representative of a law enforcement agency is able to arrive, the
investigator may obtain medical assistance for the child from
emergency medical services personnel, as defined by Section
773.003, Health and Safety Code.
(e-3) This section does not limit the authority of a law
enforcement agency to perform its duties under any other law.
(f) A person commits an offense if the person is notified of
the time of the transport of a child by the department and the
location from which the transport is initiated and the person is
present at the location when the transport is initiated and
attempts to interfere with the department's investigation. An
offense under this subsection is a Class B misdemeanor. It is an
exception to the application of this subsection that the department
requested the person to be present at the site of the transport.
This subsection applies only when:
(1) the department has taken possession of a child
under Section 262.104 or is conducting an ongoing court-ordered
investigation; or
(2) the child's parent, conservator, or legal guardian
has consented to the transport.
SECTION 6. Section 261.3021, Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 261.3021. CASEWORK DOCUMENTATION AND MANAGEMENT. (a)
Subject to the appropriation of money for these purposes, the
department shall:
(1) identify critical investigation actions that
impact child safety and require department caseworkers to document
those actions in a child's case file not later than the day after
the action occurs;
(2) identify and develop a comprehensive set of
casework quality indicators that must be reported in real time to
support timely management oversight;
(3) provide department supervisors with access to
casework quality indicators and train department supervisors on the
use of that information in the daily supervision of caseworkers;
(4) develop a case tracking system that notifies
department supervisors and management when a case is not
progressing in a timely manner;
(5) use current data reporting systems to provide
department supervisors and management with easier access to
information; and
(6) train department supervisors and management on the
use of data to monitor cases and make decisions.
(b) The department shall make a record of each interview
conducted in an investigation of a report of abuse or neglect and
shall maintain those records and all other documents, including
original notes, relating to the investigation.
SECTION 7. Section 261.307(a), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) As soon as possible after initiating an investigation of
a parent or other person having legal custody of a child, the
department shall provide to the person:
(1) a summary that:
(A) is brief and easily understood;
(B) is written in a language that the person
understands, or if the person is illiterate, is read to the person
in a language that the person understands; and
(C) contains the following information:
(i) the department's procedures for
conducting an investigation of alleged child abuse or neglect,
including:
(a) a description of the
circumstances under which the department would request to remove
the child from the home through the judicial system; and
(b) an explanation that the law
requires the department to refer all reports of alleged child abuse
or neglect to a law enforcement agency for a separate determination
of whether a criminal violation occurred;
(ii) the person's right to file a complaint
with the department or to request a review of the findings made by
the department in the investigation;
(iii) the person's right to review all
records of the investigation unless the review would jeopardize an
ongoing criminal investigation or the child's safety;
(iv) the person's right to seek legal
counsel;
(v) references to the statutory and
regulatory provisions governing child abuse and neglect and how the
person may obtain copies of those provisions; [and]
(vi) the process the person may use to
acquire access to the child if the child is removed from the home;
and
(vii) a list of the specific allegations
being investigated, including the date and a detailed description
of each allegation;
(2) if the department determines that removal of the
child may be warranted, a proposed child placement resources form
that:
(A) instructs the parent or other person having
legal custody of the child to:
(i) complete and return the form to the
department or agency; and
(ii) identify in the form three individuals
who reside in this state within 100 miles of the child's primary
residence and who could serve as [be] relative caregivers or
designated caregivers, as those terms are defined by Section
264.751, before a suit affecting the parent-child relationship is
filed and until the suit is dismissed; and
(B) informs the parent or other person of a
location that is available to the parent or other person to submit
the information in the form 24 hours a day either in person or by
facsimile machine or e-mail; and
(3) an informational manual required by Section
261.3071.
SECTION 8. Section 261.309, Family Code, is amended by
adding Subsections (b-1), (c-1), (c-2), and (e-1) and amending
Subsections (c) and (d) to read as follows:
(b-1) At the conclusion of the informal review under
Subsection (b), the immediate supervisor shall submit a summary of
the person's case or complaint and the supervisor's findings
relating to the person's case or complaint. Not later than the 20th
day after the date the supervisor submits the summary and findings,
the department shall make the written summary and findings
available to the person under investigation.
(c) If, after the department's investigation, the person
who is alleged to have abused or neglected a child disputes the
department's determination of whether child abuse or neglect
occurred, the person may request an administrative review of the
findings. The department shall provide a copy of the file relating
to the investigation to the person who requests the review not later
than the 30th day before the date of the review. A department
employee in administration who was not involved in or did not
directly supervise the investigation shall conduct the review. The
review must sustain, alter, or reverse the department's original
findings in the investigation.
(c-1) At the administrative review prescribed by Subsection
(c), the person conducting the review for the department shall
allow the person challenging the findings to bring witnesses,
submit evidence, and question the investigative workers and
immediate supervisors who developed the department's findings. The
department may postpone the administrative review for not more than
30 days to ensure attendance of witnesses, necessary investigative
workers, and immediate supervisors.
(c-2) The department shall make an audio recording of the
administrative review prescribed by Subsection (c) and preserve the
recording until the first anniversary of the date the
administrative review concludes. The department shall make the
audio recording available to any party involved in the review not
later than the 10th day after the date the person requests access to
the recording.
(d) Unless a civil or criminal court proceeding or an
ongoing criminal investigation relating to the alleged abuse or
neglect investigated by the department is pending, the department
employee shall conduct the administrative review prescribed by
Subsection (c) as soon as possible but not later than the 45th day
after the date the department receives the request. If a civil
court proceeding initiated by the department, a [or] criminal court
proceeding, or an ongoing criminal investigation is pending, the
department may postpone the review until the court proceeding is
completed. The department shall conduct the review not later than
the 45th day after the date the court proceeding or investigation is
completed.
(e-1) A person under investigation for allegedly abusing or
neglecting the person's child is not subject to, and may not be
required to submit to, the jurisdiction of the State Office of
Administrative Hearings in any proceeding in connection to the
alleged abuse or neglect.
SECTION 9. Section 261.310(d), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(d) The standards shall:
(1) recommend that videotaped and audiotaped
interviews be uninterrupted;
(2) recommend a maximum number of interviews with and
examinations of a suspected victim;
(3) provide procedures to preserve evidence,
including the original audio recordings of the intake telephone
calls, original notes, e-mails, videotapes, and other recordings or
audiotapes, until the second anniversary of the later of the date
the evidence is created or the date of a final judgment in a
reported case for which the evidence is created [for one year]; and
(4) provide that an investigator of suspected child
abuse or neglect make a reasonable effort to locate and inform each
parent of a child of any report of abuse or neglect relating to the
child.
SECTION 10. Section 261.302(c), Family Code, is repealed.
SECTION 11. The changes in law made by this Act apply only
to an investigation of a report of child abuse or neglect that is
made, or a suit affecting the parent-child relationship that is
commenced, on or after the effective date of this Act. A report
that is made or a suit that is commenced before the effective date
of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the report
was made or the suit was commenced, and the former law is continued
in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 12. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.