Bill Text: TX HB702 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to a system for assessing the potential risk of harm to children in child protective services.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-02-20 - Referred to Human Services [HB702 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-HB702-Introduced.html
| 85R1626 MCK-D | ||
| By: Wu | H.B. No. 702 | |
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| relating to a system for assessing the potential risk of harm to | ||
| children in child protective services. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 40, Human Resources Code, | ||
| is amended by adding Section 40.0529 to read as follows: | ||
| Sec. 40.0529. RISK OF HARM ASSESSMENT. (a) The department | ||
| shall establish a system for assessing the risk of harm to a child | ||
| from abuse or neglect for each child who is the subject of a report | ||
| of abuse or neglect or of an active child protective services case. | ||
| The system shall provide a score for each case on a scale from 1 for | ||
| a child at the lowest risk of harm to 10 for a child at the highest | ||
| risk of harm. | ||
| (b) The department, with assistance from the Bush School of | ||
| Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University, the Lyndon | ||
| B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas, and | ||
| the Graduate College of Social Work at the University of Houston, | ||
| shall study child protective services cases to identify factors | ||
| that indicate a risk of child abuse or neglect and develop objective | ||
| criteria to be used in the risk of harm assessment. | ||
| (c) In assessing the risk of harm to a child from abuse or | ||
| neglect, the department shall consider: | ||
| (1) the risk of harm a parent poses to a child who | ||
| remains in the child's home, including: | ||
| (A) the likelihood of the child's death or | ||
| serious injury; and | ||
| (B) the likelihood of serious psychological harm | ||
| to the child; | ||
| (2) the potential psychological harm to a child who | ||
| remains in the child's home; | ||
| (3) the potential psychological harm to a child who is | ||
| removed from the child's home; | ||
| (4) the risk of harm to a child who is returned to the | ||
| child's home; and | ||
| (5) the services required to address the child's | ||
| needs, including the child's medical and mental health care needs. | ||
| (d) After the department assigns a risk of harm assessment | ||
| score to a child's case, the child protective services caseworker | ||
| for the child's case may adjust the score by one point based on the | ||
| caseworker's knowledge and experience with the child. | ||
| (e) The department shall complete a risk of harm assessment | ||
| for each child protective services case before a court holds a full | ||
| adversary hearing on the case and shall periodically reassess the | ||
| risk of harm to the child. | ||
| (f) The department shall use the risk of harm assessment | ||
| score when making decisions relating to: | ||
| (1) caseworker assignments; | ||
| (2) parental access to the child; | ||
| (3) attorney assignments; and | ||
| (4) caseload limits for caseworkers. | ||
| (g) The department may only assign an experienced | ||
| caseworker to a child protective services case that has been | ||
| assigned a high risk of harm assessment score. | ||
| (h) The risk of harm assessment score is inadmissible in | ||
| court as evidence. | ||
| SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only | ||
| to a child protective services case started on or after the | ||
| effective date of this Act. A child protective services case | ||
| started before that date is governed by the law in effect on the | ||
| date the case began, and the former law is continued in effect for | ||
| that purpose. | ||
| SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017. | ||
