88S30034 MLH-D
	By: Gervin-Hawkins	H.B. No. 35

	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 264.017, 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 clients for whom the
	department took protective action, including investigations,
	alternative responses, and court-ordered removals;
	(3)  information on the number of 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)  the number of children who were victims of
	trafficking under Chapter 20A, Penal Code, while in the managing
	conservatorship of the department; and
	(14)  information on the state's kinship care program.
	(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 financial assistance to relative and other
	designated caregivers under Section 264.755.
	SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect on the 91st day after the
	last day of the legislative session.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: Family Code 264.017 (Family Code 264)