Bill Text: TX SB1447 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Relating to a training program for persons investigating suspected child abuse or neglect.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2023-06-02 - Effective on 9/1/23 [SB1447 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-SB1447-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Relating to a training program for persons investigating suspected child abuse or neglect.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2023-06-02 - Effective on 9/1/23 [SB1447 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-SB1447-Introduced.html
88R896 BDP-F | ||
By: Miles | S.B. No. 1447 |
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relating to a training program for persons investigating suspected | ||
child abuse or neglect. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 261, Family Code, is | ||
amended by adding Section 261.3105 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 261.3105. TRAINING PROGRAM FOR PERSONS INVESTIGATING | ||
SUSPECTED CHILD ABUSE OR NEGLECT. (a) The department shall develop | ||
a training program for each person who investigates any instance of | ||
suspected child abuse or neglect at the state or local level and the | ||
investigative supervisor of the person. | ||
(b) The training program must include instruction on: | ||
(1) the definitions of abuse and neglect under Section | ||
261.001; | ||
(2) the option for an abbreviated investigation or | ||
administrative closure of certain reported cases under Section | ||
261.3018; | ||
(3) the required notice to an alleged perpetrator of | ||
the right to record an interview under Section 261.3027; | ||
(4) the required provision of information on | ||
investigation procedures and child placement resources under | ||
Section 261.307; | ||
(5) the required notice of the right to request an | ||
administrative review of the department's findings under Section | ||
261.3091; | ||
(6) the investigative standards established under | ||
Section 261.310, including case file documentation; | ||
(7) the required assessment of certain proposed | ||
relative or other designated caregiver placements under Section | ||
264.754; | ||
(8) the department's policies on investigation | ||
dispositions and risk findings appropriate to the type of | ||
investigation; | ||
(9) the department's policy on identifying a potential | ||
relative placement before an adversary hearing; | ||
(10) the department's policy on notifying a kinship | ||
provider of the appeal process for a denied home assessment for | ||
potential placement with the provider placement; | ||
(11) the procedures for defining, identifying, and | ||
supporting protective capabilities of youths 13 years of age or | ||
older; | ||
(12) the burdens of proof applied to the evaluation | ||
and production of evidence; | ||
(13) the rights provided by the Fourth Amendment to | ||
the United States Constitution, the appropriate manner of informing | ||
an alleged perpetrator of those rights, and the search and seizure | ||
elements of those rights; and | ||
(14) information on available community resources for | ||
a child's identified risk factors to avoid delay in referrals for | ||
services and to resources. | ||
(c) The training program must also provide to department | ||
investigators advanced training on forensic investigative | ||
techniques and protocols, including: | ||
(1) techniques for conducting forensic interviews | ||
with alleged perpetrators of and witnesses to alleged child abuse | ||
or neglect; | ||
(2) techniques for searching for and identifying | ||
witnesses and collateral sources who may potentially provide | ||
information regarding an allegation of child abuse or neglect; | ||
(3) protocols for accurately scaling alleged abuse or | ||
neglect markings and injuries; | ||
(4) protocols for photographing alleged abuse or | ||
neglect markings and scenes; | ||
(5) techniques for reconstructing events and | ||
statements using timelines; | ||
(6) protocols for collecting and packaging evidence; | ||
(7) protocols for using notes, photographs, and | ||
timelines to accurately represent an allegation of abuse or | ||
neglect; | ||
(8) methods for analyzing and applying forensic | ||
evidence to the statutory definitions of abuse and neglect under | ||
Section 261.001 and to possible signs and symptoms of abuse and | ||
neglect; and | ||
(9) procedures for analyzing and applying forensic | ||
evidence to statutory standards established in this chapter, | ||
including the burden of proof. | ||
(d) The department shall administer to each investigator | ||
and investigative supervisor an examination to test the | ||
individual's knowledge and competency of the information provided | ||
in the training program. An investigator or investigative | ||
supervisor may not be assigned to investigate or supervise the | ||
investigation of any case until the investigator or supervisor | ||
successfully completes the training program and passes the | ||
examination. | ||
(e) In developing and implementing the training program, | ||
the department shall: | ||
(1) encourage professionalism, procedural | ||
standardization, and investigative disposition accuracy in the | ||
investigations of suspected child abuse or neglect; and | ||
(2) collaborate with: | ||
(A) appropriate Department of Public Safety | ||
personnel; | ||
(B) licensed attorneys; | ||
(C) forensic medical professionals; | ||
(D) appropriate law enforcement agency | ||
personnel; and | ||
(E) any other appropriate professionals. | ||
SECTION 2. (a) As soon as practicable after the effective | ||
date of this Act, the commissioner of the Department of Family and | ||
Protective Services shall adopt the rules necessary to implement | ||
the changes in law made by this Act. | ||
(b) Section 261.3105(d), Family Code, as added by this Act, | ||
applies only to investigation of a case assigned to an investigator | ||
or investigative supervisor on or after January 1, 2025. | ||
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |