Relating to advisory bodies for the Department of Family and Protective Services, including the creation of the child protective investigations advisory committee and the abolition of the Family and Protective Services C, the official text

H.B. No. 140

AN ACT

relating to advisory bodies for the Department of Family and

Protective Services, including the creation of the child protective

investigations advisory committee and the abolition of the Family

and Protective Services Council.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Effective September 1, 2026, Section

521.0003(c), Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

(c) A reference to any of the following councils means the

executive commissioner or the executive commissioner's designee,

as appropriate, and a function of any of the following councils is a

function of that appropriate person:

(1) the Health and Human Services Council;

(2) the Aging and Disability Services Council;

(3) the Assistive and Rehabilitative Services

Council; or

(4) [subject to Chapter 316 (H.B. 5), Acts of the 85th

Legislature, Regular Session, 2017, the Family and Protective

Services Council; or

[(5)] the State Health Services Council.

SECTION 2. Effective September 1, 2026, Section 552.103(c),

Health and Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:

(c) The inspector general shall submit the annual status

report to the:

(1) executive commissioner;

(2) commissioner of state health services;

(3) commissioner of the Department of Family and

Protective Services;

(4) State Health Services Council;

(5) [Family and Protective Services Council;

[(6)] governor;

(6) [(7)] lieutenant governor;

(7) [(8)] speaker of the house of representatives;

(8) [(9)] standing committees of the senate and house

of representatives with primary jurisdiction over state hospitals;

(9) [(10)] state auditor; and

(10) [(11)] comptroller.

SECTION 3. Effective September 1, 2026, Section 40.002(a),

Human Resources Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) The Department of Family and Protective Services is

composed of [the council,] the commissioner, an administrative

staff, and other employees necessary to efficiently carry out the

purposes of this chapter.

SECTION 4. Effective September 1, 2026, Sections 40.004(b)

and (c), Human Resources Code, are amended to read as follows:

(b) The commissioner [, with the advice of the council,]

shall prepare information of public interest describing the

functions of the department. The commission shall make the

information available to the public and appropriate state agencies.

(c) The commissioner shall grant an opportunity for a public

hearing [before the council makes recommendations to the

commissioner regarding a substantive rule] if a public hearing is

requested by:

(1) at least 25 persons;

(2) a governmental entity; or

(3) an association with at least 25 members.

SECTION 5. Subchapter B, Chapter 40, Human Resources Code,

is amended by adding Section 40.031 to read as follows:

Sec. 40.031. CHILD PROTECTIVE INVESTIGATIONS ADVISORY

COMMITTEE. (a) The commissioner shall establish an advisory

committee on child protective investigations to improve the

accuracy and standardization of the application of investigative

legal requirements and department investigative policies and

procedures during child abuse, neglect, and exploitation

investigations relating to a person described by Section

261.001(5)(A), (B), or (C), Family Code. The advisory committee

shall advise and make recommendations to the department on:

(1) developing and implementing policies and

procedures and monitoring training to increase the accuracy and

consistency of abuse, neglect, and exploitation investigation

processes and procedures;

(2) developing and implementing a model for conducting

investigations that ensures compliance with due process

requirements;

(3) developing a consistent engagement model for

communicating with legal advocates involved in child protective

investigations and courts presiding over child protective services

cases;

(4) developing and monitoring effective training for

all investigative employees;

(5) monitoring compliance with investigation

procedures and processes;

(6) developing and implementing a data-informed model

for conducting investigations; and

(7) providing a forum for public input on problems or

concerns related to investigations.

(b) The advisory committee shall:

(1) make recommendations for:

(A) conducting child protective investigations;

(B) monitoring compliance with investigative

requirements under state and federal law;

(C) developing and monitoring the implementation

of policies and procedures to protect the due process rights of

individuals subject to child abuse or neglect investigations; and

(D) monitoring the execution of policies and

procedures across all department jurisdictions for the subject of

an investigation;

(2) identify any challenges or barriers to:

(A) the standardization of child protective

investigative practices and procedures; and

(B) the application and implementation of legal

requirements and department investigative policies and procedures

in child abuse and neglect investigations;

(3) make recommendations to address issues identified

under Subdivision (2), including any training or other

accountability measures required to address those issues;

(4) identify and monitor challenges related to the

department's interaction and collaboration with any external

parties that participate in the investigation processes; and

(5) make recommendations for legal procedures for the

operations of parties described by Subdivision (4).

(c) The advisory committee is composed of the following

members:

(1) one member of the public appointed by the governor

to represent the governor's office who shall serve as chair;

(2) one member of the public appointed by the

lieutenant governor to represent the lieutenant governor's office

who shall serve as vice chair;

(3) one member of the public appointed by the speaker

of the house of representatives to represent the speaker's office;

(4) the department employee charged with oversight of

child protective investigations appointed by the commissioner;

(5) a regional director of investigations appointed by

the commissioner;

(6) at least one child protective investigations

supervisor or investigator appointed by the commissioner from each

of the following:

(A) a rural region; and

(B) an urban region;

(7) a district judge who has experience presiding over

suits affecting the parent-child relationship appointed by the

governor;

(8) one parent or caregiver, who has been involved in a

child protective services legal case, appointed by the

commissioner; and

(9) four members appointed by the commissioner with

consideration to individuals who have relevant experience as:

(A) a county district attorney;

(B) an attorney assigned to represent caregivers

in legal cases involving the department;

(C) an attorney assigned to represent children or

parents in legal cases involving the department;

(D) an associate judge who hears or has heard

child protective legal cases;

(E) a state or local law enforcement officer;

(F) a parent who has been the subject of a child

protective investigation;

(G) an individual who has been in the

conservatorship of the department; or

(H) an individual employed as a consultant to

represent the interests of a parent in a child protective

investigation.

(d) In appointing the members of the advisory committee

under Subsection (c)(9), the commissioner shall consult with the

chair of each standing committee of the legislature with primary

jurisdiction over child protective services.

(e) An individual may not serve on the advisory committee as

a member appointed under Subsection (c)(1), (2), (3), (7), (8), or

(9) if the individual is:

(1) employed by a state agency or contracts with the

department, child welfare vendors, or behavioral health providers

and organizations contracted with the department or the Health and

Human Services Commission, notwithstanding approved department or

judicial personnel; or

(2) related within the third degree of consanguinity

to individuals who work at the department or for organizations that

contract with the department or hold contracts with vendors of the

department, including vendors in community-based care.

(f) Members of the advisory committee shall recuse

themselves from the committee's deliberation regarding

recommendations that directly relate to a case that involves the

member. Members of the advisory committee who are employed by the

department serve as nonvoting members.

(g) The chair of the advisory committee shall direct the

advisory committee and the department shall provide administrative

support and resources to the advisory committee as necessary for

the advisory committee to perform the advisory committee's duties

under this section.

(h) The advisory committee shall meet quarterly in Austin or

at another location determined by the chair. A meeting of the

advisory committee is subject to Chapter 551, Government Code. The

advisory committee may conduct a closed meeting in accordance with

Subchapter E, Chapter 551, Government Code, to discuss information

related to a case under review by the committee under Subsection

(i). The advisory committee shall:

(1) provide a period for public comment during at

least one public meeting each year;

(2) present recommendations made under this section to

improve the quality and consistency of child protective

investigations; and

(3) post public notice for meetings conducted for the

sole purpose of reviewing cases under Subsection (i).

(i) The department shall provide a random sample of closed

child protective investigations for advisory committee review. The

department shall, in accordance with this section, provide relevant

case information to enable the advisory committee to review the

case. The information provided to the advisory committee under

this subsection may not include identifying information for

individuals involved in the investigation, including an

individual's name, address, or date of birth.

(j) The following is confidential and not subject to

disclosure under Chapter 552:

(1) any information provided to the advisory committee

regarding a child protective investigation;

(2) information from investigation records, including

the department's determinations as a result of the investigation;

and

(3) advisory committee work product.

(k) The department shall adopt and implement procedures to

ensure that confidential information is not disclosed in violation

of this section.

(l) Not later than September 30 of each year, the advisory

committee shall submit a report to the governor, the lieutenant

governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, members of

the legislature, and the commissioner. The department shall

publish the report on the department's Internet website. The

report must include the following information for the state and for

each department region for the two state fiscal years preceding the

state fiscal year in which the report is published:

(1) the number of:

(A) phone calls made to the agency that resulted

in an investigation for child abuse or neglect;

(B) completed investigations for child abuse or

neglect;

(C) each type of case disposition;

(D) administrative closures;

(E) abbreviated investigations;

(F) children removed from the child's home;

(G) children placed in foster care;

(H) cases in which the child was not removed from

the child's home but the family received family-based safety

services or family preservation services;

(I) cases per investigator in unspecialized

investigative units; and

(J) cases per investigator in specialized

investigative units;

(2) the average employment rate for unspecialized

investigators and supervisors and specialized investigators and

supervisors;

(3) the average amount of time to complete

investigations for each level of investigation;

(4) the total number of administrative reviews of

investigation findings and the results of those investigations for

that year;

(5) the number of complaints filed with the office of

consumer affairs of the department and the Office of Inspector

General;

(6) any identified challenges to:

(A) the standardization of an investigative

training program; and

(B) the application and implementation in the

field or of legal requirements and department investigative

policies and procedures in child abuse and neglect investigations;

(7) the committee's recommendations for improving any

identified challenges under Subdivision (6), including any human

resource accountability measures to address those issues; and

(8) recommendations for legislative or other action

related to human resource accountability measures for individuals

investigating or supervising the investigation of cases of

suspected child abuse or neglect.

(m) The advisory committee is abolished and this section

expires on September 1, 2029.

SECTION 6. Effective September 1, 2026, Sections 40.045(e)

and (i), Human Resources Code, are amended to read as follows:

(e) Not later than March 1 of the state fiscal year in which

an efficiency audit is required under this section, the

commissioner, in collaboration with [the council,] the

department's chief financial officer[,] and the department's

internal audit director, shall select an external auditor to

conduct the efficiency audit.

(i) Not later than November 1 of the calendar year an

efficiency audit is conducted, the auditor shall prepare and submit

a report of the audit and recommendations for efficiency

improvements to the governor, the Legislative Budget Board, the

state auditor, the commissioner, [the council,] and the chairs of

the House Human Services Committee and the Senate Health and Human

Services Committee.

SECTION 7. Effective September 1, 2026, the following

provisions of the Human Resources Code are repealed:

(1) Section 40.001(2-a);

(2) Section 40.021;

(3) Section 40.022;

(4) Section 40.023;

(5) Section 40.024;

(6) Section 40.025; and

(7) Section 40.026.

SECTION 8. Except as otherwise provided by this Act, this

Act takes effect September 1, 2025.

______________________________
______________________________

President of the Senate
Speaker of the House

I certify that H.B. No. 140 was passed by the House on April

25, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 129, Nays 2, 3 present, not

voting; that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B. No.

140 on May 19, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 117, Nays 7, 1

present, not voting; and that the House adopted H.C.R. No. 156

authorizing certain corrections in H.B. No. 140 on May 25, 2025, by

the following vote: Yeas 116, Nays 7, 3 present, not voting.

______________________________

Chief Clerk of the House

I certify that H.B. No. 140 was passed by the Senate, with

amendments, on May 9, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0;

and that the Senate adopted H.C.R. No. 156 authorizing certain

corrections in H.B. No. 140 on May 27, 2025, by a viva-voce vote.

______________________________

Secretary of the Senate

APPROVED: __________________

Date

__________________

Governor